SHUT UP AND RUN
POWER PACK #20a
Power Pack Fan Fiction by
Z O R A K K
SHUT UP AND RUN is set on the parallel alternate reality of Earth II that's why there are some "oddities" in this as compared to a MARVEL Power Pack story. For those familiar with the Power Pack Continuity, this story fits in-between Power Pack #20 and #21 (hence #20a). Kurse has already attacked Margaret, who is now in the hospital (PP #18). Katie has just had her first run in with the demons from limbo (PP#20) who were part of the setup for INFERNO. She does not remember most of it, and the older kids are not inclined to remind her. Basically this story highlights Alex Power and Friday.
Anyone who is interested in more detail on the Alternate World of Earth II can find out more by contacting the author at: size=1 width=100% noshade>CHAPTER ONE
WHAT A CONCEPT
He knew it was a dream ... but that just didn't matter. It was so neat that it held him enthralled every bit as much as reality did ...
He sat in the cramped cockpit of a sleek X-Wing fighter, straight out of STAR WARS. Around him as he rocketed through the inky void of space, tiny sparks of light pinpointed the locations of other Star Fleet X-Wings and the TIE fighters of the evil Snark Empire. Somewhat larger, brighter sparks of light indicated the positions of the task force sent by the Federation to oppose this newest incursion by the evil Snark Empire. Except for a soft, almost subliminal hum of the X-Wing's electrical power system, he sat in total silence.
Silence? Where were the sound effects? The thundering roar of his X-Wing's four mighty ion thrusters?
Oh! Of course! He was in deep space. Hard vacuum. No air meant no sound either.
Suddenly, a sun-bright ball of fire appeared silently ... and much too close for comfort.
The shock wave of hard radiation caused by the miniature nuclear explosion caused the nose of the X-Wing to pitch and the cyclic to writhe in his hand. The R2 unit hooted for his attention from the socket above and behind him. He instantly saw what was alarming the R2, a large red telltale was flashing:
"Darn it!" 12-year-old Alex Power growled. Was it really possible to daydream in a dream? Another faint orange trail of a nuclear tipped missile streaked by to the starboard. Alex pushed the collective over whipping the X-Wing around to the left and yanked back on the cyclic, causing the deadly fighter to climb at steep angle. His thumb automatically found the button switch on the cyclic that controlled the combat thrusters. He depressed the thruster switch and he was instantly slammed against the pilot's couch by the six-gees of acceleration generated by the combat thrusters.
Alex had no trouble dropping in behind the Snark pilot and lining him up in the X -Wing's Computer assisted gun sights. The controls of this dream X-Wing closely followed those of the arcade version at Star Land Video Arcade on West 73rd Street. The Snarks were big and physically formidable, but the average Snark just wasn't playing with a full deck in the brains department.
Four ruby-red beams of coherent light sliced through the Snark fighter ... which promptly dissolved into a polychromatic fireball and a swiftly expanding globe of debris. Instantly, another X-Wing doing a victory roll, splashed through the ionized cloud that had been the Snark fighter.
The omni-com crackled into life: "S'matter, bro? You slowing down?"
"Darn it, Jack!" Alex mumbled, half awake, "I almost HAD that slithery lizard!"
Alex lay in his bed in his room in apartment 12D, twelve floors above the snow and slush of Manhattan's December and rolled over, replaying the last scenes in his mind. Alex Power ... No! Wait a minute, CAPTAIN Alexander S. Power of the Star Fleet's interceptor command ...
When the thought first hit him, it was like a physical blow. His whole body jerked and trembled as adrenaline chills went up and down his spine. The beauty of it, the wonder ... Why hadn't he thought of THIS before?
FRIDAY!
Friday, their smartship, who had been entrusted to them by Whitey before he died; and who was currently in a parking orbit 1200 km high and cloaked against detection by either the US or USSR space defense commands. Friday could take them exploring. Why Power Pack could be the first kids to set foot on Mars. Or the first humans ever to leave the solar system and explore distant worlds, circling exotic unknown suns!
"What are you plotting?" Jack's head poked over the edge of Alex's upper bunk.
"Oohhhh, nothing," Alex said mysteriously.
"C'mon, I KNOW better. You're degravitated six inches off the bed. Whatever it is, you'll need the great Mass Master's help to pull it off."
Alex snorted and looked pained; but it was true ... he would need the others' help if he was to go exploring. Katie especially...
"I'll bet I know what it is." Jack chortled, "Are we gonna have an adventure, without the girls, like when we went to look for Spidey just before school started?"
"No, not exactly, "Alex said, maintaining the air of mystery. "We'll probably need the girls' help to pull this off."
"Well?" Jack asked impatiently, "What is it?"
Before Alex could answer, their father popped into their room: "Breakfast in twenty minutes, guys."
"Okay, Dad," the two boys said and began to get up and get ready for breakfast.
"Jack," Alex began in a conspiratorial tone, "What do we have that no other kids since the beginning of time have had?"
"Our powers." Jack said. "So?"
"Besides that?" Alex prompted.
"Well, uh ... our costumes," the electric blue of Jack's Power Pack costume flickered indistinctly around him as the nine-year-old thought of it. "And Friday of course ..."
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "And what can we do with Friday that no one else on this planet can do?"
Jack looked puzzled for a minute, but very slowly an idea so huge was taking shape in the younger boy's mind that it took objective time to scan it from end to end. His eyes suddenly grew wide and he whispered: "You mean...?"
The older boy nodded triumphantly.
"We can play Star Trek for real!" Alex whispered, grinning.
"WHEN DO WE LEAVE?" Jack shouted, leaping into the air and filling the room with a light fog as he partially clouded into his mutated Kymellian form.
"Will you SHUT UP!" Alex hissed. "Do you want Dad to find out so he can say 'NO'?"
Jack clasped both hands over his mouth and shook his head.
At that moment, Julie stuck her head in the room. "Dad says for you boys to come on. Breakfast is ready."
"Okay," Alex said. "We'll be right there."
"What are you guys planning?" Julie asked. "I can tell because Jack is acting weird and you're grinning."
"Shhh! Julie! Not so loud! I'll tell you all about it later," Alex pleaded.
"Well, you had better not be planning to leave all the chores to Katie and me while you and Jack go out and have an adventure!"
"It's for all of us," Alex said -- involuntarily crossing his heart. "I swear."
"Yeah, so shut up jerkface, before you spoil everything." Jack growled.
"I'll fill you in this morning as soon as Dad leaves," Alex said promptly heading off the fight between Julie and Jack that was brewing.
"OK. But you'd better!" Julie said, closing the door behind her.
Minutes later at the breakfast table Dad made an announcement: "I have some good news for you ... Mom is doing so well that her doctors have decided that she can leave the hospital for a recovery hospice on Long Island."
"YYEEEAAAAYYYYY!"
"When will we get to see her?" asked Julie.
"Well, there's bad news too," Dad began slowly. "The hospice doesn't allow children to visit."
"What a gyp!" Jack shouted. This sentiment was echoed by the other Power children.
"Now look, you guys," Dad began, "I know this has been hard on all of us, but it has been hardest of all on your mother. We're on the down hill side of this thing now, and I want Mom to have an easy time with this move to Long Island ... So that she can and will get better as quickly as possible and be able to come home again."
"Dad ..." Alex began.
"No, wait a minute," Professor Power said, "I know that this is the weekend after Christmas -- and I really hate to do it -- but right now your mother is more important."
"What do you mean Daddy?" asked Julie.
Dr. Power paused and took a long breath. "Gramps and I are going to spend the weekend in Riverhead, helping Mom get settled in. I've arranged a baby-sitter for you guys."
Alex shot a warning look at Jack as the younger boy was about to protest that he was old enough not to need a baby-sitter. Jack looked at Alex ... then grinned and winked. A fact that did not escape Katie, the youngest.
"You guys remember Kitty Pryde? I think she was one of the guests at Katie-bear's unauthorized Thanksgiving party."
"Yeayy! Kitty!" Katie jumped up from the table.
"Well," Dad said, "I guess that means that you're satisfied with my choice, Katie-bear?"
"Oh YES, Daddy! It'll be good to see Kitty again."
"I didn't know you knew Kitty, Dad," Alex said.
"She's in a seminar class that I teach. I WAS a little surprised to find out that Katie knew her ... but she's a fine young lady. Only just fifteen and probably among the brightest people in the class. It's not often that one so young gets to participate in a post graduate seminar ... but Kitty more than carries her own weight."
"What's the class about?"
"A seminar is an advanced class doing original research. Ours is working on the population density of faint M-class dwarf stars in the solar neighborhood."
"When's Kitty coming, Daddy?" Katie wanted to know.
"She should be here any minute..."
"GOODY!" Katie shrieked "Can I go down to the lobby and wait?"
"It's 'MAY' I, Katie," Dad said. "I guess so. Jack, will you go with Katie please?"
"Okay, Dad. I'll keep her outa trouble." He had to hurry to catch up with Katie who was already half way to the elevator.
Dad turned to Alex and Julie. "Even though Kitty will be here, I'm depending on you two older kids to help her out. And you can do that best by not fighting with the little kids or with each other. Understand?"
"Don't worry, Dad. We'll look after the little kids," Julie reassured him.
"And we won't fight with each other, either," Alex said. "Have a good time and make Mom as comfortable as possible at the hospice."
"And tell her that we love her!" Julie added.
Dr. Power caught his two oldest children in a bearhug and stood up, swinging them around. "I'm really proud of you two. The way that you've helped without a lot of whining has really made this a lot less hard on me. You're great kids."
The door opened and Katie came in, dragging Kitty (Shadow Cat) Pryde along behind her. Jack was eagerly tugging on her other hand.
"Hi, Dr. Power," Kitty said. "I guess I'm ready to start ..."
"We're gonna have lotsa fun!" Katie exclaimed.
"You don't know the half of it, baby sister," Jack grinned as he reviewed his own personal plans for this expedition.
For an instant, it looked as though Katie might try to follow where Jack was leading but Doctor Power had other business.
"Thank you for doing this on such short notice, Kitty."
"That's okay, Dr. Power. You just get Mrs. Power settled in, and I'll take care of everything here. We're going to have a blast! Right, you guys?"
"YES!"
"In more ways than one," snickered Jack, mischief aglow in his eyes.
"All right, Kitty, I'll be back on Sunday afternoon, about 3:30 or 4:00. I think the fridge is pretty well stocked," Dr. Power said, reaching for his wallet, "But just in case here's $40.00 to help offset the cost of junk food for the ravenous mob."
Alex pulled Jack aside and whispered: "Let ME do the talking when we tell 'em about the plan, okay?"
"Okay," Jack agreed, "But what about KITTY?"
"She's an X-Man, and she already knows about our powers from when we had to fight the Morlocks. I don't think it'll matter if she finds out about Friday too."
"I mean how are you gonna get her to let us go?"
"Simple," Alex grinned. "We take her with us."
"Are you nuts, bro? She'll never go for it."
"Just let me do the talking," Alex said confidently.
After Dad left, Alex called everyone into the living room. "Kitty," Alex began. "You already know about our powers," and here he gave a silent mental command that brought his POWER PACK costume into being. "I have something else to tell you about. When Whitey gave us our powers, he also left us something else, a Kymellian Smartship named Friday."
"Wha----?" Julie and Katie exclaimed together in surprise.
"S'Okay, gals," Jack said holding up his hands, "Alex has everything under control." I hope, he added silently to himself.
"Julie," Alex said turning to his ten-year-old sister, "You're the one who has the best luck getting Friday to answer you ... will you ask Friday to come down to the roof and use the radar cloak so that Kitty can meet him?"
"Well, okay," Julie said a little surprised. So far the only human outside of the four Power children who knew of Friday's existence was their newest teammate: Franklin Richards.
Katie, who was still hanging on one of Kitty's arms said: "You'll LIKE Friday, Kitty, She's the best Smartship in the world. Will you take me to the roof with you're go-through-the-wall power?" Katie begged, "Please?"
CHAPTER TWO
TO THE STARS
The sky over Manhattan was clear and pale ice-blue. On the roof of 12 West 71st Street, five humans shivered in the biting wind off of the Hudson River; all five were intently scanning the sky. A tiny sparkle, like sunlight glinting off a distant airliner appeared in the western sky, low on the horizon.
"There!" Shouted Jack triumphantly.
The spark grew quickly into the familiar outline of the Kymellian Smartship. Maneuvering on counter-grav pads, Friday descended, carefully hovering just a few inches above the roof of the Power's apartment building. The ship was unable to fully land, the roof was not braced properly to absorb the 68 tons of alien spacecraft settling flat upon it.
"Friday!" Katie shouted, "Meet Kitty...Kitty, this is Friday, our Smartship."
"Glad to meet you, Friday," Kitty said, somewhat unsure of herself.
"And I am pleased to meet you, Ms. Pryde."
Kitty's eyes grew wide, but her voice held steady as she asked: "How did you know that?"
"I know quite a bit about you, Ms. Pryde. I scanned the X-Men's files at both the National Security Council and S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters when you came to Katie's Thanksgiving party ... PRYDE, Kathryn. Codename SHADOW CAT ... member of the rebel mutant group known as the X-Men under the direct supervision of Professor Charles Xavier. Power: molecular phase shift ability 0 degrees to 720 degrees. Quite impressive -- Age: 15 years, 4 months, Terrestrial standard adolescent female type R. Hair: Brown; Eyes: Blue, height: 5'4", Weight 105 pounds. Distinguishing marks and/or tattoos: small triangular mole on her left ..."
"That's QUITE enough," Kitty said blushing.
"See, Kitty? Friday knows everything!" Katie bragged.
"So I see," Kitty admitted.
Alex detached himself from the group and stood in front of Friday. "Friday," he began, "I have a favor to ask of you."
"What is it, Alex?"
"I want to go exploring out in space with you," the twelve-year-old blurted out.
" W H A T ? " the girls asked in unison.
"I want to use Friday's abilities to go exploring," Alex repeated matter-of-factly.
The Kymellian Smartship sat motionless on its anti-grav pads, 3 inches above the roof of the apartment building. "I am not sure that I understand what you want, Alex."
"It's simple," Alex said. "You're an exploration scout. I want to go exploring."
"But, Alex, that would definitely be against the rules. Much of the space surrounding your world is totally unexplored. There may be dangers that neither you nor I can begin to understand. Whitey and I were the first Kymellians assigned to this sector in over a thousand years. We were trained explorers and survey technicians ... you and the others are not."
Alex frowned for a minute, this was going to be harder than he had first envisioned.
"Alex," Kitty said, after recovering from the surprise of Alex's announcement. "You can't be serious about just going off into space." she waved her hand in a vague skyward motion, "as if it were just a jaunt in the park."
"And why not?" asked Jack. "It's not as though we've never been in space before."
"Yeah, Kitty," Katie piped up, already beginning to see the fun that could be had on an interplanetary outing. "When Whitey gave us our powers, we had to go into space to rescue Mom and Dad from those mean old Snarks."
"That was only within the confines of your own solar system," Friday said. "The Queen Mother's flagship had not yet entered hyperspace."
"Friday," Julie began hesitantly.
"Yes, Julie?"
"Your original mission was exploration, wasn't it?" Julie asked, slyly winking at her older brother.
"Yes, Julie. That is what Whitey and I originally were assigned to do. It was only after the discovery of your father's experiments with antimatter that we altered our original orders."
"Well, now you can go back to exploring; the only difference would be that we would be along for the ride," Julie said.
"It would be good to be performing the Prime Mission again..." Friday let the sentence trail off into a wistful silence.
"And we'll promise to do anything you say ... and not to get in the way," Alex added.
For a minute there was silence as the Kymellian cyborg considered the suggestion. Friday had enlisted in Star Fleet for the prime purpose of exploration; a mission that the Smartship had loved and was anxious to get back to. But Whitey, Friday's partner, had instructed the Smartship to watch over the enhanced power beings that the Power children had become. In addition to that, Friday had grown fond of the funny little aliens. But perhaps there was a way to do both things at the same time as Julie had suggested.
"Perhaps ..." Friday began.
"AwwRIGHT - Friday!" Jack shouted and leaped into the air.
"If we're going somewhere in space," Julie said, "What'll happen if Dad or Gramps calls while we're gone?"
Friday's hatch opened and the gangway extended. "Come aboard and I will show you something that I think will solve that problem." The four Power children and Shadow Cat entered the interior of the Kymellian ship.
"As you already know," Friday began, "I have been able to tap into any of your planet's computer and communications nets that make use of microwave relay technology." A small slot on an instrument bay slid open. One of Friday's pencil thin flexible tentacles wrapped around a small black box about the size and shape of a VHS video cassette.
"This," Friday said, "is a little invention of mine. I've been studying how to emulate your telephone's dial tone and other pulse signals."
"What is it?" Alex asked.
"This," Friday continued, "is a hyperwave relay. If we connect it to your telephone, it will allow my communications sub-processor to monitor your telephone, even if we were to fly all the way to Kymellia or Snarkworld."
"Wow!"
"How do we connect it?" asked Alex.
"It was designed for use with your phone system. You have standard modular jacks in your apartment, I assume?"
"Of course," Jack said. "Everybody does."
"Then remove the plug from the phone and replace it with the plug from the hyperwave relay, then simply plug the phone wire into the modular jack on the hyperwave relay."
"Just like a modem!" Katie said, proud of her computer expertise.
"Exactly," Friday confirmed.
"I'll do it," Julie said, taking the small black box from Friday.
"Are you sure?" asked Alex.
"You're not the only one who can unplug a phone, Mr. Smart Alex."
"Julie, when you have finished installing the hyperwave relay, dial ' # '. This will allow us to test the operation of the relay."
"Okay," Julie said, already half way to the apartment. Seconds later a rather anemic sounding buzz came from one of Friday's instrument panels - the others all burst out laughing.
"Well, it WAS my first attempt at imitating a phone bell, I will get better as I have some practice," the Smartship said, "Hello, Julie. Can you hear me all right?"
"Yes," Julie's voice seemed to drift out of mid air.
"Fine," Alex said, "come on back, Julie."
"Okay, I'm on my way."
"Alex," Friday said, "Have you an exploration plan? Where are we going?"
"We've got to be back on Sunday afternoon, before 3:00 PM," Kitty said.
"I thought you were against the idea," Alex said. "I thought I was going to have to convince you."
'I've been thinking this might be very educational for all of us."
"Aww RIGHT! Kitty." Jack shouted enthusiastic support.
"Three PM Sunday," Friday said. "If we allow 24 hours for in-system investigations, we will have an effective radius of ten light years."
"Ten light years!" Alex said excitedly. "Wow! There must be a hundred stars within ten light years."
"Not exactly," Kitty said. "The Earth is located in a virtual stellar desert."
"Kitty is correct." Friday said. "There are only fourteen stars within ten light years of your solar system, including three double stars and one triple star."
"Well, at least that narrows down the field a little," Julie said.
"There's something else we'd better think about. "Katie said. "If we're gonna be gone all weekend, we'll need something to eat besides blue sawdust."
"Omigosh!" Jack said. "That's right! Friday doesn't have any REAL food."
There was a whir and a soft click as a large drawer like panel slid open on Friday's rear bulkhead. "That will not be a problem, Katie," Friday said.
"How come?"
"All you have to do is put samples of the kinds of foods you would prefer in this slot," a bright green light winked on over the slot, "and my food processor will be able to synthesize it."
"You mean we can have McBurgers and Fries?" asked Jack.
"Or pizza!" Katie shouted and a gave a little jump into the air.
"No, Chinese food," Julie said.
"Anything that you can supply me a sample of, my replicators can manufacture. It may not look the same, but it will taste the same and have the exact molecular construction and nutrients." "Alright," said Alex, taking charge again. "Jack and Katie, go downstairs and get some food for Friday to analyse..."
"Maybe I'd better go with them and help," Kitty said. "To make sure that there is something besides junk food and candy bars in the selection."
Alex grinned. "Maybe you're right, Kitty."
"As long as you don't try to bring any broccoli with us!" Jack made a face.
Laughing, the three disappeared through Friday's forward hatchway and Kitty's phasing powers were used to drop them directly into the Power's kitchen below.
"Now we've got to decide where to go," Alex said.
"I have found something that might be of interest to you, Alex."
As Friday spoke, a two-foot sphere of faint light, criss crossed with faint lines and with glowing sparks embedded in it, appeared in front of Alex and Julie.
"What is it?" Julie asked, carefully pressing her hand against the insubstantial 'surface' of the holographic sphere.
"This is a plot from my astrogation display -- covering the ten light years around your sun. But I have something else even more startling to show you."
A second sphere appeared. At first glance it appeared to be identical to the first one.
"This is a 3D star chart constructed from data obtained from your Kitt Peak National Observatory in the Republic of Texas, and the Far Side Astronomical complex on your moon. It also shows a volume of space 10 light years in radius centered on the Earth. I have detected an anomaly. Watch."
The two holograms coalesced, and in the amalgamation, all of the stars on Friday's astrogation plot found their counterparts within the depths of the 3D chart of earth observatory data and fused together into one star ... all that is except one lone small red dwarf star, which was now blinking deep red in the depths of the two-foot hologram.
"What is it?" Alex asked.
"That is your sun's own companion star."
"But that's impossible. The sun doesn't have a companion star, " Alex said knowingly.
"My analysis of the gravitational stresses involved indicate that although the semi major axis is exceptionally large, the star is indeed in orbit, and around your sun."
"Wait a minute," Julie said slowly, "Remember Michael Pasce in 9E ... the little kid who is the dinosaur nut?"
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, remember when he asked you about Nemesis ... that star that was suppose to disrupt comets and send a lot of them into the inner solar system to hit the earth every 26 million years or so ... he asked you if it really could have made the dinosaurs die out."
"Yeah, I remember now ... but that was only a theory..."
"Not anymore," Julie said, her slim index finger stabbing through the hologram to the blinking red dwarf star.
"I have an idea that POWER PACK should investigate this new star," Alex said, imitating his father stroking his beard.
"Excuse me, Julie... Alex. is this where you will want to go? If so, there are several high level astrogation equations that I should start work on solving."
"Yes, Friday," Alex said "Nemesis is where POWER PACK will be going."
CHAPTER THREE
NEMESIS
There was a microburst of energy across the entire electromagnetic spectrum as the Kymellian Smartship reentered 'normal' space-time from the netherworld of hyper space. For a second or two, the ship seemed to pause as if orienting itself, and then swung around its dorsal axis. On the tips of two stubby wings, the ship's starfinders locked onto the bright pinpoint of light which was its destination. The ship's exhaust venturis flared hot, bluish-green and the Smartship leaped forward under the influence of its ion drive. Inside the ship's biosphere, five young humans slept, oblivious to the fact that they had just come over two light years in a little less than four minutes of objective time. Friday had scheduled the short hop through hyperspace for during the time that the four members of POWER PACK and Shadow Cat would be asleep. This was much simpler than trying to explain to the curious humans why they must not stare into hyper space. It also avoided the possibilities of someone not heeding Friday's instructions to cover their eyes.
Now, back in normal space, Friday used his powerful ion thrusters to propel this uncertified crew toward the objective.
The log entry would be a problem. Friday was already
resigned to the necessity of some kind of 'creative' work on the log entry,
but the problem of exactly how to explain the presence of an uncertified crew
was still bothering Friday. Thankfully, the mission objectives were familiar
ones:
+ 1) Complete astrometric survey of the Sol B solar neighborhood.
+ 2) Complete set of wide spectrum spectroheliographs of the new star.
+ 3) Survey the system and take a census of all planetary bodies.
+ 4) If any such exist, do a preliminary life-scan and geophysical survey of
any Kymell-normal worlds.
Already in compliance with objective #1, Friday's complex and sensitive sensor array was now beginning its probes of the starsystem ahead. Nemesis, as Julie had named the star system, was composed of an unremarkable spectral class M8v red dwarf star with a radius of approximately 1/5 that of Sol. Its surface temperature was in the 3,000 K range. This relatively cool effective temperature, coupled with the small radiating surface, made this particular star only 1/3200 as bright as Earth's own sun. Little wonder it had been overlooked by earth's astronomers.
The solar system also contained three planetary sized bodies -- one of which was large enough and close enough to the faint dwarf star to support a wet, dense biosphere -- and a thick, dusty asteroid belt. Friday's navicomputer flagged that fact and ordered an approach vector nearly 90o away from the star's ecliptic. That one planet that was large enough to support an atmosphere also showed signs of life ... which was no surprise. Friday and Whitey had found that if a world were capable of supporting life, it invariably did. Now Friday was close enough so that the powerful optical and infrared sensors could begin mapping and recording every detail about this newly found world. It was close enough to the small dim star so that its biosphere was cool, but still substantially above the freezing point of water. Its atmosphere was a mixture of 76 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and three percent trace gases of which water vapor, carbon dioxide and argon were the most abundant. The planet's diameter was slightly less than 11,000 kilometers, making it smaller than earth, but its overall density was high enough so that the gravitational attraction at the surface was almost exactly the same as on earth.
Sensitive radiation detectors were also now busy sweeping the planet. They detected only naturally occurring radio noise from volcanic activity and lightning storms. There were no neutrinos or high energy sub-atomic particles which might indicate either intelligent manipulation of the nuclear force, such as in atomic reactors or advanced weapons. Optical scanners detected no cities, no roads, and no regular land formations that might have been farms. The conclusion presented to Friday was clear enough: Although the scanner readings did not rule out the possibility of intelligent life on the world below; it most certainly did rule out the possibility of technological life.
Friday decelerated into a low, circular orbit over the new world as Julie awoke.
"Oh, Friday!" she said excitedly, "It's beautiful!" The ten-year-old pressed her face against the crystal viewport so as to be able to see as much of the blue-green world as possible.
"Indeed it is, Julie. Since we are here, perhaps you should awaken the others."
"S'Okay," Jack muttered, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "I'm awake, and it won't be long before the brat is too!" Jack indicated Katie with a careless wave of his hand.
A moment later, Alex joined Jack at the viewport to gaze at the new world while Julie went aft to wake Katie and Kitty. Katie was still curled up into a ball against Kitty who was sitting up awake. Katie groaned and sat up as Julie gently shook her.
"Morning already?" she asked before remembering that she was not in the Power's Manhattan apartment. A minute later, all five humans were crowded against Friday's forward viewport; watching huge storms and hurricanes whip the clouds around on the planet 2,000 kilometers below them.
A soft 'BONG' interrupted the kids' meditations.
"What's that?" asked Katie.
"That is your phone ringing back in your apartment," Friday said. "It is 4:23 Friday afternoon in Manhattan. Are you ready to answer the phone?"
"Yes, Friday," Alex said. "Hello?"
Across twelve trillion miles of space, a voice spoke. It was their father: "Alex, this is Dad. Is everything going all right there?"
"Hi, Dad. Yeah, everything's fine. How's Mom?"
"She's fine. Gramps and I got her settled into the hospice all right. And we've checked into the Seaside Motel here in Riverhead ..."
"Let ME talk to Daddy!" Katie demanded.
"Okay, okay," Alex said and mimicked handing the phone to Katie.
"Daddy?" Katie asked.
"Hi, Katie-bear, I see Alex has my omni-phone on."
"Uh-uh," Katie began, but Julie pinched her softly and shook her head. "It was Julie that turned it on," said Katie thinking fast.
"Okay. Are you being a good girl? And obeying Kitty?"
"Yes, Daddy, and guess what?" There were menacing looks from her siblings, "I got another loose tooth."
"Great, Katie, you'll have all your permanent choppers in real soon then. Do me a favor, though, it's real important that I talk to Kitty for a minute, okay?"
"Okay, and Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"I love you, Daddy."
"Love you too, Katie-bear. Now put Kitty on please."
"Okay."
"Hello, Dr. Power. Is Mrs. Power doing all right?"
"Yes, Kitty, she's fine. In fact she may be able to come home in a few weeks."
"YEE--HAAH!" roared Jack before Alex could clamp a hand firmly across his mouth.
"That was Jack, expressing his joy at the news," Kitty said.
Dr. Power sighed, "Yes Kitty, I recognize the lungs. Sometimes I think I could still hear that kid even if he were in the next solar system."
Startled, the Power kids looked at one another. Did Dad KNOW?
Naaaahhhhh! Must be a coincidence.
"Anyway," Dr. Power continued, "I want to give you the number here at the motel. It's Area Code 718...889-7747. We're in room 'G'."
"(718) 889-7747. Got it," Kitty repeated.
"All right, say good-bye to everyone for me. I know these kids, they'll keep me on the phone all afternoon."
Julie made a face, to which Jack added his approval by nodding.
"Allright, Dr. Power. Say 'hi' to Mrs. Power for me."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."
There was a dial-tone for an instant and then silence.
"Well, now we know the hyper-whatsit works okay." Jack said.
"Jack, I'm hurt. Did you think it would fail?" Friday asked.
"Well, not really..."
"When are we going to land?" asked Alex.
"We are not going to land." Friday said in a matter of fact tone.
"WHAT! We can't go home after coming all this way ... over two light years ... and then just look at it from orbit!" Alex and Jack complained together.
"Oh, indeed we can, Alex, Jack. That is the standard First In Scout exploration profile. Whitey and I only landed on alien worlds when it was totally unavoidable ... as it was in your planet's case."
"But -" Jack started to object.
"Let me finish," said Friday in an unusually forceful voice. "My job is to gather data which will be used at a later date by a full survey team consisting of hundreds of scientists and technicians, backed up by the resources of a survey cruiser in orbit. I do not have the resources to do that survey ... nor do we have the time. A complete survey team will eventually spend six months to a year here to complete their tasks."
Jack sulked in a corner.
"Will a survey team be coming here?" Julie asked.
"Yes, Julie, eventually, but it may be a century or more in the future. There are relatively few survey teams and a great overabundance of worlds waiting to be surveyed."
"Look, Friday," Alex said, "We've got to go down. We'll never get a chance like this again."
"Alex, you simply do not understand. I CANNOT land. I am already going to have enough trouble making my log entry to explain why you are here at all."
"Okay, what are the other reasons?" Alex asked.
"Alex, this is going nowhere..."
"C'mon, Friday, what are your other objections?"
"For one thing," Friday said, "I do not have the proper equipment to scan this planet for dangerous microbiological life forms that could be fatal to you. Nor do I have the correct medkit or knowledge of your species to treat you if you should contract some form of parasitic infection."
"Aww, we've all had our shots!" Jack said.
"That's right, Friday," Katie said rubbing her shoulder "They said it wouldn't hurt ... but it did!"
"I am familiar with the strides your world has made in medical science. Your Full Spectrum inoculation would protect you from any form of Terrestrial bacteria or virus. But, I point out again, that this is NOT the earth hanging there below us, despite the superficial resemblances. There is a high probability that the medical professionals of your world would not be able to help either ... provided you lived long enough for me to get you back to earth."
Jack and Alex looked at each other, disappointment written across their faces. This indeed looked like a telling blow to their plans to explore the alien world below.
BONG!
"I'll get it," yelled Katie.
"That was not from my communications sub-processor," Friday said. "it is from main sensors."
"What is it?" Alex asked.
"The radiation alarm," Friday said calmly
"What's happening?" asked Kitty.
In answer, the viewport darkened and Friday swiveled around on the dorsal axis. A deep crimson ball slowly came into view. On the limb of the sphere, a giant prominence arched upwards from the star's surface, hundreds of thousands of kilometers into space. Nearer the center of the sphere, an irregularly shaped patch of the surface glowed hot angry blue-white and expanded as they watched it.
"That is the star that Alex and Julie have named Nemesis. It is a small, dim star compared to your own sun, but it can be VERY active and is susceptible to sudden solar flares. That is what is happening at this time."
"So?" asked Jack, unconcerned.
"The flare emits much more hard radiation in the form of charged particles than my shields can protect you from at this close range ... we are only eight million kilometers from the photosphere of the star."
"So, let's get outa here," said Julie, "Warp Eight, or whatever."
"It's not that easy, Julie, this is not television. We are too close to the star for me to engage my faster than light drive -- and my ion drive does not have necessary acceleration to outrun the radiation wave front from the flare."
"What can we do?" asked Kitty.
"We'll have to land. That way we can use the planet's atmosphere to shield us from the deadly effects of the flare."
"Awww RIGHT! Now you're talking!" Jack shouted.
"You do not understand, Jack." Friday said seriously. "The flare is making it impossible to stay here, and we cannot flee fast enough, so we must land. The flare may last minutes, hours or weeks, there is no way to predict. We may not be able to return to Earth before your father returns and finds you missing ... how will you explain your absence?"
Everyone was silent as Friday began the descent toward the unknown world.
CHAPTER FOUR
A NEW WORLD
The sun peeked over the top of the distant mountain range, filling the valley once again with its warming light. A heavy dew on the plants and trees broke the sunlight into a shower of tiny colorful rainbows. The mist, thicker in some places almost a fog and thinner in others was a short lived, transient phenomenon, and by the time the lower rim of the sun had cleared the mountains, most of it was gone. The stillness of the dawn was broken by the croaking, singing and squealing of various animal life forms. Those who were day creatures saluted a new day; while those that were night creatures roared their defiance at the sun which now signaled the end of their reign. Superimposed upon this cacophony of predator and prey, insect and vertebrate, reptile and mammal, was another sound - soft now ... but steadily increasing in intensity. It was tuneless, a soulless sound; but at the same time compelling. Animals scuttled under cover or into the branches of trees while this new addition to their environment could be studied and its potential danger assessed. As the sound became louder, it drifted over the wide valley and echoed off distant hills, making it difficult to tell exactly where the sound came from. Predator and prey alike fell silent to assess the newcomer ... either as a new threat to survival or as a rival for food and territory. As the silvery object came to rest on the ground, the sound that had held the valley enthralled quickly died away. When there was no further action, the lower animals quickly forgot the newcomer and returned to the process of getting breakfast while at the same time avoiding becoming someone else's breakfast.
Inside the object, five humans from the far off planet Earth pressed against Friday's transparent front viewport for their first look at the alien world as Friday went about the post-flight shutdown routine.
"We're down," Alex said in an almost inaudible whisper. Julie glanced at her older brother for a brief moment, wondering what could possibly be going on in "Mr.. Smart Alex's" brain that he would have made such an understatement of obvious fact; but she caught the faraway glitter in her brother's cyan eyes and decided against the zinger that was poised at he tip of her tongue.
"When do we go outside?" asked Jack eagerly.
"Not for awhile yet, Jack," Friday said. "The environmental drones will take at least fifteen minutes to construct their preliminary report on our immediate surroundings."
"Huh?" Jack asked puzzled.
"Look outside," Friday said. "I will bring them around in front while I give them their instructions." As the children turned back to the viewport, something swooped down out of the sky overhead, on large iridescent wings that sparkled and shone in the sunlight, a meter from Friday's view port.
"Oooohhhh! What is it?" asked Julie, immediately thinking of Anne McCaffrey's fire lizards from Pern as she watched the small flier hovering on quickly beating wings. It was indeed much like a fire lizard in appearance, shape and size. But as they watched, the flier hovered to a new position and a small whip antenna was visible lying along the creature's slim body.
"This is Flier. She is responsible for sampling and analyzing all atmospheric activity and components. Her report will be ready soon and will cover a ten square kilometer area around our landing zone."
"Is it alive?" asked Alex.
"In a way," Friday conceded, "Although not in the same way that you and your brother and sisters are alive. Flier and her companion, Crawler, have a limited self awareness, and they are constructed of both bioelectronic and mechanical parts. They can be activated and deactivated at will and are not mortal, and so in that respect they are more akin to what you might call a cyborg, designed and bred for this duty aboard Fleet Scouts like myself."
Suddenly, both Julie and Katie shrieked in surprise and pleasure.
"Look! Look, you guys!" Julie managed to get out.
Sitting up on its haunches was a large squirrel like creature, fully 30 centimeters from nose to tail base, with another 30 centimeters of furry tail which twitched to and fro nervously behind the creature; like Flier, careful examination revealed a small wire whip antenna emerging from the base of the creature's skull and laying flat along its back.
"Ah," Friday said, "I see you have already met Crawler. He is responsible for sampling the soil, water. plant and animal life in the region, as well as the microbiological environment. His preliminary report will only cover the square kilometer immediately around the landing zone ... He will require almost 24 hours to achieve the same level of sampling as Flier's preliminary report."
"You mean that's a robot too?" asked Jack.
"The Environmental Drones are not robots, Jack," Friday explained. "They are much more complex than any robot which would depend upon someone else's program to function. They are at the cutting edge of the dividing line between organic life and non-organic, electronic life."
"Just looks like a dumb old squirrel to me," Jack said.
At that moment, both the squirrel and the fire lizard suddenly wheeled about and were gone; the squirrel into the tall grasses and the fire lizard into the deep azure sky.
"Aww," Katie whined, "Now you've hurt their feelings, Jack. They've gone away!"
"No, Katie," Friday said gently, "I've only released them to begin their survey programs."
"What about predators?" asked Kitty.
"Flier and Crawler will report on any predators or other dangerous plant or animal life they run into," Friday assured her. "Ms. Pryde, your NSA file indicates that you have had training with and posses a vast knowledge of microelectronics."
"Well, yes," Kitty said. "I know which end of a soldering iron to grab and how to use a 'scope..."
"Then could you assist me please?" Friday asked. "Several of my sensor and calibration circuits have been thrown out of alignment by the radiation surge from the solar flare. I am afraid that I am even more sensitive to high energy particle radiation than humans are."
"Was anything critical damaged?" Kitty asked.
"No. Nothing I can not handle. I could perform the maintenance tasks myself, but several of the panels that have to be accessed are situated in odd places that my internal manipulators have trouble reaching. These are the places where your more mobile frame will be of great assistance."
The holographic display flickered to life in the center of Friday's cabin. "Meanwhile, I will let you watch Flier's video information feed ... to get some idea of the terrain surrounding us."
The four Power children sat spell bound around the holographic display as it shifted and swayed -- changing constantly as Flier swooped and soared over the ground below.
Some time later, Jack stood up, stretching. "When are we going outside?" he asked.
"Very soon now, Jack. I suggest it is now time to switch on your costumes," Friday said. "The Kymellian materials out of which they are constructed seem to be all the protection from the local environment you will need."
"Hooray!" shouted Katie, "We're going outside!"
"The report on the ecosphere is quite surprising," Friday began. "It appears to be an exact double of your Earth's. It is unusual for two planets to possess such like conditions. The atmosphere here is remarkably like your own atmosphere -- without the radioactive hydrocarbon pollution problems of course. Crawler reports that the microbiological environment is sufficiently like home that your own immune systems will have no trouble with any of the local viruses or microbes ..."
"ALL RIGHT, Friday!" Jack said with a touch of exasperation, stretched to the very outer limits of an eight-year-old'd patience. "We get the picture - and we'll be careful!"
"Also you can use the costume's radios as walkie talkies. I will be monitoring you, and if anything comes up, I will notify you. One other thing you must promise ..."
"Waaahh-HUT?" Jack had been pushed over the edge and was well on the way to becoming an insufferable brat. His older brother and sister administered the antidote: Alex elbowed him in the ribs, while Julie stepped on his toes.
"I am the only one with any exploration experience," Friday said. "I will be monitoring both Flier and Crawler, and several other sensor channels. If I sound a recall, you must at once stop what you are doing and return here; and you must not argue with me."
"All right," Katie said. "We promise."
"You're in command of this expedition." Alex agreed.
"Predators?" Kitty asked.
"Most of the local predators appear to be nocturnal," Friday said. "There are none active in the immediate area at this time. Also, most of them are small enough that the children will not be potential prey, and as long as you do not try to molest them ..."
"I know," Jack said. "Like don't try to pet any stray dogs."
"Or don't chase the raccoons," added Katie, which caused all four Power children to grin as they remembered last summer's vacation to Hartwell Lake when Katie had attempted to pet an unwilling raccoon. The raccoon had run off, with Katie in hot pursuit, until the wily raccoon had darted out on a branch overhanging the lake. Katie had attempted to follow, but the branch had snapped off, depositing the crying five-year-old in about a foot of water. It was funny looking back at it, but it had been a terrifying experience for all four Power kids as it had been happening. Suppose the raccoon had chosen a branch over a deep boulder strewn ravine -- which were also numerous in the area?
Kitty looked up from the rear of Friday's cabin where she was sitting cross-legged in front of an open panel exposing a dense electronic array which made up part of Friday's sensor sub-processor array.
"Remember, you guys, this is not Central Park or Long Island..."
"Kitty," both Alex and Julie said together. They paused for a moment, looked at each and burst into laughter.
"Go ahead," Alex said to his younger sister between giggles. "I'll never get it out!"
Julie nodded and turned to Kitty, taking both the older girl's hands in hers and said: "Kitty, don't worry. We know that this is not like being at home ... and we're not exactly stupid or too little to take care of ourselves."
The teenage X-Man looked up at Julie. "Okay, Julie," Kitty said. "No more lectures..."
"Hallelujah!" Jack muttered under his breath. Alex shot him a withering glare.
"As Logan would say: 'Be alert. Be safe!' That's all."
There was a soft sigh of equalizing pressure as Friday's front hatch/viewport swung up and out. Jack was the first out of the hatch. His silver booties sinking slightly into the damp soil of the virgin planet.
... it left an imprint ...
Jack turned and looked at the ribbed imprint of his boot in the damp soil of the new planet; his face was alight with excitement ... and something else ...
"That's one small step for a KID ... One giant leap for all kidkind!"
CHAPTER FIVE
THE CAVE
Julie Power stood at the top of Friday's gangway, while Alex and Katie tumbled out after Jack, who was standing at the bottom of the gangway, looking around in awe at the alien world. The air of this new world rushed into Friday in a cool breeze on the ten year old's face, as the ship/planet equalized air pressure. The air was cooler than Friday's interior, and very moist, full of exotic perfumes of this new planet. She stood transfixed in wonder, gazing out at the strange world.
A wind blew the grasses so that they bowed and rustled in the wind, while overhead hung the ruddy star that Julie had dubbed 'Nemesis'. A new and different sun hung in the middle of an azure sky amid puffs of snowy clouds; so much like home. But yet, those grasses that rustled in the wind were a very much darker green than any plant Julie had ever seen, with here and there a stem of bright yellow-brown, topped by a five petaled flower as large as her head and as pale blue as glacier ice.
The girl drew in a deep breath. This air was different. There were smells she had known all her life that were absent; only to be replaced by other, exotic alien odors that literally assailed her nose.
"C'Mon, Julie! Are you gonna just stand there?" Jack shouted from several meters away. "Wow! This is a real Garden of Eden. Hey! Look, you guys:" Jack suddenly dashed off a few more meters toward a low hillock several dozen meters away. "There is a stream here!"
Julie came down the gang plank as Katie and Jack slowly began to push out further and further away from Friday. She came up beside Alex, who was busy scanning the horizon of the new world.
"Do you think there are any people here?" Julie asked. "What do you think they'll be like if there are any people here...?"
"I don't know, Julie ... your guess is as good as mine. Friday said if there were any people here, they would be primitives. There were no cities or farms or radio waves or anything else that might be the result of a civilization. If there are people here, there aren't many of them and they'd be scattered all over the planet. We aren't likely to run into any of them."
Just then there was the unmistakable ring of the telephone.
"Uh-oh," Alex groaned. "Dad must be calling again. Quick, Friday, what time is it?"
"It is 7:35 PM, EST, Saturday night."
Katie ran back to Friday's hatchway as the phone rang again. "Let ME!" she shouted, "Let ME answer."
"Okay, Okay!" Alex said. "Just do it!"
"Hello, this is Katie Power. Is that you, Daddy? Did I do it right?"
There was a pause on the other end of the phone and then: "Oh, hello, Katie. This is Allison. Is Alex there?"
"Hello," Alex said, trying to keep his voice steady. Allison McCourt, Miss Dream-Girl, 2002 AD calling HIM! Alex had not had the courage to say more than a dozen words to her since first meeting her on the school grounds at the beginning of the semester.
"Hi, Alex, this is Allison."
"Yeah, I know ..." Alex began "Dumb start!" he mentally chided himself.
There was a trill of high-pitched laughter on the other end. "How? Are you a psychic? A mutant telepath?"
Alex blushed bright red and thought fast. "No-oh..."
"Then how did you know it was me?" Allison asked teasingly.
"Katie's been fooling around with Dad's speaker phone ... we can all hear you," chimed in Jack, making the "A-OK" symbol with his thumb and index finger. Alex grinned and mouthed 'Thanks, Jack.'
"Huh? Who's that?" was Allison's puzzled response.
"That was my bratty little brother, Jack," Alex said. Both Julie and Katie were doubled up in silent laughter; and Kitty had a huge grin on her face. Jack stuck out his tongue at his older brother.
"Oh," Allison said. "Well, Alex, I'm calling to see how your mom is? Is she any better?"
"Yeah," Alex said. "She's a lot better. My dad and granddad are away right now, making sure that she gets settled into this recovery hospice out on Long Island."
"Oh, are you ah-lone...?" Allison drew out the last word suggestively.
"Nah, one of my dad's grad-students is baby-sitting us."
"Oh, I almost forgot," Allison said, slightly breathlessly, "I also called to see if you can come to a New Years Eve party at my house this Tuesday. It's a boy-girl sleep over, and my mom and dad are going to chaperone."
"Wow! I sure DO want to come ..."
"ME TOO!" Katie shrilled excitedly, "Me too!"
"I'm really sorry, Katie," Allison said, "But this party is for big kids -- eleven and older -- you wouldn't have any fun, there won't be anyone your age to play with."
"I could too have fun," Katie grumbled.
"Well, maybe we can do something else together sometime, you and I and Julie. We'll have a 'girl's night out' party; and go to a movie or something," Allison said.
"Promise?"
"KATIE!" Alex said in exasperation. "Will you just keep quiet? Thank you for inviting me, Allison, I'm sorry my dumb little sister had to embarrass you like that."
Katie swung at Alex, but missed him because Julie grabbed her and jerked her backwards.
"S'Okay, Alex, I think Katie is a neat little kid. Julie? Are you there?"
"Yes, Allison?"
"I really meant it, we could do a 'girls only' thing and go to a movie or something. Wanna?"
"Well, sure, I guess." Julie said. "We'll have to ask our mom and dad..."
"Okay," Allison said, "Let me know."
"Okay."
"Alex, so can you come on New Years Eve?"
"I'll have to ask my dad ... but I'm sure he'll say 'yes'. Can I call you back tomorrow night?"
"Sure, I'll be waiting for your call. Bye."
"Bye."
Friday cut the connection. Moments later the four Power kids were again standing at the foot of Friday's gangway and about to press out into the unknown.
"Okay, you guys," Alex started. "I want to try something that I've been thinking about. Julie, I'll need your help, please." "Oh, NO!" groaned Jack, "Not another scientific experiment? Why don't you just do it?" And knock off all the Alex Power, science braniac stuff Jack added silently to himself. His older brother was a whiz at thinking up cool adventures ... but then he tried to spoil all the fun by being scientific about everything.
"Because I want to know that what I discover is true and real," Alex said heatedly defending himself against his younger brother's unwarranted attack. "I want to know that it isn't just an accident ... but that I can do it again ... as often as I like."
"What are you going to do?" asked Julie.
"I think I've figured out how to use my gravity power to actually fly ... or at least to become a powered glider."
"Big deal," snorted Jack. "C'mon, Katie; we'll go look for wild flowers or something..."
"Yeah," Katie said excitedly. "Maybe we can pick some for Mom..."
"Okay," Jack said, suddenly subdued, overcome momentarily by the memory of his mother's injury by a rogue elf from some other proto-dimension ... Kurse ... over a month ago. Deep down, Jack wondered if maybe being super heroes had not contributed, just a little bit to the accident with Kurse. It seemed that a lot of accidents and other mishaps had found the four preteen children over the last few months since Whitey had given them their powers and told them to protect their world. Life had been exciting since then, but sometimes the eight-and-a-half year old wondered if they all wouldn't be better off without the Kymellian powers.
"Come on, Katie," Jack said, leaving the two older Power kids to work out the details of Alex's experiment.
Alex was busy explaining his idea to Julie. By pulsing his gravity power on and off, Alex thought that he could duplicate the thrust he needed to fly ... as he had done with the fire extinguishers a couple of months ago during the Dragonman adventure. The fire extinguishers had worked fine, except they were heavy and too expensive. Alex was still repaying Julie the money he'd had to barrow from her to get the extinguishers recharged before Mr. Ortiz, the building super, found out about the unauthorized use.
Hairspray and deodorants were small and cheap enough to use regularly, but they simply did not have enough thrust to do the maneuvers that Alex wanted to do. Alex hoped to be able to replace the thrust of the fire extinguishers with the earth's gravity ... thus allowing him to maneuver without wiping out four months of savings to do it.
"...So, I need you to take me up about a thousand feet so that we can test this out."
"Okay," Julie said, "You've convinced me."
"I also want you there in case I screw up --- you may have to save my skinny fanny."
Julie grinned and winked at him, "I've always been there to do that." She backed up a few steps and glanced at Alex. "Ready?"
Alex degravitated and felt his feet leave the ground. "All clear forward and up."
Julie jumped into the air and willed herself to fly. Instantly, she was no longer Julie Power, rather plain looking 10-year-old girl; but Lightspeed, superpowered heroine. She caught Alex's outstretched hands, changed her flight angle to a fifty degree climb, and accelerated to three gees. Moments later the two children were a thousand feet above the thick canopy of trees below.
"Okay, Julie," Alex said. "Stop, will'ya? I wanna start from zero velocity."
His younger sister obediently brought them to a stop, now relying on Alex's gravity power to keep them aloft.
"Okay, Alex, let go," Julie said.
"You are sure that you can switch on your flight power in time?" Alex asked.
"Of course. You let go ... you stay at stop and I fall about a dozen feet or so then switch my flight power on. The result: No turbulence up here to disturb your experiment."
"Great idea, Julie! You're a genius." Alex said.
"It runs in the family," the ten-year-old grinned.
"Okay, here we go," Alex let go of his younger sister and immediately the planet's gravitational field began to tug Julie toward the center of mass. She fell, and fell ... and fell, and then suddenly the familiar rainbow of color that was a side effect of Julie's flight power appeared against the trees below and she was streaking across the sky.
"Well," the 12-year-old muttered, "No time like the present to see if this'll work --- or if I'm going top make a horse's ass outa myself."
Gee spread the wings which Julie had sewn for him. Jack had been foolish enough to call him Rocky the Flying Squirrel which had indeed given Alex the idea for this experiment and Alex had pointed out that made Jack Bullwinkle; and it hadn't helped any when Julie, with an enormous grin on her face had said to Katie in a passable Boris Badenoff voice: "Come on, Natasha, let's get Moose and Squirrel." The two girls had then proceeded to jump on their brothers and wrestle.
Gee took a long deep breath and switched off his gravity power.
Instantly, the boy began to fall. "One Mississippi ... two Mississippi ... THREE!" He switched the gravity power back on and spread the wings as wide as he could. As he had hoped, his downward velocity was instantly translated into lateral flight.
"Yeeeee-HHHAAAAAHHHHHH !"
Alex hadn't used the Rebel Yell since before this whole Kymellian-inspired adventure had started in mid August, but now he was so exhilarated that he found he couldn't contain himself. By altering the angle of the wings, forward on the right, backward on the left, Alex found that he could go into a wide, if somewhat lopsided, barrel roll.
"Julie!" he shouted, "It's working! IT'S WORKING!"
"Great!" Julie yelled, genuinely pleased that Alex was so happy. The 10-year-old knew that the changes in their lives that their powers had brought had impacted on Alex hardest of all. Her older brother; the responsible one of the Power children -- now was carrying that responsibility over to Power Pack -- responsible for the safe and sane use of almost godlike powers that the four of them had "inherited" from Whitey -- it was an almost unbearable burden. Anything that helped Alex shed this cloak of crushing responsibility and be a kid again Julie was all in favor of.
On the ground, Jack and Katie stopped their explorations and looked up, shielding their eyes from the bright, deep red crimson sphere of the alien sun.
Jack groaned and returned to the task of searching out suitable wild flowers.
"Oooohhh!" Katie suddenly squealed in delight from around a bend in the arroyo. "Look, Jack, there are some really big ones," Katie said, her pudgy index finger pointing at a sunflower sized stalk. "And pretty too." She added.
"Yeah," Jack said half-heartedly. He was still a little hurt that Alex had not asked him to help with the experiment. So what if he wasn't particularly good at or interested in science? He could still help -- he could follow directions -- well most of the time anyway.
Katie was crawling up the side of the arroyo towards the oversized wild flower and its iridescent purple bloom, intent upon carrying it home to their mother.
Katie stopped her scramble up the side of the arroyo and, holding on to an exposed root, leaned back, shading her eyes from the sun. "Jack!" she called excitedly. "There's a cave up here! C'mon, let's explore."
"Katie, NO! wait for me -- it might be dangerous."
Katie turned around to look down at her older brother scornfully. "So what?" she said defiantly. "Girls can be just as brave as boys. Julie said so!" She turned her back on him and continued the climb to the ledge where the cave was located.
"Dumb girl!" Jack muttered and clouded up the side of the arroyo, resolidifying on the small ledge just in front of the cave where the sunflower-like plant was growing. Grunting, Katie joined him in a few seconds.
Jack stood between Katie and the cave entrance. "I meant, jerkface, that there may be something in the cave. Something that's dangerous."
Katie's face lost most of its defiant glare. "You mean monsters?"
Jack shrugged. "I dunno, maybe. This is an alien planet, not Central Park."
Katie peered into the gloom of the cave. "Maybe there are monsters in there," she began uncertainty, "but I'm Energizer. I can powerball any old monsters. I'd better power up, though." She brushed her finger tips along the arroyo's face, spelling 'K-a-t-i-e P-o-w-e-r' in her shaky kindergarten script. The clay and rock of the arroyo wall glowed briefly and vanished into small puffs of energy, all of which were swept up efficiently by Katie's Kymellian-born control of energy discharges and stored up for later use. The five-year-old began to glow faintly.
Jack grinned at his baby sister. She might be just a girl, but she was no sissy that was for sure. Jack had decided long ago that as sisters went, he'd been very lucky to draw two sensible girls like Julie and Katie ... after all, he could have been stuck with someone like Elaine in his class at school. Yeecchhh!
"C'mon, Katie. Quit fooling around and charge up those batteries of yours. It's Clobbering Time! Let's get those bug-eyed monsters!"
The five-year-old grinned mischievously at her brother. The glow around her hands increased to a yellow-white incandescence as she swept them across the arroyo face. A swatch of clay and earth six-inches deep disappeared along a three foot section of the arroyo face that Katie's hands touched. She glowed noticeably now, even in direct sunlight.
Katie's glow, however, did little to dispel the darkness of the cave once they entered. The cave was also much larger than either had guessed and sloped downward at a gentle grade.
"Wow!" Katie began, "it's big."
"Yeah," Jack agreed, "and dark. I've got a bad feeling about this. I wish we had a flashlight."
"My glow is prettier ..." Katie said.
"Maybe, but it only goes a little way -- and then the rest of the cave looks even darker."
Jack took a few steps into the darkness and reached out to take Katie's hand, a gesture that she did not resist, even though she wasn't a baby anymore.
Jack took another step forward and this time was rewarded with a low, rumbling hiss from off to the right, not unlike a battle challenge from a combat-hardened alley cat. Two bright jade green eyes suddenly glowed in the darkness, seemingly just beyond the range of Katie's glow.
"Jack," Katie said slowly, "I think we'd better get outa here."
"Yeah, Katie," Jack agreed, "You're right. Back up slowly. Don't do anything sudden."
There was a growl from the direction of the eyes.
"Nice kitty," Katie said in a small voice.
Dear God Jack prayed silently, I promise I'll try to be a good boy from now on ... just don't let Katie miss if she has to powerball this thing
Jack's eyes were slowly becoming accustomed to the gloom in the cave, and he was able to see the outline of a lion-sized, sleek catlike creature. From the darkness beyond Katie's illumination came another growl, which trailed off into a low almost purring sound.
"Jack-?"
"Shut up and run!" Jack roared, turning as the cat creature went into a crouch, ready to pounce on its prey. Katie, who was still backing up, caught her heel on an outcropping of rock in the floor. She feel backwards into Jack and for a moment, lost control. The energy stored up deep within her modified cells released their pent up charge and a huge powerball erupted from the girl's chest and arched through the air, leaving a trail of ozone and ionized nitrogen behind it. The powerball struck the ceiling of the cave, some four meters overhead and started a cave in.
With a terrified yowl, the owner of the green eyes darted past the two children. Jack grabbed Katie and pulled her back into the cave before going cloudy himself. The cave in completely obliterated the cave entrance and the cave was plunged into total darkness and was full of rock dust and falling gravel as Jack resolidified.
"Katie?"
There was no answer, only the continuing sinister sound of sliding sand and gravel.
"Katie?" Jack called out again in a small voice. "Where are you?"
Terror gripped the eight-year-old. Not that he was trapped of course, the Great Mass Master could slip out through even the smallest cracks and chinks in the rocks of the landslide, but if Katie were unconscious ... then she would not be able to disintegrate her way out of the cave in ... and even if she were awake and could use her power, rock slides were notoriously unstable and it might just cause a worse one if Katie tried to tunnel out. He'd learned about rock slides when they were studying California in their geography class. Along with earthquakes, California was noted for it's rock and mud slides. Imagine that -- Jack grinned to him self -- old Miss Strain Stain on the brain the kids called her had actually been right when she had told the class that one could never be certain WHAT scrap of knowledge might be vitally important in the future ...
"Get a grip, Power!" Jack scolded himself for letting his mind wander. "This is serious!" As his eyes again became accustomed to the low level of light, he made out Katie, lying on the sandy floor of the cave only a meter or so away. As Jack started toward her, she groaned and sat up.
"Are you all right?" Jack asked anxiously.
"Yeah, I guess so. Did I get the monster?"
"Naw, you got the ceiling. But it scared him so bad that he ran out of the cave. We're going to have to figure a way to get you out, though. I think if you try to tunnel out, it may cause a worse cave in."
"Huh?"
"I learned about rock slides and cave-ins in geography," Jack said. "These things are unstable," he said, waving a hand at the slide that blocked the entrance.
Katie gazed admiringly at her older brother. How clever and smart he was; but poor Jack, why had he not thought of the obvious solution to the problem?
"Look, I know," she said. "You can use your cloud power to get out, and then you can go to Friday and get Kitty to come use her go through the wall power to get me out."
"AwwRIGHT Katie!" Jack said enthusiastically "I'll be back in a flash." Jack clouded out and began to seep through the rock slide. As he resolidified on the outside, Friday was carefully landing in the arroyo near the cave. As the Smartship's skids touched the ground, the gangway extended and Kitty, Alex and Julie scrambled out.
"Jack Power!" Julie shouted angrily, obviously terrified. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Well - um - It was Katie's idea..."
It sounded lame even to him.
"You're older," Alex said calmly. Somehow that was worse than Julie's screaming. "You were supposed to keep HER out of trouble."
"Jack, you doorknob!" Julie sputtered. "Is Katie all right?"
"Yeah, she's fine," Jack said, turning away from his older sister so she wouldn't see the tears that threatened to cascade down his cheek any moment. Kitty's out of phase, ghostlike shape exited from the cave, carrying Katie, who was excitedly telling Kitty all about her adventures with the monster.
Alex and Julie rushed over to Katie and Jack turned toward Friday. "I was on my way to get you," Jack said. "How did you know to come?"
"I knew that you were on the way," Friday said. "I told you I would be monitoring your suit radios." "Oh, yeah ... I forgot," Jack said. "So we were never in any real danger at all?"
"On the contrary, Jack. Crawler reports that the animal you and Katie encountered in the cave was a large carnivore, one of the most deadly in this area."
"Yeah," Alex said as he came up. "So you're lucky you're not Purina Monster Chow."
A soft chime sounded from within Friday's innards. "Alex, the solar flare activity has subsided enough. It is time that we started home."
"So soon?" Alex asked.
"Yes, I am afraid so. The conditions on this star are not stable, and if we do not leave right now, another flare may strand us again."
"Okay," Alex said, resigned, "Let's get under way."
"Ohh. Crawler!" Katie said as the large furred droid brushed past her and disappeared into Friday's interior. "What about Flyer, Friday?"
"I have recalled her, and gotten an acknowledgment. She will be here before we are actually ready to lift off. Everyone in, please."
Kitty, still holding Katie in her arms, walked up the gangway.
"Just a few minutes more, Friday?" Alex pleaded.
"No!" It was Kitty who issued that command.
"But-" The 12-year-old was stopped in mid-rebuttal by a cold stare from Kitty. Amazing how a girl only a few years older than himself had already mastered the same icy stare his mother used to convey intense displeasure and impending doom unless orders were followed to the letter. Amazing? Perhaps frightening was more in line with Alex Power's feelings.
CHAPTER SIX
HOME
The Kymellian Smartship slowly settled two centimeters above the tarpaper roof at 12 West 71st Street, Manhattan, New York after having defeated the combined electronic might of the world's Distant Early Warning system, which had been established a couple of years ago after the alien invasion scares of the 1990s. Friday's radar and sensor cloaks were more than a match for the primitive attempts to discover its presence. And the Smartship was also equipped with state of the art Kymellian electronic warfare and ELINT sensors. Although the existence of ships like Friday was suspected by the CoDominium's Aerospace Defense Command, there was still little hard evidence, consisting of a few crashed examples. The very thought of having to engage in combat with such craft gave ASDC generals ulcers.
Friday's decent into the heart of the most densely populated island on the North American continent had gone totally unobserved, except for a few birds who were substantially harder to fool than electronic sensor webs.
"It's good to be home again," Kitty said. "It was fun, but next time leave me out of your plans, huh, Alex?" The words were harsh, but it was said in a tone of voice that said the 15-year-old was teasing Alex, not seriously annoyed.
"Okay," Alex said. "It is good to be home."
"Yeah, I guess..." Jack mumbled.
"Don't be so glum, little brother," Alex said punching the 8-year-old's shoulder. "All we have to do is outfit Friday with some Xylonite® PJs and it's off we go into the wild black yonder again."
"Say, that's right! And with Friday's replicators, all we really need is a sample of Xylonite®. How hard can it be to get ahold of a little bit of the stuff?"
"Wait a minute, you guys ..." Kitty grinned.
"We can go exploring again?" Julie asked. She had thoroughly enjoyed their outing to the alien world and if the truth were known, she would not be opposed to returning. Or...
"Maybe next time we can visit Sirius, the Dog Star," Julie said.
"Or maybe the Cat Star," added Katie helpfully.
"You dummy," Jack laughed , "There is no CAT star."
"Yes there is!" Katie said hotly, spoiling for a fight. "Isn't there, Alex?"
"Well ... there's Leo the Lion..." Alex started.
"And a lion is a kind of cat," Katie said, giving Jack a wet Bronx cheer. "So there!"
"Alex, I am sorry to interrupt, but I will need the hyperwave relay back. Letting your father see that and perhaps take it apart would be a violation of the Prime Directive."
"I'll get it!" shouted Katie. "C'mon, Kitty. Please take me with your power? I like that!"
"All right, Katie." And moments later the two disappeared through the roof into the Power's apartment below. Julie and Jack took the more conventional way, via the stairs down to the 12th floor.
"Well," Alex began, "I guess you're happy to be back home and get rid of us, huh?"
"That is not true, Alex," Friday said. "This has been an enjoyable adventure for me also."
Alex let his fingertips lightly brush over the small but densely instrumental control board in front of the pilot's couch, just behind the viewport. "Friday, I know that you don't need a pilot ...but these controls do function, don't they?"
"Of course, Alex. They are an emergency back up for my flight and control sub-systems." Something that vaguely resembled a laugh issued from Friday. "After all, Whitey had to feel like he was more than just a passenger! It allows for our two minds to work upon a problem together."
"Can you .. will you teach me to fly?" Alex asked abruptly, almost afraid of what the answer would be. There was silence for a moment, and then Friday said: "I can teach you the mechanical action of operating my control surfaces, they are relatively simple. What I cannot do is teach you the experience and wisdom you will need to go with the knowledge. That can only come with time."
"But..."
"Let me show you something." Friday continued.
Friday's 3D projector switched on, a miniature spiral galaxy 18" across formed, slowly spinning on its axis.
"There is a whole galaxy out there, Alex, and beyond that countless other galaxies. We Kymellians have explored maybe 3 of our galaxy's total volume in the past 2,000 years since our race took it's first staggering steps into space. Of those millions of stars, only 15 or 20 have been explored in an any real detailed systematic way. There are literally millions of intelligent races out there ... some benevolent, some utterly insane by any standards we recognize. But most are just neutral, and so highly unpredictable.
"The danger out there is immense.
"We took several very big chances this time, and the Odd Gods of the Galaxy were kind to us ... this time! I do not think that we can count upon that to always be true."
"But you will at least listen if I can devise a plan?" Alex asked.
"Of course, Alex...but I warn you, it would have to be a very good plan."
"Fair enough," Alex said, stepping off the gangway and onto the roof. The boy laid a hand against the polished alloy of Friday's outer hull. "Thanks, Friday."
"S'okay, Alex."
"FRIDAY!" Alex shouted after the Smartship as it lifted into the air on its antigravity pads. "You said 'S'okay' ... not 'it is okay' ... you used slang and a contraction!" Alex yelled into cupped hands. "It's the first time I've ever heard you do that."
"I'll ... I mean 'I will'... try to watch that." There was unmistakable laughter in the mid-afternoon winter sky over Manhattan as the Smartship rose to fifty meters over the apartment building. Turning on the dorsal axis, Friday ignited his powerful nuclear-electric thrusters, and quickly dwindled to a bright spark against the deep blue winter sky. Looks just like the Millennium Falcon taking off from Mos Eisley! Alex thought. His costume radio sputtered as the squelch circuit cut out, and Friday's voice whispered in his ear: "I seem to be becoming more and more human as my association with you and your siblings continues ... soon I'll be totally corrupted." Again there was laughter echoing across the roof.
"Yeah," Alex said softly. "STAY 'corrupted'. We love you that way."
EPILOGUE
The incessant buzz of the alarm, and the cold nose of her cat, Whitey, finally succeeded in awakening Katie Power. She groaned and rolled over. "Who set the alarm for Saturday morning?" she mumbled as she pressed the alarm abort switch. The buzzing of the alarm instantly stopped, but Whitey's cold nose, and his constant 'pumping' with his paws against her side, were still there. "No use," she muttered. "I'll never get back to sleep." Katie swung her long, slim legs out of bed, pulled on her flimsy robe, and walked into the kitchen. The large white tomcat followed after her, meowing expectantly.
"So that's why you got me up," Katie said, bending down and scooping the cat into her arms. She was rewarded with a loud purr of contentment from deep within the feline body. "It's breakfast time!"
She tore open a packet of Friskies Kitty Delight, and emptied it into Whitey's dish and set the tomcat down on the counter. Whitey attacked the moist nibbles as if they were so many tiny mice. Katie put on some water for tea and went into the living room / office of the small efficiency apartment in Caracas. The display of the 3D calendar/clock flickered and swayed over the small flat projector lying on the coffee table. "Time to change the batteries," Katie reminded herself.
26 September 2020 AD
The 23-year-old freelance photographer grumbled something about having to get up on a Saturday as she sat down in front of her small desk and keyed the comm-web. A 14-inch screen glowed faintly, the brightness and contrast having been set for night use last evening as Katie had uploaded a pictorial essay on the Rebel Lunar Separatists to her boss at INFOnet. The rebels were still agitating for full membership in the United Nations, although they had renounced the violence that had marked their formation at the turn of the century. The Press, including Katie were their weapons of choice now.
She engaged the voice interface and said into the air: "Messages,"
There was a brief pause and then a soft electronic bweep as the message scrolled across the screen.
DUMB GIRL:
CATCH THE NEWSFAX OUTA GOLDSTONE
TRACKING. CODE: ''NEMESIS '' ... 5th PARAGRAPH
DOWN -- AND THEN CALL ME!
Airhead.
"I'll call you an airhead all right, Jack!" Katie laughed and keyed up the newsfax service. The article that Jack had called to her attention was a report from the first manned exploration to probe outside the solar system to Nemesis, the small red dwarf star that astronomers at Far Side Astronomical Complex had found in 2008. Katie grinned as she thought of POWER PACK's own exploration probe to the tiny dim companion star, fully six years before it had been discovered by the rest of the world. She scrolled down to the fifth paragraph.
"As mankind pushes ever further into the unknown reaches of the galaxy, it can be safely assumed that we will run across mystery after mystery - most of which will probably never be solved. This reporter is willing to bet the bonus pay she will earn as the pool newsfax reporter on Man's first probe of interstellar space that none of those mysteries will be any more mysterious than what has been uncovered here on Nova Terra. Carved into the clay wall of an ancient arroyo almost 2 light years from the earth is a bit of graffiti ... the name: KATIE POWER
see accompanying photo copy 2020 INFONet
"Oh my gawd!" Katie said as she punched up the photo. There
from 18 years ago was her childish scrawl, carved deep into the clay by her
Kymellian Energy Power.
scrawled across an arroyo wall two light years away ...
Absently, she pressed the "Esc" switch and again keyed the Comm-web, this time videophone service. The dial-tone filled the room and Katie dialed the thirteen digit code that would connect her via faster than light hyper-radio to her brother's quarters at Cydonia Base, Mars.
"Ringing" the screen said and displayed an icon of a phone literally ringing off the hook. The screen blanked and a sultry, artificial voice answered: "Lieutenant Power's Quarters. Who is calling, please?"
"His sister, Katie."
The small high definition screen lit with a lifelike image of her older brother, struggling into his ASDC uniform jerseys. Commander Cody Davis of outer space! Katie grinned to herself.
"Hey, Dumb Girl ... Did you get my message? Did you see it?"
There was no doubt about what the "IT" Jack was referring to was.
"Yeah ... but I still can't believe it!"
"Well, I told you not to carve your name everywhere you go. I knew one of them would come back to haunt you..." Jack grinned to show he was teasing. "I don't think it'll make any difference. No one but us knows how it got there. But I sure would like to get credit for being first to Nova Terra."
"Yeah, but it'd cause too many complications to our lives."
"Don't I know it!" Jack sighed. "I better let you go ... these Quantum Link Radio charges will eat you alive, and besides, I've gotta get out to the skimmer pad ... gotta take a couple of science hotshots out to Olympus Mons; seems they've found another pyramid city out there."
"Okay," Katie said, "Write soon."
"Yah! Love ya, Dumb Girl!"
"And you, Airhead ..." The Areo-Space Defense Command logo glowed on the screen for an instant, and then the screen blanked to display the incoming call signal.
"Accept call," Katie said. She was delighted to see her parents' comm-web number in South Carolina appear on the screen. Whitey jumped into her lap as her father's face came on the screen.
"Hi, Daddy!" Katie said as she stroked Whitey's fur.
"Katie, have you seen the newsfax this morning? I want to ask you a few questions..."