After
two weeks stuck on the Christa without any kind of outside contact, Commander
Goddard and Miss Davenport had finally agreed on something.
"Twenty-four hours of shore leave on the next habitable planet we come across,"
Goddard said, "And thanks to our new Astrometrics
room, we've already located the nearest habitable planet. Terrien?"
he asked, turning to the Christa's new crewman.
"The planet Mercan," said Terrien.
"It's an inhabited planet, not much larger than Pluto, and this morning during
the graveyard shift, they contacted us. I didn't discover it in Astrometrics, Commander."
"My mistake," Goddard apologized.
"Anyway, the Mercanians invited us to enjoy the
pleasures of their world. They've got a little bit of everything. Now then,
guys, I'm sure Miss Davenport has written up a schedule of events. I suggest we
throw it out the airlock and have a bit of fun," Terrien
said with a smile.
"Second it!" Harlan called.
"Well," Miss Davenport huffed.
"Regardless, we'll arrive at Mercan in about an hour.
I suggest you prepare for a bit of fun," Goddard said.
"I cannot wait to get into one of the pools at Mercan," she said excitedly. "I was a swimming champion on Saturn for a couple of years, you know."
"Really?" asked Rosie. "I've never swam in water before. Only in the cooled lava pools on Mercury."
"What did you swim in on Saturn?" Suzee asked.
"You don't know?" Rosie asked.
"No, it was before Suzee and I met," interjected Cat. "I used to go to the pool the Rigelians built on Titan all the time with my parents before they became diplomats."
"So, what was it like?" Rosie asked.
"It was so much fun. There were two types of pools. One was a regular pool where there are steps to get in and out, and the other one was basically a bubble filled with water. It was in this force field that kept it up in the air and then, once they'd gotten about ten people into it, they'd deactivate the gravity inside the bubble. It was exhilarating." Cat smiled at the memory. Harlan wanted to come onto the Command Post in his swim trunks, but Commander Goddard shunned that idea, saying that he wanted Harlan to pilot the Christa down to Mercan before he could enjoy himself. Harlan activated the landing procedure.
"Landing struts activated," Harlan reported as per S.O.P.
"Take us to code two," Goddard ordered.
"I hate code two. It always messes up my experiments," Bova muttered.
"Entering code two," Harlan said. "Descending," he reported. From another part of the ship, the sound of test tubes exploding could be faintly heard"Landing struts engaged," Cat said. She at least, had managed to escape the bathing suit issue, probably because her suit covered more of her body. As usual, it seemed to take an hour to land, although it actually took less than ten minutes to activate the landing struts, begin the decent, engage the struts, and come to a landing. Finally, the Christa landed.
"Well, I do believe that constitutes as a job well done," Goddard said.
"Can we go now?" Suzee asked.
"Yes. Enjoy your vacation," Goddard said, smiling. The cadets vacated the Command Post almost instantly, leaving Goddard by himself. "Okay, so, Cat, Bova, where do we go first?" Terrien asked.
"I want to check out the food courts," Bova said, hurrying off to one of the many food carts advertising edible things from around the quadrant to eat.
"Okay, so that leaves it at just you and me," Terrien amended, looking over to Catalina.
"Make that just you. I see the pool," Cat said, hurrying over to the pool of crystal clear water.
"How did I not see that coming?" Terrien asked himself. A couple of young women passed by. "Oh. The scenery here is lovely," he said with a grin. Elmira was the only member of the cadets who was not enjoying herself. Although she was with the invited cadets, she was staying on the Christa in the hopes that she would not be imprisoned for being a Spung. Suddenly, she had one of her visions.
"Hidden here and around, lie four crystals, powers abound. Journey through the core and you shall see, why their mystical power led them to thee," she whispered. "...And so, while the rest of the crew lay defenseless, I picked up Dram's sword and threw it at his monster, and allowed Dram to rest in peace," Harlan 'retold' to a couple of ladies at a friendly juice bar.
"Wow, how brave of you," one of the ladies, a Brunali, cooed.
"Yes, yes, I know. And I bet you're all dying to know how I rescued Suzee from the grips of the computer Pezu, but I believe that my friend Radu would like to speak with me. So, until next time, ladies," Harlan said, flashing a smile at the ladies. He walked over to Radu.
"So, Mr. 'Ladies' Man,' how'd it go?" Radu asked.
"Just like I thought. They ate it up. I told you, making yourself seem like the hero of your own adventures always gets them interested in you," Harlan said with a sly smile.
"Yeah, but what do you do when they find out the truth?" Radu asked.
"That's the beauty of these vacation planets. It's very hard, if not impossible, for them to find out the truth," Harlan said. "Hey, let's go swim."
"I, uh, can't," Radu said.
"Why not?"
"I don't have a swimsuit."
"No problem. You can head back to the Christa and grab one of mine," Harlan suggested.
"Uh, no, I don't think so," Radu said, beginning to look uncomfortable.
"Why?"
"It's... it's against Andromedan beliefs to show any part of the body other than the face, and that's simply for identification purposes," Radu explained.
"Why?"
"It's a religious thing," Radu said.
"Oh. Okay. I understand," Harlan said, though he was still confused. Then a hooded figure grabbed Radu's arm.
"Ah!" he cried.
"Radu, it's me," Elmira said from under the hood.
"Elmira?" Radu asked, the blood returning to his face.
"Yes. Radu, I had a vision and had to come see you. It's very important," Elmira said. They pulled back and nearly knocked over Suzee.
"Watch out!" Suzee cried, "Could you two be a little more careful?" she asked.
"Suzee, come on, it's Elmira. It's important," Harlan said. The four pulled back to a corner behind a table.
"What was your vision, Elmira?" Radu asked. Elmira closed her eyes, then spoke.
"Hidden here and around, lie four crystals, powers abound. Journey through the core and you shall see, why their mystical power led them to thee," she said.
"What's that mean?" Suzee asked.
"Got me," Harlan said.
"It relates to a great source of power somewhere here on Mercan. And there are four crystals, which hold great power," Elmira said.
"We should tell Commander Goddard," Harlan said uncharacteristically. The four headed back to the Christa, and the two men at the table pulled back their hoods.
"Well, what do you make of that?" asked the one with the scar.
"Those crystals and the ship will sell wonderfully on the Spung market," the other one said.
"My thoughts exactly," snickered Reaver. He and Ubi put their hoods back on and headed back to the port where they'd landed their ship. "So, your vision told you that there were four crystals with great power, somewhere here on Mercan?" Goddard asked.
"Only one is one Mercan. But the others cannot be far away. After all, I would not have received this vision if they were separated far apart from each other," Elmira said.
"All right, so what do these crystals do?" Goddard asked.
"I do not know, but I believe that when we find the first, we will discover why we need to find the other three," Elmira explained.
"I don't know. It sounds dangerous," Goddard said.
"Commander, I have my visions for good reasons. If I saw these crystals, it means we must get them," Elmira said.
"Be that as it may, I don't want the four of you putting yourselves in that kind of danger."
"Commander, what if we bring the others with us?" Harlan suggested.
"I don't think it's a good idea to interrupt their vacation," Goddard said, still wary.
"Well, we might need Rosie, Bova, and Cat in case there's some kind of problem," Harlan said.
"Fine, but volunteers only after them," Goddard sighed, "And take Thelma and the Gizbot with you. The space cadets stood in front of a sheer rock wall, where Elmira had led them. "Okay, so where is the entrance?" Terrien asked. He had insisted on joining the others.
"Elmira?" Radu asked. Elmira closed her eyes and attempted to remember more information from her vision.
"We need to run up to the wall. And not be afraid of injury. It is a built-in defense mechanism to protect people from finding the crystal," Elmira said.
"I feel so welcome," Bova muttered.
"How do we know that the crystal's there?" Harlan asked.
"The entire stone wall here is a very powerful hologram. Radu, as you are the most resistant to harsh impacts, perhaps you should go first," Elmira suggested. Radu gulped and moved backwards, then ran towards the wall. Upon reaching the wall surface, he vanished.
"Radu?" Rosie asked.
"I'm here," Radu's voice called. "There's a large cavern on the other side of the wall." That was enough for the others. One by one they ran through the wall. Upon reaching the other side, they activated the lights on their packs.
"Okay, now, which way do we go?" Harlan asked.
"Straight on, we should reach a fork very soon," Elmira said. They moved out. Once they were out of earshot, Reaver and Ubi appeared in the cavern.
"Well, how nice of them to light the way for us," Reaver snickered. The two followed the lights from the kids' packs and Thelma's finger. "Commander Goddard, may I remind you that the safety of these students is our responsibility? Why did you send them off on some wild goose chase without any adult supervision?" Davenport cried.
"Relax, Miss Davenport. It's harmless and they have Thelma with them. She will let us know if they've encountered any trouble. And besides, I have a feeling they'll be bringing a little bit more than wild geese home," Goddard said with a smile.
"You'd better hope they all come back intact, or else I will take direct authority over them. Then you will take the backseat," Davenport warned.
"Why Teresa. I had no idea you felt so strongly about those students of ours," Goddard said, intentionally using her first name to annoy her. "Elmira, we must have been walking for hours," Harlan moaned.
"Three hours, five minutes, and thirty-two seconds," Thelma supplied.
"Thanks, Thelma," Harlan sighed.
"The fork is just a short distance away," Elmira said.
"That's what you said an hour ago. I get the feeling we're walking in circles," Harlan said.
"Wouldn't surprise me," Bova said dryly.
"Bova," Terrien growled.
"Wait. Look up there!" Rosie said, pointing to where the lights stopped.
"It's the fork," Cat said.
"About time," Suzee muttered.
"Okay, Elmira. Which way now?" Radu asked.
"We take the left passageway," Elmira said after a moment. The cadets hurried down the left way, Reaver and Ubi still silently following them. "Okay, now what way do we go?" asked Cat, as they arrived at another fork.
"Right. We should almost be there," Elmira said.
"Wait," Radu said. "I hear something." He shushed the others. After a minute of focusing, he gasped. "Turn off your lights," he whispered. The others obeyed.
"Why did we turn off our lights?" Harlan asked, turning to Cat, thinking she was Radu.
"I hear Ubi," Radu whispered.
"Ubi?" Terrien asked.
"A pirate. He works with the guy who was responsible for Commander Goddard's being reduced in rank and becoming our teacher - a man named Reaver," Radu said.
"And so they've been following our lights because they want the crystals too!" Terrien exclaimed.
"Right. Only now that our lights are out, they'll have to follow the sounds we make. We have to go down the right path carefully," Radu whispered.
"Gotcha," Harlan said.
"Why couldn't you hear them before?" Suzee asked.
"I think I heard some static-like crackling back while we were close to the holographic wall. That must have messed with my hearing," Radu explained. "Let's go. And remember, stay quiet." "Ubi, which way did they go?" Reaver asked.
"I don't know - I can't find the scent. And without their lights, I'm as blind as you are in this darkness," Ubi growled. After glancing in a couple of directions, Ubi turned and ran straight into a wall, knocking himself unconscious. Reaver promptly tripped over Ubi and joined him on the ground. A resounding CRACK! shattered the silence that the cadets were walking in.
"What was that?" Harlan asked. Radu listened.
"I... I think it was Ubi and Reaver running into a wall in the dark," Radu smiled.
"Good, that means we can turn our lights back on," Suzee said.
"Yeah, but let's hurry. I don't know how long they'll be unconscious," Radu said. The others nodded.
Back on the Christa, the rest of the crew was getting worried."
"Commander, where are the others?" Frankie asked. "Shouldn't they be back by
now? It's almost lights out and they're still not back."
"Yeah, and I wanted to test out a few new Mercanian
recipes on them," Tierra said.
"I don't know," said Commander Goddard, walking over to a commlink.
"Thelma," Goddard said into the link. There was no response.
"Well, Commander, I believe I warned you about this sort of thing. Now the
students are missing," Davenport said.
"If they aren't back by day break tomorrow, we'll all go look for them. It's
too late now; we could get lost looking for them," Goddard said. Davenport didn't like that
argument, but she had to live with it.
"It is getting hotter. The temperature is almost 12% warmer than when we entered this cavern," Thelma said.
"You think there's a reason for it?" Cat asked, wiping a thin layer of sweat from her forehead.
"We have been traveling downward for the past seven hours. Also, the ground beneath us appears to have similarities to an Earth treadmill. It has been moving us slightly forward while we have been walking," Thelma said.
"Seven hours? Man, that means we've missed our check-in points with Commander Goddard," Harlan said.
"Do not worry, Harlan. My sensors indicate that there is a shield around the cavern preventing our contacting the Christa. It is not our fault for missing the check-in points," Thelma said with her quirky smile.
"Great. I'd suggest a rest period, but we don't know if Reaver and Ubi have woken up yet. There's a chance that we'd lose valuable time," Suzee said.
"Wait. Elmira, in your vision, and your prediction, didn't you say something about 'through the core'?" Radu asked.
"Yes, I did," Elmira said.
"What if-"
"What if that means go through the core of the planet?" Terrien finished with a gulp.
"The planet core? As in filled with molten lava that will burn us to cinders before we can get to the crystal?" Cat asked.
"That's ridiculous," Suzee said. "We haven't traveled nearly far enough to reach the core of a planet like Mercan – and anyway, the gravity at Mercan's core would crush us to a fine, messy paste. It's probably an upwelling of some sort that came from Mercan's core. Very hot, but several hundred miles away from the core."
"It wouldn't be too hot for me," Rosie suggested, "And I can last longer without sleep than you guys – I can absorb energy from the molten rock."
"I think that's best. If Rosie goes, the rest of us can get some sleep," Suzee said.
"Rosie, it should be a straight journey to the crystal. But still, be careful," Elmira said.
"I will," Rosie said. She walked off, continuing the journey that the others could not. Rosie could sense the heat of the upwelling before she heard it. Then, she saw it. A small bridge ran through some kind of bubble. Surrounding the bubble from all sides was a sea of magma from the true molten core of Mercan. Suddenly, she realized something was wrong. Even with her heat absorption powers, she should not be able to walk through here comfortably. It should be draining to walk through. And why was there a bubble in the core?
Rosie decided not to push her luck. She swiftly ran across the bridge and to the other side. The bubble stayed in existence, though, and now there was a red light shining in front of her. She ran forward to it.
"The crystal," she gasped. The crystal glowed and crackled with red energy. Above it was an inscription.
"'Find the four crystals and you shall find that which your dreams do hope'," Rosie read. "That must mean that it'll take us where we most want to go!" she cried. She grabbed the crystal without another second's thought and ran back through the bubble. Once she was through, however, the bubble began to flicker.
"Uh oh," she gasped. She sprinted away, now running on adrenaline. Almost immediately, the flickering intensified until the bubble finally crackled out of existence, magma pouring through to fill up the missing space. Rosie ran until she reached where the others were.
"Rosie? What's going on?" Cat asked.
"Run! There's magma coming!" Rosie cried.
"What?" the others cried. Instinct kicked in and the others ran, trying to get away from the deadly magma. Unfortunately, the magma was gaining on them.
Then, they tripped over two unconscious forms.
"Ubi and Reaver," Harlan said.
"Do we leave them?" Suzee asked.
"Not even pirates like them deserve to be burned to cinders. Maybe Ubi has a natural reflex and will telemorph us out of here if we're all together," Harlan said. The magma was now close enough for the cadets to see it. The kids closed their eyes just as the Gizbot zapped Ubi, causing him to wake up, see the magma, and telemorphed every one out just before the magma hit. The crew found themselves, along with Reaver, outside the cliff.
"Are we okay?" Rosie asked.
"You won't be for much longer," Ubi growled. Reaver had awakened as well, and stood next to Ubi with a smirk on his face.
"Well, well. Seth Goddard's kids have brought themselves to me. And look, Ubi. They brought the crystal," Reaver snickered. He reached for it, but Rosie tossed it to Cat who caught it.
"Just give it to us, Rainbow. We won't harm your friends," Reaver snickered. Cat threw a sonic blast at Reaver just as Bova fired a crackle of electricity at his butt. Ubi tried to take the crystal out of Cat's hand, but Rosie fired a heat blast right in front of him, forcing him to stop short. However, past experience taught them that they wouldn't be able to stop them with their abilities. Luckily, the Christa arrived just then.
"We'll be getting that crystal, one way or another. Let's go, Ubi," Reaver ordered, and the two telemorphed out. "So, Reaver and Ubi are going to go after the crystals as well?" Goddard asked after the rest of the crew had returned to the ship.
"They seem to only know of this crystal's existence," Terrien said.
"No, they don't. They were at the juice bar where I told Harlan, Suzee and Radu of my vision. They'll be looking for the other three," Elmira said.
"Then we need to get those other three before they do. Elmira, where do you think the next crystal is?" Goddard asked. Elmira focused on her vision.
"I believe it is on a planetoid not far from here," she said.
"C'mon, Elmira. Let's head down to Astrometrics and look for the planetoid," Terrien said. The two hurried down to Astrometrics, where Terrien immediately began to scan the area around the ship.
"It should be within two parsecs of Mercan," Elmira told Terrien. Terrien looked up from his scans.
"Then we're in trouble. The only planetoid close to Mercan is the penal colony of Rura Penthe," Terrien said.
"That's it. I remember an inscription of 'Rura Penthe: Work, no leisure'," Elmira said.
"We should inform Commander Goddard." "Rura Penthe? That's one of the most dangerous places in the known galaxy," Goddard said.
"And that's where Elmira saw the next crystal," Terrien said.
"Commander, we can't go to Rura Penthe! The most dangerous criminals have been locked up there!" Davenport cried.
"Not all of them," Bova said, referring to Ubi and Reaver.
"Commander, with even one crystal, Ubi and Reaver will become bent on getting us and not only taking our crystal, but kidnapping me to locate the other two," Elmira said.
"We can't let them take Elmira," Radu nearly shouted.
"Calm down, Mr. Radu. Now, let's take a vote. Rura Penthe, or continue home?" Everyone but Davenport said Rura Penthe, and when faced with the puppy dog eyes the students came up with, Davenport couldn't refuse.
"But Commander, keep in mind that we are responsible for the safety of these students," she said. Goddard nodded.
"Mr. Band, set course for Rura Penthe," Goddard ordered.