Chapter 5 – Crash Landing
- The space adult? - Chad and 362 asked.
14 nodded.
- So... he's just another adult who wants to take over the world and get all the children out of his way... We can finish him off just like we've done with other adults. - said Chad confidently.
Numbuh 14 looked ahead. The escape pod had several chairs. On some, the seatbelt was open, but on the chairs where the group was sitting, the belt was closed. It was as if you were in a rollercoaster car. The belt was a protective bar that closed in on you. So that you wouldn't fall during the ride.
The floor of the capsule was made of wood. The ceiling was covered in metal sheets and nails. At the front, there was a window where they could see the Earth in its greatest splendor, and there was a panel with several buttons and a stick for piloting the capsule manually. 14 had forgotten how much that sight calmed him. It was as if nothing bad could happen to him or anyone close to him.
- If that were the case, we would have defeated him a long time ago... - commented numbuh 14.
They were getting closer and closer to the planet. Everything seemed to work out in the end, if only a turbine in the capsule hadn't exploded. The capsule started to shake a lot because of the explosion and began to emit an alert.
- ALERT! ALERT! TURBINE DAMAGED! TURBINE DAMAGED!
- What the hell was that? - asked 362.
In space, he could see that missiles from the lunar base were being fired towards the capsule. The remaining turbines would have been destroyed by the missiles if Chad hadn't interfered.
- WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!
He removed his protective belt, pressed a few buttons and used the stick. The escape pod's remaining turbines fired their rockets to maximum. They were getting closer and closer to planet Earth.
- ARE YOU CRAZY?! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT WE HAVE RE-ENTRY?! - SHOUTED 362.
- THIS CAPSULE WILL HAVE TO HOLD! IF WE DON'T, WE'RE GOING TO TURN INTO A SPACE POPSICLE! - SHOUTED CHAD.
Back at the lunar base, in the communications center, several agents were working on the computers. The center was divided into several rectangular tables, each with ten computers. There were three corridors in the room, two on the sides and one in the middle. At the end of the room, there was a large window that showed outer space, but if anyone wanted to, they could see planet Earth, as was the case with the guy who was sitting in a chair in front of the window, watching the escape pod heading for the planet.
- We managed to hit the capsule, my lord. - said numbuh 86. - It looks like the fools are trying to get back to Earth.
- They'll probably be burned on re-entry. - commented an agent.
The guy got up from his chair and turned to the agent who said that.
- Don't underestimate them! - replied the guy. - 14 may take a few days to regain full capacity, but those numbuhs 274 and 362 are not to be underestimated! - Now he turned to 86. - I want you to send some captains from here to all the bases in the KND immediately. Tell them we're on high alert.
- Yes, sir! - replied 86.
This guy's voice wasn't that of a child. In fact, it didn't even sound like a human being's, it was so robotic and distorted that any unsuspecting person would be stunned if they heard his voice in the long term. He knew this, it was one of his torture methods. His clothes, on the other hand, were strangely simple. He wore a white shirt and long pants, as well as his white helmet. His gloves were the same color as the vest over his shirt, graphite grey. The vest had two white buttons that held it together at the bottom. They were in the shoulder area. He wore a brown belt with two pairs of holsters in the same color. In them were two pistols that were also graphite gray. The helmet had a light blue visor, but you couldn't see his face. There was a large graphite-colored line that covered half of the helmet, from top to bottom, from the forehead to the chin. On his chin there were three black dots for the audio output. The most confusing part of his outfit was undoubtedly the symbol on his helmet, vest and belt buckle. It was an A. But it was distorted or badly made, because it had two legs and an extension on the right side.
- You're not getting away from me this time, numbuh 14!
Chad managed to land the escape pod, either by his excellent piloting skills or by a miracle. They had landed in a lake. The capsule was destroyed because of the re-entry and the impact with the lake. Everyone was in terrible condition. Chad had several tears in his clothes, and his blood was showing because of the bruises. Even in the Kids Next Door, he might not have suffered that much damage.
362 despite being restrained by her safety belt, received damage from the impact. She had to take off her orange sweatshirt because it was completely torn by the shards of glass. She still had a few pieces of glass stuck in her body. She removed them one by one, but the last one was the most difficult, as it was large and had pierced her left leg.
Numbuh 14 could have been the only one to get out without too much damage, but that wasn't the case. He was on the floor. The chair he was in had been thrown into another corner of the capsule. His clothes were completely torn and there was a lot of debris on his body. Of the three, he was the only one who was unconscious.
362 went to him and tried to remove some of the shards of glass from his body. However, they had to race against time, as the capsule was sinking.
The lake in question wasn't very deep, but it was deep enough to swallow the escape pod. Chad and 362, though weakened, helped 14 by putting their arms behind their necks. Chad tried to wake 14 up but to no avail. The water was rising more and more, and they didn't have the diving equipment to surface quickly. So they had to wait until the water had filled the inside of the capsule before they could get out.
The two of them had to make a lot of effort to swim out of the capsule. Especially carrying 14 unconscious. It was daylight where they were, so they could see the surface. Chad had to make more of an effort than 362 as she had a badly injured leg. Just as they were about to run out of air, they managed to reach the surface of the lake. Now it was time to swim to the nearest shore.
On the shore, they lay down in exhaustion after leaving 14 on the ground.
- In all these years as a Kids Next Door agent, this is undoubtedly the escape I've had to put all my effort into. - said Chad with pauses due to tiredness.
- I couldn't agree more, I thought it would be the end of us. - replied 362.
14 began to moan. 362 went closer and took his temperature... He'd just discovered that they had another problem...
- He's burning up.
- How can that be?! - Chad asked.
- Maybe it's because of his hibernation. - We don't know how long it could be before he recovers from hibernation.
- Well, first we need to stay off the radar. I chose to land here because there's a teenage base near this place, but it hasn't been used for a long time. - Chad said, standing up. - Rachel, help me with him.
14 In his head, he could hear several voices echoing at the same time. Some were recognizable and others were not. He could hear gunshots and the sound of machinery, various explosions and finally, the sound of water entering some enclosed space. He knew what it meant, it was the day he had to use the cryogenic machine for the first time in all his years of life. It was a decision that saved his life, but it also had its consequences. When he woke up, he was no longer in the escape pod. To tell the truth, he wasn't in a place he had been lately. He seemed to be in a cave. There was snow and a fire in front of him. He analyzed his surroundings and realized that it was some kind of shelter. He couldn't move, his body wouldn't obey his commands. He was lying on a hospital bed. with an IV on a support. There was also a monitor showing his heart rate and other data, which was blurred. Then he realized that his vision was getting blurry. Before he could close his eyes, all he could hear was a man saying something.
When he woke up, he saw that he was back in reality. He didn't know if it was a dream or some kind of repressed memory. He was lying on a bed, with a damp cloth on his forehead to bring down his fever. He was wearing hospital clothes and had several bandages on his body. He analyzed his surroundings and noticed that it was a small room that had been improvised to be his "recovery" room. Apart from the bed, there was only a bedside table on the right with a remote control on top. It had a button. He imagined it was to call his friends.
The door opened and there stood Chad and Rachel. Chad was still wearing a blue shirt and his dark gray pants, but there were a few bandages on his body. 14 deduced that he had found some extra clothes there.
Rachel, on the other hand, looked different. Her helmet was gone, and she now wore only a light blue sweatshirt and pants. Like Chad, Rachel had a few bandages on her body. When she approached the bed, she was limping.
- How are you feeling?
- I'm fine... - answered 14. - And you?
- We're still recovering, but we're already better than when we landed. - replied Chad.
14 paused briefly.
- I was asleep for more than a day or two, I imagine?
Chad looked at Rachel. He didn't know what to say to that.
- Are you used to this sort of thing? - Chad commented, laughing a little.
14 looked up and smiled.
- It's not the first or the last time someone has to make a crash landing.
He got up and got out of bed. He began to test his body slowly to see if he had injured anything. Fortunately, he was fine.
Rachel looked at him and mustered the strength to tell him the truth.
- You were asleep for a week and a half 14.
14 stopped moving and stood with his back to the two of them. The room was silent for a while.
- A week and a half... That explains a few things...
He turned to the two of them.
- Were we discovered in that time?
- No, replied Chad. - But the teenagers did come to the door of the base to see if it was still abandoned. Fortunately, no one came in and noticed us during that time.
14 approached the two of them.
- Well, that's good news. We need to know what the situation is like in the Kids Next Door. I imagine that if we use a Woodelbook we can access the information on the KND's main computer and see what they're up to.
Rachel and Chad were confused.
- What's a Woodbook? - Rachel asked.
- Woodelbook. - It's a small, light and portable computer, most of which is made of wood and has metal buttons. I imagine you still have those, don't you?
- Ah! No, but we have laptops. - replied Chad.
- Lap what? - asked 14.
- It's the same thing, only modern. – replied Rachel.
14 nodded.
- What a relief. Woodelbooks were horrible to type commands on because of the metal keys. When they didn't break, they caused a lot of bruising on the fingers if used for a long time.
He looked around his room and saw that his clothes weren't there.
- I'd like you to give me my clothes. I don't need to wear these hospital clothes anymore.
Chad went to one of the corners of the room. He pressed his hand against the wall and a door materialized. When he opened the door, 14's clothes were there. They were packed in a bag and appeared to be clean. Chad handed the clothes to 14, where he opened the bag, sorted the items on the bed and removed his hospital gown... he just forgot the fact that there was nothing under the gown...
- You could have told us you were going to change! - said Chad, turning away.
14 looked back.
- Ah... sorry...
Now with his clothes on, 14 turned around and realized that only Chad had turned around. He stared at Rachel, who couldn't look at him for long.
- My body has a higher regeneration capacity than yours... But it's not that good. - 14 said, looking at Rachel.
She nodded.
- Well, let's find out what damage the space adult has done to the Kids Next Door