The Fire Crystal (5 page)

The hours rolled by, until at sunset Tom announced: “We’re nearly half way there.”

He shouldn’t have said anything. Suddenly the craft came to a halt and settled in the sand. Stranger still, metallic shutters closed over the windows. A monitor screen lit up, and showed the view outside. As the computer scanned the scene, a loud chime sounded, and Tom remarked, “I have a bad feeling about this, it only happens for a reason.” They both stared at the monitors, scared at what they may see.

With horror, they realized that strange squid
-like creatures were hemming in the ship. They had long limbs, studded with suckers that they used to cling to the outside hull. “Strange to see these in the middle of a desert,” Calvan said.

One monitor display went dark. “I’ve seen these things before,” Tom said
. “They’re the guardians, and right now they aren’t being helpful. They must be just be following instructions, and doing their job– someone doesn’t want us to reach the mountain.”

“That’s a good sign then that we’re on the right track I guess,” Calvan said.

“Watch this” Tom said, as he pulled down a flap on the control consul and hit a red button with the flat of his hand. The monitor screen flashed bright again. Outside the hull shimmered in a blue haze charged with energy, and the creatures backed off. Some unlucky ones were flung off. They were free!

The way ahead was clear! Tom hadn’t left the consul, and with another swift movement, shoved the throttle to full speed. Calvan was thrown back in his seat, by the force of acceleration. The craft broke the sound barrier, leaving a sonic boom behind it.

Tom laughed as he slowed the craft. “We’ve left that bunch far behind. I feel a bit guilty, it’s actually a crime to harm these creatures, but they’ll be fine. I just shook them up a bit.” He carefully pointed the ship back on course, and set a comfortable cruising speed.

“I thought that you said we were to take it easy, this being an old craft,” Calvan complained. He could swear that the thing was beginning to creak now.

Tom didn’t answer; knowing the reason for his haste must have been obvious.

He’d once seen these creatures when his father had taken him for a visit to the Palace of the Elders
, on his own planet. They guarded the palace, just by being there.

They originally came from a cold and misty swamp
-world that swung on a wildly elliptical orbit. When it was a long way from it’s own star the days were short and cold, and they would hibernate. They could do this in any weather though, and could come back to life quickly. 

“I have no idea at all what they are doing here,” Tom said, it all seems a bit crazy. Maybe the people who left this life craft also placed them here as guards.

“But why?” Calvan asked.

“Probably to prevent people coming too close to the
store of fire crystal. It’s dangerous stuff in the wrong hands.”

When Tom tried to run the craft on autopilot again he found problems. “I think after that we may be running low on energy, because the computer has locked us in conserve mode. I’ll have to pilot manually for the rest of the way.”

All that night they headed towards the mountain. Calvan dozed off a few times, and woke to see Tom’s face lit by the green glow of the instruments. He was steering the craft. Dawn came and passed, still Tom did not move. At last towards mid afternoon they approached the mountain. Up this close, they saw that it was huge.

Suddenly the craft veered to the right
, and then straightened up for a while. Tom had fallen asleep for an instant. His head jerked upright, and he stopped the craft.

“A near escape,” Calvan
said. “Rest, and I’ll steer for a while.”

At first Tom took this as a joke, but finally agreed reluctantly. He was exhausted. Before handing ov
er the controls he said sternly, “just stay pointed at the mountain, and steer in a straight line while I rest for a few minutes, and don’t touch any of the controls.”

After a few minutes of this Calvan got bored:  “What does this lever do Tom?” he asked. No answer - Tom was in a dead sleep. I’ll just pull it back a little, he thought. It might make us go a bit faster. He pulled back on the lever, but nothing happened, so he pulled further then twisted it sideways. Suddenly there was a click, and the craft leaped upwards and sideways at an enormous rate.

They seemed to be traveling up the side of the mountain, as if in an elevator, but they were also moving towards it, and would crash into the rock face in a few seconds, then suddenly an alarm bell rung, as the computer tried to take control of the damaged autopilot circuits.

All
this noise woke Tom, and he leaped forwards to grab the controls, not knowing that he was fighting the craft’s faulty autopilot. They swerved right, then left, and completed a tight circle, pinned against their side-cushions. Increasing speed now, the craft headed straight for the mountain. The wall of rock was coming up fast. A ledge appeared on the rock face, as Tom desperately fought the controls. Then he realized, and shouted: “Computer! Release autopilot.” He suddenly had control, and the craft slowed quickly. He swung it upwards and sideways, seeking the safety of the ledge.

It was a crash landing. They slid along the ledge as Tom fought to avoid bouncing on the rock wall, or steering directly over the ledge and into the precipice. The craft bumped against the face, and swung around
. Then it came to rest rocking gently, with its tail hanging over a five thousand feet drop.

Neither of them dared to look outside. There was a gentle rocking “I’m going to pump the remainder of the water out of the rear tank,” Tom said. “That should steady us. In the meantime, touch nothing, do nothing, and stay put!” he said angrily.

The pump began to whir, and after a while the craft stopped rocking. It was time for the boys to leave by the emergency exit up front. “You go first Tom said, and move very slowly.” Calvan edged along the craft. Tom triggered the explosive bolts on the hatch, and when the smoke had cleared Calvan moved forward, and leaped through to the stony ledge.

Now it was Tom’s turn.
He edged slowly along the craft, knowing now that he should have joined Calvan before he had jumped! Without his weight up front it had started to rock again. He stopped, and took a deep breath, heart pounding like a jackhammer. He edged forward again to the hatch, and leaped clear onto the ledge.

“Well that was one way to get here, and at least it saved us a climb,” he said with relief.

Without his weight the craft had stopped rocking again. Slowly it tilted now, and then slipped over the ledge. They both stared at one other, waiting. Suddenly the mountain wall lit up with a flash. Tom counted off the seconds until the noise of an explosion reached them from far below. “Oh well, say goodbye to your hotel” he said to Calvan, sadly shaking his head.

They had no water, and they were thousands of feet up a steep mountain, trapped on a ledge with night approaching. Neither of them wanted to think about that, as they looked back across the plain they had traveled.

“What’s that cloud of dust way back there? It seems to be moving this way,” Calvan said. More bad news, the guardians were making their way to the mountain.

“They can feel our presence,” Tom said, “let’s hope that there’s not a way up to this ledge. It will take them a while longer to get here, but I’m afraid we
may not last that long anyway.”

Night fell
, and was more uncomfortable than ever. It was too cold to sleep, and they huddled close to the rock face, shivering. Despite the cold, both boys had started to get thirsty. Dawn saw them at their lowest ebb.

“Never give up
, your numbers not up,” Tom mumbled “there’s always a way and it’s a brand new day,” he said smiling.

“Yes miracles happen every day,” Calvan said unconvincingly, his teeth chattering with cold.

Light from the rising sun crept down the mountain, and even at this height, they could feel its warmth. The whole ledge was lit up now as the boys peered over the side, and down into the shadows of the plain. Tom shook his head slowly. The creatures must have been walking all night, and had made lots of progress.

Then as the light swept down the rock face Calvan saw it merged into a track. Although only a couple of feet wide, there was a flight of steps at its end. These finished at an opening into the rock face. It looked like the entrance to a cave!

Then a second miracle happened. In the spot where their water had been pumped Tom noticed a small frozen pool of it. It had been so cold in the night that it must have frozen, before it could all drain away. The boys broke some ice off the surface of the puddle and quenched their thirst, although it did nothing to warm them.

“We keep moving forwards.” Tom said. “Lets climb down into the cave”

Calvan and Tom descended the path. The slope was a lot steeper than it looked. Once Calvan made the mistake of looking over the side. The drop was so deep that it disappeared into the mist, thousands of feet below. He stopped dead on the spot, his head spinning.

“You must move,” Tom, said, “we can’t last long on this slope.”

Suddenly there was a roar like thunder from above. Tom shouted, “Rock avalanche, MOVE!”

Calvan ran down the path now. Tom pushed him into the mouth of the cave and behind a rock outcrop
, just in time as falling rocks exploded like bombs on the ledge behind them.

Both boys took a deep breath and looked ahead. They were in for another surprise. Staring back at them with sharp beady eyes were two mighty eagles. Tom wondered if he had any magic left. Now was a good time to find out. He leaped up and pointed his finger at the nearest eagle. Nothing happened, he was out of energy. The big bird didn’t even blink.

“We mean you no harm,” said the eagle. “How about if we just are friends?”

“Sounds an excellent plan to me,” Tom said, knowing that he didn’t have much choice.

Calvan said nothing; he stood still with his eyes half closed and flexing his muscles. The other Eagle seemed to laugh. “My
, aren’t you a fierce looking boy” it said.

“Yes actually I am,” he
answered, as if his feelings had been hurt, “fiercer than any bird on Earth.”

“That’s OK because we are not from Earth,” the first eagle said. “But enough of all this fun, we have business to attend to, and need your help. Sit down
, relax and allow us to introduce ourselves please.” 

They made their introductions as Eagles One and Two. Calvan couldn’t help noticing that these were no ordinary birds. For a start they could speak, and seemed to have very refined manners.

“The original Star People left us to guard this place,” the first eagle explained. “What you see are not
just
two computer projections, we’re real enough in our own way, and when our people return we’ll be restored, and will return with them.”

“We were left with some physical ability, so we’re not just images,” he added.

“He’s trying to tell you that we can still ‘lift and shift’” Eagle Two said. “ Watch this.” A rock nearby lifted into the air, hung there for a moment, and then dropped to the ground again.

“Enough of the introductions, now I must tell you some important news,” Eagle
Two was shaking it’s head sadly. “This place is no longer secret. It’s also been discovered by a fierce race from the outer galaxy. We call them Zaarks. They aren’t friendly, and their leader is jealous of the Star People.”

“They want to expand their territory,” Eagle One
said.

“Yes I know of these creatures,” Tom said.
“I thought they’d made peace. We defeated them in a battle some time back, and made a deal with them.”

The second eagle
added. “They would never give up. Those primitive beasts have no morals or conscience, and couldn’t care less about breaking a peace treaty.”

The first eagle
continued. “They look primitive until you look into their eyes! There is great cruelty there. They are evil, cunning, but and also very smart.”

Eagle Two added his bit, “And that’s the really scary thing.”

Oh yes, added the first bird, not wanting to be outdone, “they also smell – really bad.”

“Are you guys twins?” Calvan asked. Both Eagles laughed.

“Now here is the worst scenario,” Eagle One said. “The crystal in this cave is pure, and contains massive quantum energy. If the Zaarks lay hands on it, then within a short time they will be able to match and then better the Space People in a war, and they will certainly choose this option - it’s their nature.”

“We tried to get a message out to the Space People” said Eagle Two,
“and let them know about the fire crystal left here, but a Zaark scout ship followed our beam, and spotted this place. They set up a jammer, and we were silenced. The Star People must have got part of our first message, before we were cut-off, and when that happened I guess they thought about it, and joined the dots.”

Eagle One added, “In other words they guessed what had had happened, and realized that the Zaarks had blocked our signal
, and were on their way here to get the fire crystal.” He added. “There are now two huge ships, in Earth orbit. Both are shielded from missiles, and cloaked for secrecy. It’s a standoff between the two  - Zaarks versus the Space People.