The Golden Enemy (15 page)

“Oh, please!” he begged desperately. “Please help me! How can you condemn people for what they did so long ago? It's not right! They've changed. Can't you
see
that?”

“Changed? Nonsense! Don't you know that they've always done something no other creature has ever been guilty of—and that the evil is still in them?”

“W-what's that?”

“For time out of mind they've slaughtered their own kind—and in numbers beyond count.”

“No!”

“Yes. It happened right here in the Barrens. Your ancestors killed their own kind, by the millions. Worse, they upset a balance and entirely destroyed the world that used to be.”

“No! No! Impossible! They couldn't—”

“Look at me.”

Once more, against his will, a power gripped his mind and commanded:
Gaze again into the past.

In a flash the ravine vanished. Boy Jaim was thunderstruck to find himself in the midst of a nightmare more horrible than anything he had ever been able to imagine. He was in a monstrous city during its final hours.

Madness and fear and fury were everywhere. Hordes of people trampled each other, fighting to get underground. There was the scream of sirens, the roar of motors that jammed the tangled ribbons of streets, and in the blackening skies a constant thunder while little ships darted like frightened fish. Then abruptly sky and earth were rent by titanic forces. The mounting bedlam turned to a shuddering silence while the city's steel and stone dripped down like melted candlewax …

Boy Jaim was unable even to cry out. He fell trembling as he felt the long-past shifting of the planet on its axis. Then followed the sting of poisonous mists, the rush of great winds, the bite of unbelievable heat and cold, and the pounding of mighty waters as the seas rushed over the land. Time swirled around him with its gnawing centuries. Finally, there was only the quiet of sea sand and rubble about him, but still he saw the horror he had witnessed. He clawed to his feet and ran.

He ran blindly through the growing heat, fleeing an ever-present past that refused to leave him. Rubble tripped him and he went sliding over scorching sand. It seared him and drove him up and on. When he fell again he was in the comparative coolness of shadow. Just ahead was a puddle of rainwater in the hollow of a rock. He crawled to it, gasping, and buried his face in it.

The earth still seemed to be shaking under him, but it was some time before his vision partially cleared and he was able to separate past and present. He looked around.

He was in the upper part of the ravine where it sloped into the Barrens. Through the shimmering heat he could see the great bear silhouetted at a curve behind him. The monster was on its feet now, apparently fully recovered. He saw it start swiftly toward him, then suddenly stop as the earth shook again and rubble fell into the ravine.

The predicted earthquakes had come.

Suddenly he was aware that a frightened L'Mara was calling, and had been trying to get his attention for some time.

“
Boy Jaim! Boy Jaim!
” she was saying frantically. “
Where are you? Please answer me!
”

“
I
—
I'm in the Barrens,
” he managed to say dazedly. “
I'm all right
—
but you
—
Is the ground shaking?
…”

“
Yes, but we've all gone outside to be safe. It's horribly hot, so mother and I and all the neighbors have gone into that little lake below the house. It's fairly cool under the trees here, and it's about the safest place around …
” Then suddenly, anxiously. “
Boy Jaim! What's wrong? You're in danger
—
I can feel it!
”

It came to him at that moment that her danger was greater than his, and that everyone at home should get back inside as quickly as possible. But he was still dazed from the terrors the Golden One had thrust upon him, and it was hard to pull his thoughts together. The bear, he saw, was coming toward him again. There was deadly purpose in the creature's movements.

Boy Jaim groped for his bow, then in despair realized he must have dropped it during his flight. He scrambled to his feet and ran.

“
L'Mara!
” he called, as he raced over the trembling sand. “
Get back in the house! Hurry! Send an emergency call for everyone to do the same.
”

“
But
—
but the quakes
—
the ground's still shaking—
”

“
The houses can take it
—
especially the older ones. They were built for tempests we've forgotten. Get back inside
—
tell everyone to take all their blankets to the lower levels. They must go as far back in the ground as they can, and keep every door closed
…”

For long seconds the connection between them was broken, and he knew she must be having trouble urging the others away from the imagined safety of the cooling lake. Then she called in fright, “
When is it coming? How much time
—”

“
You
—
you have only minutes,
” he gasped, with a quick backward look at the bear. “
It'll be from the east
—
you'll feel it first. A wind
—”

Until this instant he hadn't known what it was, but now in his desperation the tormenting visions of the past cleared away, and he saw in a flash what lay ahead.

“
We're on the edge of a great cosmic dust cloud,
” he told her quickly. “
It caused the heat. But in a few minutes it will darken the sun, and there'll be a wind
—
a terrible wind that will turn the air over and bring instant cold. If that cold touches you, you'll die in seconds. Get down in the lower level! Hurry!
”

“
B-but what about you? What will you do? How
—”

“
Forget about me
—
I'll manage all right. Do as I tell you!
”

With an effort he closed his mind to her, hiding the sudden helplessness he felt. Then he stopped running and turned to face the great bear.

The Golden One had paused some distance behind him, at the edge of the ravine. The brazen sky was already darkening. A little wind had sprung up, sending the hot sand swirling about him.

For a long moment the beast stood motionless, silently looking at him. Finally, the great head nodded as if to say:
You win, Boy Jaim. Your eyes have been opened
. Then, slowly, it turned and started back down into the ravine.

Boy Jaim watched it disappear. Now a loneliness such as he had never known swept over him. My eyes have been opened, he thought. But why did it have to happen so late?

In a few minutes he would die. He wanted so badly to live—only there was no place to go. Not here in the Barrens. There were many caves he knew of that might offer protection, but they were so far away that not even the fastest sled could have taken him to one in time.

Some of the caves were huge, and he wondered if the Golden One could have sent the forest creatures to them for safety. The thought had no sooner come to him than he knew it was true. He felt a quick glow of happiness.

Then the day began to darken rapidly and he heard the moaning of rising wind. The first great rush of it filled the world with flying sand and drove him head-long into the ravine, to go tumbling and rolling until he was well below the level of the Barrens. But hardly had he got his breath when the wind became a shriek, and abruptly it was cold.

He cried out against the agony of a cold that almost numbed him in his tracks, then he saw the huge golden shape looming before him, beckoning with outstretched paws, offering protection.

He ran forward, and the mighty paws encircled him and drew him down, and he was enveloped and covered in a warmth of fur that shut out every prodding point of the knifing wind. “Rest, Boy Jaim,” the great beast said. “And tell L'Mara there is nothing more to fear. The heat of my body will keep you warm until this is over.”

More About a Star

T
he youngest herder hurried through the deepening twilight and climbed the slope to where the oldest herder waited. It was too early for his star to be up, but his eyes kept straying to the horizon where it always appeared. Again he wondered about the strangeness of its color last night. Had it really turned red
—
or had it just seemed that way because of something in the atmosphere?

The oldest herder had been very curious, and the two of them had watched it for over an hour until the mist came and blotted out everything overhead.

Now the sky was clear. How would his star look tonight?

Then abruptly he forgot it when he reached the crest of the slope and saw that the oldest herder was holding something in his arms.

“
Say, what have you got there?
”

“
A present for you,” the oldest herder said quietly.

“
A
—
a present?” The youngest herder stared at the small dim shape held out to him, then exclaimed in delight, “it's a puppy!
”

“
Yes,” said the oldest herder. “I thought it was about time you had another dog.
”

The youngest herder stammered his thanks and sat down on the grass, clinging to his new friend. His heart overflowed.

He was not aware of the passage of time until he heard the oldest herder say, “There it is
—
your star! It's red tonight. Much redder than last night.
”

The youngest herder's hands tightened on the dog as he turned and looked. It was true. His star was very red tonight, so red that it was almost frightening.

“
What
—
what's wrong with it?” he whispered.

“
I don't know, son. But there must be a reason …
”

They watched the star while it climbed slowly into the heavens.

Suddenly the youngest herder gasped, “It's fading!
”

There was no question about it. It really was fading. Incredulous, the two stared at it. The star was high over the hills now, but it was becoming dimmer by the minute. It was fading away.

All at once it was gone. It had vanished completely.

For a long while the two watchers sat wordless, staring at where the star had been. The youngest herder clutched his dog for comfort and thought of the planet that was surely out there. What had happened to it? He gave a silent but earnest prayer for its people, and
for all the creatures on that distant whirling ball. Then, because he had the strange feeling that something of great importance had been settled, he gave an extra prayer for all those who might be concerned.

Finally, a cold nose touched his cheek and a warm tongue licked happily at his face. He sighed and asked, “What could have happened out yonder?
”

“
Who knows? There are clouds in space. Perhaps a great cloud is hiding it.
”

“
Do
—
do you suppose it will ever come back?
”

The oldest herder did not reply at once. Then he nodded and said, “Yes, I believe so. I believe it will shine again.
”

About the Author

Alexander Key (1904–1979) started out as an illustrator before he began writing science fiction novels for young readers. He has published many titles, including
Sprockets
:
A Little Robot, Mystery of the Sassafras Chair
, and
The Forgotten Door
, winner of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Key's novel
Escape to Witch Mountain
was adapted for film in 1975, 1995, and 2009.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1969 by Alexander Key

Cover design by Jesse Hayes

ISBN: 978-1-4976-5260-6

This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

EBOOKS BY ALEXANDER KEY

FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA