ScareScapes Book One: Phantom Limbs! Read online

  I’m pretty ticked at Bessie for making Landon look weak like that. We’re just kids and all doing our best. For a girl that obviously likes him she has a mean way of showing it sometimes. Actually, she has a mean way of showing everything all the time.

  She’s really just kind of mean.

  “I got it,” Felix says. “I can see just fine, so I’ll help.”

  Right, his eye. Felix can see on many different spectrums from infrared to thermal and a whole lot more. I make out his shape moving across the room and taking the light from Bessie. I get up and follow, wanting to watch what she has planned; the others follow too.

  Bessie looks at the crowd around her and frowns.

  “Great. An audience,” she sighs. “No pressure.”

  She pries off a panel in the wall and Felix shines the light along the glowing cables inside.

  “There’s power running in the conduits,” Bessie says. “So why don’t we have lights?”

  “Or annoying voices?” Felix adds.

  “Weird not having the AIs scolding us for being dumb kids,” Carlos says.

  “Speak for yourself, bro,” Enrico says. “You’re the dumb one.”

  “But handsome.” Carlos laughs.

  “You two look the same,” Ajay says. “And you’re both ugly.”

  “Oh fruit, girl!” Enrico laughs. “You got us there! You get extra cookies for that burn!”

  “Yuck,” Ajay says.

  “Hush,” Bessie snaps. “This isn’t as easy as it looks.”

  She shoves her hands into the panel, pushing cables this way and that. Her fingers start moving at a speed I can’t keep track of then she pulls her hands out and sits all the way down.

  “Nothing,” she says. “There’s nothing wrong. Everything is running like it should. Except for the lights.” She looks at the wall by the door and stands up. “Let me try something.”

  “Where are you going?” Landon asks.

  “Gonna try the manual approach,” she says and shoves her right index finger into a port on the panel by the door. She twists one way then the other. “Nope. Never mind. I can’t even turn the lights on in just this room.”

  “How many more flashlights do we have?” Carlos asks. “Not that I’m worried about the dark or anything. I’m just asking.”

  “There are emergency kits in the other school rooms as well as in every passageway junction,” Landon says. “Let’s get out of here and find more kits then regroup in the dome. There’ll be natural light there.”

  “You want us to go outside the passageways and sit in a field when at any second the shield dome could go down and fry us all with wave after wave of solar radiation?” Enrico asks. “That’s a good idea why?”

  “First, because if the secondary shield dome goes down we’ll still have the main shield dome in place,” Landon says. “That’ll retain the atmosphere for a long while because of the plant life that’ll be around us. Second, we don’t know what other issues may happen and being in a field, or even the forest, will be safer than inside the passageways. If a fire breaks out while Security is down then we’ll have to battle it ourselves. You ever fought a fire?”

  “No,” Enrico replies. “Have you?”

  “No,” Landon says. “Never have. We get outside and wait this out.”

  “It’ll be like camping, dude,” Carlos says. “Not that I’ve been camping. But I’ve watched it on the vid shows. Looks fun. You think Supply has any marshmallows?”

  “Doubtful,” Felix says. “Those actually taste good. I think Supply hates anything that tastes good.”

  “I don’t know,” Carlos replies. “The soypod tacos aren’t too bad.”

  “They aren’t too good, either,” Enrico says.

  “True. But better than the grain dogs.”

  “Okay, okay, enough talk,” I say. “Landon is in charge of security, which means he’s also in charge of emergencies, and this is classified as an emergency in my book. We defer to him. Everyone listen up, alright?”

  “Works for me,” Carlos says. “If we get marshmallows.”

  “Dude, there are no marshmallows,” Enrico says and looks at Landon. “I’m cool with ya running the show.”

  “You’re the boss, boss.” Bessie frowns.

  “You bet!” Ajay says. “Camping will be fun!”

  “You just keep thinking that,” Felix says then nods. “I’m in. Want me to lead the way?” He taps his eye.

  “Sure, good idea,” Landon says. “Take us to the next emergency kit. We’ll get one for each of us along the way. Then we head to the dome.”

  “Shouldn’t we go to the mess and grab food and stuff first?” Carlos asks.

  “No, we don’t want to be loaded down with supplies we may not need,” Landon says. “We need to stay light and keep moving. We’ll find a camp site and while some of us get that set up we’ll see what supplies we actually do need. A couple of us will come back in and get them. That way we aren’t all at risk at once.”

  “Dude, we’re always at risk,” Enrico says. “We’re in an asteroid floating through uncharted space.”

  “Nothing I can do about that,” Landon says. “So let’s move.”

  “Good plan.” Felix laughs. “And we know how well those work out on the Scorpio.”

  “Just walk, smart fruit,” I say, shoving my brother towards the door. “Put that eye of yours to work.”

  Felix leads the way with me behind him then Landon, Ajay, and the twins. Bessie is in the back with the flashlight. We get out of the classroom and Felix takes us down the hall to the next emergency kit. He pulls it from the wall and we hand it back until Enrico hangs onto it.

  The next hall and Carlos gets one, then Ajay, Landon, me and finally Felix.

  We all have emergency kits slung across our shoulders and I have to admit it feels nice knowing I at least have the basics to survive. First aid, thermal blanket, nutrition packets (I shudder to think what they taste like), hydro bottles that filter oxygen from the air when opened and create water, and, of course, flashlights.

  We are quite a few passageways from the school when Felix stops.

  “What’s up?” I ask, shining my light ahead. “You okay?”

  “Shhh,” Felix says. “Ricky?”

  Enrico comes forward. “What’s up, seeing eye dude?”

  “Do you hear anything?”

  Enrico tilts his head and frowns. He turns his head one way then the other then shakes it.

  “No, nothing. Why?”

  “Bot,” Felix says. “Hanging out around the next corner.”

  “There’s bots everywhere, dude,” Carlos says.

  “Except for now,” Bessie states. “Haven’t seen one since we left the school.”

  “She’s right,” Landon says. “Where are all the hover bots? They’re usually bobbing around everywhere.”

  “I think they’re cute,” Ajay says. “Like round, floating pets.”

  “Part of the Security diagnostics?” I ask Landon. “Is that why they’re missing?”

  “No,” Landon replies. “Bots are Systems.”

  We all turn our flashlights on Bessie.

  “Hey!” she snaps. “Do you mind?”

  “Oops.”

  “Sorry.”

  “My bad, dude.”

  “My badder, duderer.”

  “Where are the hover bots?” I ask her.

  “I don’t know,” Bessie says. “Just like I don’t know why we can’t talk to the AIs or get the lights up when we have power running through the walls.”

  “It’s a mystery,” Ajay says. “I don’t like mysteries.”

  “Well, there’s a fruiting bot up ahead,” Felix smirks. “And I’m sure it knows we’re coming since we are being so quiet.”

  I look at Landon and raise my eyebrows. Then realize he probably can’t see me do that so I say, “Go forward and see what it’s up to? Or find a different way?”

  “Forward,” Landon responds after shining his light along w
ords on the wall that indicate what sector of the ship we’re in. “It’s just a bot. I want us out of the passageways ASAP. We need to regroup and go from there. Right now we’re in a dangerous limbo.”

  “Every limbo boy and girl, do the limbo ‘round the world,” Enrico sings.

  “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack go limbo under stick,” Carlos sings along.

  “No, it’s under limbo stick, not limbo under stick,” Enrico says.

  “I thought—”

  “Stop,” I say. “Quiet.”

  “I like that song,” Ajay says. “Can you sing it around the campfire?”

  “No campfire,” Landon says. “Sorry, sis, but too dangerous.”

  “You people are killing me,” Felix sighs. “Are we going, or what?”

  “Move out,” Landon orders. “We’ll deal with the bot when we see it.”

  Felix starts walking and we all follow, tension building as we get closer and closer to the corner.

  Felix stops us at the junction, looks back at Landon, who gives him a nod, then needlessly does an exaggerated jump around the corner.

  He starts screaming.

  Carlos and Enrico turn and bolt, their flashlights bobbing as they run back the way we came. Bessie holds her flashlight up like a club and Ajay grabs onto Landon’s legs, preventing him from moving without falling over.

  “Felix!” I yell and rush around to him.

  But he’s just standing there, laughing and pointing.

  “Oh, man, your face,” he says. “You should see it. It’s hilarious!”

  I grab him by his uniform’s collar and pull him close.

  “I’m done with your fruit,” I snarl. “No more, got it? This is serious, Felix. We don’t know what’s going on and none of us need your fruit today. Do you understand me?”

  Felix wraps his right hand around mine. I know he can crush the bones in my hand if he wants to, since his whole right arm is cybernetic, but he won’t. Not with the look on my face.

  “Sorry,” he says. “It was just a joke, okay?”

  “Was there even a bot?” Landon asks, limping up behind us because Ajay is still clamped onto his left leg.

  “Nope,” Felix grins. “I was messing with you all.” He pats my hand. “Can you let me go now?”

  “If you promise not to pull another prank,” I say.

  “I promise, Captain,” he grins. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

  “Can I stick the needle in your eye?” Bessie asks causing Ajay to gasp.

  “She’s not really going to do that,” Landon says as he struggles to pull his sister off his leg. “It’s just a saying.”

  “Where are the twins?” I ask.

  “Back that way,” Bessie says, hooking a thumb over her shoulder. “Want me to get them?”

  “Uh, sure,” I say as I let my brother go and give him a little push. “Thanks.”

  Bessie turns and cups her hands to her mouth and shouts at full volume, “Boys! It was a joke! Get your cowardly butts back here!”

  “I could have done that,” I say.

  “But you didn’t,” Bessie smiles.

  We wait a few minutes then all look around the corner, back the way we came.

  Nothing.

  “How about you actually go get them?” I say to Bessie.

  “Is that a direct order, Captain?” Bessie asks.

  “No, that’s not a direct order,” I say, flustered. “When have I ever given a direct order? That’s not the captain I am.”

  “You aren’t any captain, really,” Bessie says. “Just another kid like the rest of us.”

  “Hold on,” Landon says before I can respond. “Here they come.”

  We see their flashlights bobbing along as they run towards us.

  “Hey, guys,” I say. But they don’t stop, just keep running, leaving us behind. “Guys? Guys!”

  “What’s that about?” Felix says. “I don’t see anything chasing them.”

  “Come on,” Landon says. “We’re almost there. At least they’re running in the right direction.”

  It’s a straight shot to the first portal out into the dome, but we have to go slow since Ajay still won’t let go of Landon. The portal hatch is wide open and we can see the twins bent over, trying to catch their breath as they stand in the meadow that lays just outside of this passageway.

  “Guys, what the fruit?” I say as I walk up to them.

  “Something in there,” Carlos gasps, still struggling to breathe after their mad dash outside.

  “Big, dude’s, big,” Enrico adds, collapsing into the soft tall grass as he takes a couple of last breaths then looks up at me. “Crazy big.”

  “Big,” Carlos says, joining his brother on the ground.

  “What was it?” Landon asks, finally getting Ajay to disengage. He gently sets her aside then stands over the boys.

  “Not sure,” Carlos says. “One second it’s not there and then it is.”

  “I smacked right into it,” Enrico says as he wipes a cut on his brow and holds up his hand. “See?”

  “Ricky got a boo boo?” Felix smirks. “Poor little Ricky.”

  “Let’s get that fixed up,” I say, dropping my emergency kit and pulling the first aid supplies out. “Doesn’t look deep. You just need a small bandage.”

  I tear open one of the bandages and spread it across the wound. The material seems to melt into his skin and the cut is lost from sight.

  “All better.” I grin then drop the grin quickly. “Now get up and stop fruiting around. I’ve had enough jokes for the day.”

  “The cut was a nice touch,” Felix says.

  “We aren’t fruiting around,” Carlos says. “We saw something.”

  “Probably a loader bot that went offline,” Landon says. “You guys were close to one of the cargo bays. Maybe it had just dropped something off when the power went out and got stuck.”

  “Then why didn’t we see it before?” Bessie asks, looking back at the portal hatch. “We would have run into it too on our way the first time.”

  “Exactly!” Carlos says, giving her a thumbs up. “Thanks for the backup, Messy Bessie!”

  “Or you two are full of fruit,” Bessie glares, not happy with his use of the nickname.

  She’s not a nickname girl.

  “Not full of fruit,” Enrico insists. “Trust us, please. We aren’t Felix. This is totally true stuff, dudes.”

  “Hey, don’t throw me under the hover bus,” Felix snaps.

  “It was just a stray loader,” Landon says. “I’m sure that’s all it was. I’ll check it out when I go back in there.”

  “Without us, thank you,” Carlos says. Enrico nods in agreement.

  “Fine,” I say. “Let’s find a campsite and set up.” I look at Landon. “Lead the way.”

  The dome is bright like it’s the middle of the day, absorbing the light from the closest star and redirecting it down on us. You can’t look up and see a glowing orb like Earth’s Sun, or even clouds or birds or anything, but the fake sky is at least blue like Earth’s, which is a nice touch.

  Landon looks about then gestures for us to follow him over to a small orchard of fruit trees at the end of the meadow. Beyond the orchard are thick bushes and brambles that meld into a dark forest. We get to the orchard and Landon looks about at the ground, sweeping away fallen fruit with his feet.

  “We clear this out and it should work,” Landon says.

  “It stinks,” Ajay responds, waving her hand in front of her nose.

  “It smells like rotten fruit,” Felix says. “And I mean actual rotten fruit. Not fruiting fruit.”

  “Which means we have a food source right here,” Landon says. “Just in case.”

  “Just in case of what?” Carlos asks.

  “I don’t know,” Landon says. “That’s all. Just in case.”

  “I feel safer already.” Enrico smirks.

  Landon pulls out a thermal blanket from his emergency kit and tosses it on the ground. He kn
eels and presses a button towards the opening at the top. The bottom of the blanket inflates into a mattress while the rest puffs up, suddenly looking like it’s stuffed instead of just shiny and flat.

  “Cool,” Carlos says. “I forgot they do that.”

  “You didn’t pay attention during orientation,” Ajay says.

  “I did,” Carlos replies. “But that was a thousand years ago. My memory only goes back five hundred years.”

  “Knock it off,” Landon says, seeing the confused look on his sister’s face. “How about if you two gather up as much edible fruit as possible?” He holds up a finger before either of the twins can reply. “Don’t even say it. Just gather stuff up.”

  “There’s a Systems relay close by,” Bessie says, wiggling her metal fingers in the air. “I’ll jack in and see what I can find out. Maybe the ports out here work better.”

  “How is there a relay?” Carlos asks. “All I see is grass and dirt and trees.”

  Bessie walks a few feet away then crouches by the base of one of the trees. She grabs onto a hunk of grass and pulls hard. The grass comes away easily, revealing a metal plate below.

  “These are everywhere, by the way,” she says to us. “If you need them.”

  “Cool,” Felix says as he looks around. “I can see another over there.”

  “Good for you guys,” Enrico says. “You deserve a reward. Want some fruit?”

  “Coming back in with me?” Landon asks, ignoring Enrico, and I have to smile as Bessie’s head whips around and she glares daggers.

  “Sure,” I say. “I am the captain after all.”

  “Great.” He smiles.

  “I’m coming,” Felix says. “You’ll need my eye.”

  “Good idea,” Landon nods.

  “Yeah, great idea,” Bessie says. “I’ll watch Ajay.” She smiles at Felix. “Be sure to stay close to those two. Don’t want them getting lost.”

  My turn to glare daggers. Bessie just raises an innocent eyebrow.

  “Big thing in there,” Enrico calls out to us as we walk away from the orchard and across the meadow. “Not kidding! Big thing!”

  We ignore him and step right back into the passageway as soon as we get to the portal hatch.

  Still pitch dark. I turn on my flashlight and so does Landon.