Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) Read online

  The Dark Planet (Atherton #3) Patrick Carman

  Contents

  COPYRIGHT PAGE

  THE WORLD OF ATHERTON

  THE KEY CHARACTERS OF ATHERTON

  PART ONE: THE DOCKING STATION

  PROLOGUE: The Silo

  CHAPTER 1: Over the Edge

  CHAPTER 2: The Dark Planet

  CHAPTER 3: Edgar's Secret Revealed

  CHAPTER 4: Down the Longest Shard

  CHAPTER 5: Across the Burning Bridge of Stone

  CHAPTER 6: A Leap of Faith

  CHAPTER 7: 4200

  CHAPTER 8: The Docking Station

  CHAPTER 9: The Raven

  PART TWO: THE SILO

  CHAPTER 10: The Forsaken Wood

  CHAPTER 11: The Key to Mulciber

  CHAPTER 12: Spikers

  CHAPTER 13: Into the Silo

  CHAPTER 14: The Way of the Yards

  CHAPTER 15: Powder Blocking

  CHAPTER 16: The Centurion

  CHAPTER 17: L-I-F-T-B-5

  CHAPTER 18: The Vine Room

  CHAPTER 19: The Widest River

  CHAPTER 20: The Passageway of Lies

  CHAPTER 21: Dr. Harding's Laboratory

  CHAPTER 22: Hope

  CHAPTER 23: On Gossamer's Wings

  CHAPTER 24: The Yards

  CHAPTER 25: The Chill of Winter

  CHAPTER 26: A Spiker on the Beach

  CHAPTER 27: The Chill of Winter

  CHAPTER 28: The Story of Atherton Finds Its End

  For Skip, fellow traveler

  THE WORLD OFATHERTON

  If you read The House of Power or Rivers of Fire but it's been a

  while since you turned the last page, you might benefit from this

  brief reintroduction to the story and the characters of Atherton. If,

  on the other hand, you know nothing of the climbing boy Edgar,

  the mad scientist Dr. Maximus Harding, or the collapse and

  inversion of the three levels of Atherton, then this introduction

  will be helpful reading. See you on the inside!

  Atherton is a made world, forged by the mind of a madman. It is

  inhabited by volunteers from the Dark Planet, a future Earth

  ravaged by pollution and overpopulation. Every inhabitant of

  Atherton has undergone a kind of memory retraining, leaving

  them under the assumption that Atherton is the only world that's

  ever been, the only place they've ever known.

  Atherton was originally created on three circular levels, each

  one smaller than the level below it. The lowest level--the

  Flatlands--was a vast, barren, and largely unknown place. The

  middle level was known as Tabletop and contained most of

  Atherton's people, all of whom were poor laborers charged with

  maintaining the groves of fig trees or herds of livestock (sheep

  and rabbits) that provided all means of sustenance. At the top,

  the lush and beautiful Highlands were inhabited by the ruling

  class, who controlled the sole source of water.

  The Flatlands, Tabletop, and the Highlands were all separated

  by treacherous cliffs that established almost complete

  separation between the lands. But that distance exists no more.

  By the time the third book of Atherton begins, the world of

  Atherton has undergone a complete transformation: The

  Highlands descended until no cliffs remained and the ruling

  class was forced to come face-to-face with the people of

  Tabletop. Soon after, the joined lands of Tabletop and the

  Highlands collapsed as well, until they became level with the

  Flatlands. The world was, quite literally, flat. The images below,

  drawn by Dr. Maximus Harding, will help you better understand

  what happened to Atherton in The House of Power.

  As Atherton changed, people from all three levels were forced

  to confront one another, choose sides, and ultimately decide

  whether they would stand together or apart against a mounting

  threat that arose from the Flatlands. Though many lives were

  lost, most chose wisely. For the transformation was not yet over:

  The center of their new world was sinking, and the source of

  water, whose origin was under the House of Power, rose until

  the entire center of Atherton was flooded. It turned into a vast

  lake, teeming with life for all of the survivors.

  After the flood came peace. It was all part of the plan of the man

  who created this complex satellite world, Dr. Maximus Harding,

  who perished in the flooding of Atherton. But his plan did not

  end with the redemption of this refuge from the Dark Planet.

  The Dark Planet will reveal the whole truth of the matter.

  THE KEY CHARACTERS

  OFATHERTON

  DR. MAXIMUS HARDING

  The creator of Atherton, Dr. Maximus Harding, was a

  mysterious man of science who drifted into madness over a

  period of years. Dr. Harding created not only the fantastic world

  of Atherton, but also the remarkable boy, Edgar. As one might

  imagine, Dr. Maximus Harding had a severe Dr. Frankenstein

  complex. When Edgar was hidden away against Dr. Harding's

  will, the scientist fell into deep madness and despair. It was

  then that Dr. Harding's alter ego, the cruel and treacherous Lord

  Phineus, came into being. Lord Phineus ruled over all Atherton

  for a time, but in the changing world the truth emerged and Dr.

  Harding was restored in the end. He died in the cataclysmic

  flood, leaving Edgar, his most precious creation, to find his own

  way in the world.

  EDGAR

  A young orphan and gifted climber who lived in the fig grove on

  Tabletop, scaling the cliffs of Atherton in secret. In his search for

  answers to Atherton's destiny, he became the only person on

  Atherton to have climbed above to the Highlands or below to

  the Flatlands. Through a series of events, Edgar discovers his

  true identity: He is the penultimate creation of Dr. Maximus

  Harding, the maker of Atherton.

  SAMUEL

  A boy formerly of the Highlands, he had lived within the House

  of Power under the watchful eye of Lord Phineus until he

  escaped in search of his new friend, Edgar, who appeared

  mysteriously one night from the land below.

  ISABEL

  A wily, bright girl of the grove and longtime friend of Edgar's

  who can use a sling with great skill. Samuel met Isabel in his

  search for Edgar, and together they embarked on a quest that

  trapped them under the House of Power during the great flood

  of Atherton. Their harrowing escape led them through the fiery

  center of Atherton--known as the Inferno--where Isabel nearly

  lost her life.

  DR. LUTHER MEAD KINCAID

  An old man of science, presumed at one time to be Edgar's

  father, but later discovered to be a mentoring figure to Dr.

  Maximus Harding. Dr. Kincaid has lost control of the world he

  helped build and now hopes to somehow reconnect with the

  Dark Planet, where Atherton was first envisioned.

  VINCENT

  A protector of people on Atherton
, he is charged with watching

  over Dr. Kincaid. He is the only other adult on Atherton who

  knows the complex history of Atherton and its mad maker, Dr.

  Maximus Harding.

  MAUDE

  A feisty woman from the Village of Rabbits, one of the three

  villages on Tabletop. She previously helped Edgar escape Sir

  Emerik and becomes one of a handful of leaders of the free

  world along with Horace and Wallace.

  PARTONE

  THE DOCKING STATION

  I go now beyond the forest and the field,

  Where winter lay exhausted on a distant shore.

  I will find you on the untouched paths of the sea.

  DR. MAXIMUS HARDING

  INTO HIDDEN REALMS

  PROLOGUETHE SILO

  It was the middle of the night when Red Eye and Socket came

  into the barracks and started walking between two long rows of

  beds. The bottoms of their boots were metal and so was the

  cold floor they stood on. Every step they took was like a deep

  and clanging word of warning. But it was their voices--like angry

  dogs that had been woken in the middle of the night--that woke

  the children.

  "Don't... you... move!"

  "One of you's out of bed!"

  The voices cracked and echoed through the Silo, bouncing off

  steel walls and rusting rivets.

  The rows of beds were as old as the Silo itself, and all the girls

  who slept in them awoke at once. The springs of thirty metal

  mattress frames jumped to life and made a sound like an

  orchestra preparing for a concert. Though, to be fair, none of the

  children in barracks number three had ever heard a violin or a

  flute or an oboe. There was no place for beautiful music in the

  strange world of the Silo.

  "Stay put!" barked Red Eye. "No moving from those beds!"

  "Or get the bender!" added Socket. The word slithered out of his

  mouth as a long and raspy whisper. He knew there was nothing

  children in the Silo feared more than a swat from the metal

  whip.

  Each of the children became perfectly still, and the springs in

  the beds beneath them echoed into a chilling silence.

  The lights were left off, which made the presence of these men

  at the foot of the beds all the more frightening. They carried the

  most dimly lit lanterns one could imagine in their left hands and

  thin, metallic rods in the other. Benders. All of the children had

  felt the sting of a bender for one cruel reason or another. They'd

  seen the long, thin bruise it left behind.

  Red Eye and Socket reached over their backs and let go of their

  weapons. With a whirl, then a clang, the benders were gone.

  They seemed to have been devoured by a hidden, hungry eater

  of metal.

  "Don't you move!" repeated Socket.

  The two men each lifted the end of a bed to check its weight.

  When they were satisfied each bed was heavy enough to

  contain a child, they ceremoniously let the bed drop back to the

  floor with a teeth-rattling bang! --followed by a shocked yelp from

  the child within.

  "We know one of you's out of your bed," seethed Red Eye. "We

  saw you!"

  Bang! Bang! Two more beds were dropped. Someone let out a

  shriek.

  In the silence that followed there arose a new voice. It was the

  small voice of a girl who, only a few moments ago, had opened

  the door to the barracks, wandered out into the long hallway,

  and let herself be seen by Red Eye and Socket. She spoke

  softly, but with great purpose.

  "You didn't see me."

  The voice came from above Red Eye and Socket, and then

  bang! bang! The two men dropped the bed rails they were

  holding and reached over their shoulders. The benders

  reappeared with the sound of snapping metal.

  Red Eye and Socket stared into the darkness, holding their dim

  lanterns high, Socket tapping his bender anxiously against the

  metal toe of his boot. Red Eye swung his back and forth in the

  air overhead.

  "We see you!" he cried. "Come down from there!"

  But the girl who'd gotten out of bed had other plans. Her name

  was Aggie and she knew Red Eye and Socket wouldn't turn the

  lights on. In fact, if they could have it their way, the Silo would

  have no lights at all, because lights hurt their eyes. And this

  was what Aggie wanted.

  To hurt them like they'd hurt her best friend, Teagan, a few

  hours before.

  "You don't see me," repeated Aggie.

  And they didn't. Aggie was crawling through the spiderweb of

  rusted steel girders that ran all through the ceiling of the

  barracks. And she was fast! Too fast for Red Eye and Socket.

  The two men had an idea of what was about to happen, though

  they could hardly believe it was possible.

  "Don't you do it!" cried Red Eye. He began fumbling in his

  pockets, searching for something.

  Aggie hung from a beam by the door, holding steady above a

  certain white knob sticking out from a slick metal wall. The

  white knob that was for Red Eye and Socket only.

  Aggie glanced down at the two rows of beds and saw that all

  the heads were covered with blankets as she'd instructed.

  Satisfied that everyone was safe, she let go of the beam. As

  Aggie fell she pulled her goggles down over her eyes from

  where they'd rested on her forehead. When she was within

  reach of the white knob, she grabbed it and pulled. The room

  was filled with the buzzing sound of fluorescent tubes.

  And something else as well--light! A raging flood of light. Red

  Eye and Socket screamed and fell to the floor. It felt to them as if

  someone had lifted their eyelids and dropped a burning circle of

  lit fuses inside. The feeling intensified even after they closed

  their eyes and searched their pockets.

  By the time the two men had found their goggles and put them

  on, Aggie was already back in bed, eyes closed as she lay still

  under a thin blanket. Her goggles dangled from the bedpost.

  "You're al wicked little creatures!" howled Socket. "Al of you!"

  cried Red Eye. They twisted their necks uncontrollably as if the

  effort might shake the sting from their eyes.

  With the goggles safely attached, Red Eye and Socket saw the

  world as it had been before: dim and shadowy. Their eyes

  continued to burn and itch with a growing intensity. They knew

  from past experience that their damaged eyes would sizzle with

  nauseating pain into the morning. The head aches and the heat

  behind their eyes would follow. It was going to be a long,

  sleepless night for both of them.

  "We'll be back before your shift!" screeched Red Eye, cringing

  from the growing agony behind his goggles. "You'd best give up

  your own for punishment. Give her up or you'll all get the

  bender! Every last one of you!"

  "Stupid buzz cuts! Stupid little monsters!" yelled Socket. The

  two men made for the door and Socket hastily turned off the

  light. Everything was dark again but for the soft glow of the

  lanterns. Teagan pulled the blanket down just enough to watch

  the sha
dows of Red Eye and Socket as they removed their

  goggles and scratched violently at their eyes, fouling the air

  with their angry cursing.

  "You'll pay for this, you will!"

  "All of you!"

  Aggie felt the terrifying shaking of their steps as they moved off.

  When she was sure Red Eye and Socket were gone she got up

  on one shoulder and looked out over the thirty beds. She

  removed a thin nightcap and held it in her hand. Stupid buzz

  cuts! The cruel words rang in her ears as she felt along the

  prickly half inch of hair that remained on her head.

  "Is everyone all right?" asked Aggie. "Kate? Ash? Teagan?"

  Everyone assured Aggie they were all right. No one had been

  harmed.

  "I'll tell them it was me in the morning," said Aggie. "They'll calm

  down a little by then."

  No one protested. All the girls in barracks number three were

  glad to see Red Eye and Socket get some of their own

  medicine, but they also knew what it felt like to be hit with a

  bender.

  Aggie put her nightcap back on and lay down, staring up into

  the darkness. There was a long silence, then a whisper from

  beside her.

  "I hate this place," said Teagan. She was in the bed next to

  Aggie's, rubbing a long, thin bruise on her arm.

  "I know," said Aggie. "I hate it, too."

  They heard a faraway sound of something heavy slamming into

  the ground, followed by the muffled cry of an angry creature

  wailing outside. As hazardous as life was inside the Silo, it was

  even more treacherous in the forsaken wood.

  "At least we're not out there."

  Aggie nodded just a little. She pulled the itchy woolen cover up

  close to her face.

  The pounding came again, closer now. "What's going to

  happen to us?" asked Teagan.

  Aggie turned to her best friend and wished she could see

  Teagan's blue eyes. But it was pitch-black in barracks number

  three.

  "I don't know," she answered.

  Aggie thought about the morning and the long, thin bruises it

  would bring. She thought about the many levels of the Silo in

  which she was held prisoner. She imagined the broken world

  outside and the curls of blond hair that had once hung about her

  shoulders. But mostly she thought of her birthday.

  She had a secret on this particular night that she had chosen

  not to tell anyone.

  In the morning she would be eleven years old.