Atherton #3: The Dark Planet (No. 3) by Patrick Carman Page A

Samuel there are things hidden inside," said Edgar,
    pointing to the tablet. "If he can get the two sides to slide apart.
    And tell Isabel I'm sorry--I'm really, really sorry. I didn't have a
    choice. I had to go."
    "Go where, Edgar?"
    Edgar looked back toward the Raven, hidden in the night. He
    simply couldn't imagine leaving his friends without telling them.
    "The Dark Planet. To find out why we're here."
    This news came as a shock to Maude. The Dark Planet? The
    words rang in her head and she knew them. There was a buried
    memory that would not surface, but it left a lingering feeling.
    And, oddly, a smell. Like something burning, but what? She
    sniffed the air deeply but it was gone. My memory is playing
    tricks on me, she thought. She shook her head and looked
    again at Edgar.
    "I'll give this to Samuel," said Maude. She knew from
    experience that Edgar was venturing out on his own and that
    he'd have it no other way. She removed a pack from around her
    shoulders. Inside were figs, bread, and a leather pouch of
    water. Maude had often come out in the night, only to find
    herself sleeping with the sheep and waking hungry and thirsty.
    "It's my breakfast," she said, holding out the bag. "Take it with
    you. Who knows where your next meal will come from?"
    "This is just what I needed!" said Edgar. "Thank you, Maude!"
    "And I'll tell them where you've gone."
    Maude put her arms around Edgar and they embraced for a
    long moment. For Edgar it felt like Atherton itself was holding
    him and wouldn't let him go. It aimed to keep him here, to keep
    him from knowledge it didn't want Edgar to have.
    "Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Maude. "What if
    you're about to see things you were never supposed to know
    about?"
    Edgar pulled away and backed up a few paces, sure Maude
    was going to try to stop him.
    "I can't stay here, Maude. I just can't."
    He steadied Maude's pack on his shoulders and walked away,
    expecting Maude to follow. But she didn't.
    In the deepest part of night on Atherton, Samuel and Isabel
    waited at the edge of the crevice for their friend to return. They
    wondered where he had gone and vowed to wait all night if they
    had to. They fretted over his safety and guessed at what he was
    doing.
    The Raven moved in silence, invisible against the dark sky.
    Samuel and Isabel couldn't have known that before their very
    eyes, as they looked out over the edge, their closest friend was
    leaving Atherton without them.
PARTTWO
    THE SILO
    If ever I return,
    It will be on Gossamer's wings.
    DR. MAXIMUS HARDING
    INTO HIDDEN REALMS
    CHAPTER 10THE FORSAKEN
    WOOD
    Sunrise on the Dark Planet was the saddest time of all. At night
    a person could look out from the sterile safety of Station Seven
    and imagine every thing was perfectly fine. There was so much
    less devastation to see when things were truly dark, and this
    made the dawning of each new day all the more depressing.
    "What was that?" said Commander Judix from her bed. She
    thought she'd heard something from the direction of the
    forsaken wood.
    Cleaners and Spikers looking for food?
    Lacking evidence, her dismal outlook always pointed to the
    worst possible scenario. If only she had allowed herself to
    imagine what had really made the sound. She would have
    discovered the arrival of a vessel from the forgotten world of
    Atherton.
    She opened her eyes and saw the time. Six a.m. Another hour,
    maybe two, and she would have to face Hope, the acting
    mother in the Silo next door. It was an encounter she looked
    forward to with a mounting sense of dread.
    Escaping her bed and flopping down in the safety of her chair
    was a complicated business, but one she was proud to handle
    on her own. She had always preferred to manage these difficult
    tasks herself without the aid of some idiot feeling sorry for her.
    And she didn't want any fake parts attached to her, either. Her
    legs were gone and that was that.
    Commander Judix rolled her chair to a small window and
    looked out. To