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 shadows of Red Eye and Socket as they removed their
goggles and sc
ratched 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.
4017 days.
A very bad thing to be in the perilous world of the Silo.