"We're doing the best we can," declared Shawn. "Help is on its way even as we speak."
"I know it is," sighed Zicon trying to calm down. "Thank you for helping us. It's just that I can stop wondering how many more people will die before they get here."
"We can teach them how to hunt and cook and repair things when they break down," suggested Hank. "I can even teach them first aid."
"How soon can you start?" Zicon inquired delightedly.
"The sooner, the better," Hank replied.
"I'll tell the people about you offer," smiled Zicon. "I hope you don't mind crowds. Most of us have been trying to learn these skills for a long time."
"We've dealt with crowds before," Peter assured him.
"We deal with crowds all the time," added Lisa. "We were the first civilians on Mars, except for Shawn and Hank who worked for N.A.S.A."
"Tell them how you bribed the selection committee to choose us," taunted Linda.
"He wouldn't be interested in that story," stammered Lisa. "It's very boring."
"What is boring to you might be interesting to us," remarked Zicon completely missing the joke between Linda and Lisa.
"I'll be happy to tell you all about it," smirked Linda giving Lisa an evil grin.
"If you do, I'll think of something to tell them about you," threatened Lisa. "Don't laugh. I might know more about you than you think."
"Did you bribe the M.W.G.D. records keepers?" attack Linda.
"Oh, I give up!" shouted Lisa. "Tell them all about it! See if I care!"
While Linda and Lisa were exchanging wise cracks, Peter was looking out the window at the playground below. The children were acting like they were going to live forever. Their way of dealing with the disease they would have to face at puberty was to ignore it. It was as if the virus didn't even exist.
"If all you did was look out the window, you wouldn't think anything was wrong," Peter mumbled to no one in particular.
"They do seem remarkably happy considering what the future has in store for them," agreed Shawn. "Most of the planet is in a state of denial."
"I don't blame them," Linda remarked joining Peter and Shawn by the window. "If I lived on this planet, I'd be in a state of denial too."
"If you lived on this planet most of your higher mental functions would have ceased a long time ago," Shawn stated gravely. "That is assuming you're still alive."
"It all seems so pointless," sobbed Lisa. "Living each days wondering how long you have left to live."
Peter found himself starting to cry too. Of all the planets he had been too, he had never seen one so bleak and hopeless. Even Alpha Memory, sometimes called the ghost planet, was showing signs of recovery. The situation on Yopela was only growing worse. If something wasn't done, in a few generations no one would be left.
Hank put his arms around Peter and Lisa.
"We'll help them out," he said meekly.
TIME : 4:30 P.M. (16:30)
PLACE : The lab
Guatamire was strapped to a chair with countless numbers of wires connected to her arms, legs, chest, and forehead. The five adults had changed into their sleek, black, efficient-looking Altair 7 uniforms. The man she had met first had a few extra decorations on his uniform marking him as an officer and the one in charge. The uniforms made them even less friendly looking than they were before. She had heard that the people on Yopela wore similar uniforms shortly before they destroyed most of the planet. The officer took a sample of her blood. Just as he promised she didn't feel a thing.
"Can I go now?" complained Guatamire. "I can't move with all these wires attached to me. You didn't tell me I was going to be strapped to a chair unable to move."
"It will only take a few more minutes," the officer told her evenly. "Try to relax. We are currently monitoring your heartbeat, perspiration levels, and a dozen other major bodily functions and comparing it to the adults. We'll show you the data when we're done, but you probably won't understand it."
"The most important thing we're monitoring is brain activity. You are unusually bright for a person your age. It would be a pity to have all that intelligence go to waste."
Guatamire looked around the room nervously. Each wire was connected to a different computer that clicked or beeped at the appropriate time to let them know what was happening inside her. The other four adults were seated in the back next to a keyboard. They were looking over the data and typing important information into yet another computer while the officer looked over their shoulders occasionally commenting on their progress.
Basically, Guatamire felt ignored. She had been left alone strapped to a chair she couldn't get out of with wires attached to her recording data she didn't know about. Relaxing was useless. She was ready to leave whether they had found a cure or not.
"I don't want anything more to do with these tests!" she screamed. "I want to go home!"
The officer came over to her an injected something into her arm.
"What did you give me?" asked Guatamire.
"Something to help you relax," the officer replied.
Guatamire was beginning to feel sleepy. The sedative was starting to take effect. Guatamire tried to stay awake, but it was a loosing battle. Although she didn't know what a sedative was, Guatamire knew the injection contained something that was making her sleepy. She wondered if she would ever wake up again.
"Won't the sedative distort our data," complained one of the subordinates.
"Our data would be distorted more if she started squirming," snapped the officer. "Now we can do our research in peace. We'll return her to the city in the morning."
The computers continued to click and beep as if nothing had happened.
TIME : 4:35 P.M. (16:35)
PLACE : The playground
Two more groups of messengers had returned reporting that the mayors in both cities had agreed to come to the meeting. Both of them were curious about the strangers and looked forward to meeting them.
Zicon was pleased. Everything was running smoothly. The next thing on his agenda was to gather his people together and ask them if they wanted to learn some basic skills from the M.W.G.D. officers. He began to count them as he usually did when they were all in one place to make sure everyone was safe.
After he counted them he paused, gave a worried sigh, and started to count them again. He got the same number.
"Someone's missing!" he announced.
"It's Guatamire," said one of the younger children she had been playing with. "She went with another group of adults back to their lab. They were going to do some tests on her."
"What other group of adults?" demanded Zicon.
"I think I can answer that question," Peter quickly cut in. "The other group of adults in the reason we came here. I believe the other group of adults come from Altair 7, a planet controlled by the Ruler. The Ruler is a ruthless dictator who will stop at nothing to rule the entire galaxy. If she is with them, there is no telling what they might do to her."
"Guatamire was the name of the girl who brought us to the mayor's office," Lisa recalled.
"That's right!" exclaimed Zicon. "Blasted short term memory! I can't remember anything! Perhaps it's time I retired."
"Don't retire yet," pleaded Peter. "With or without your short term memory you're still the smartest person in the city."
"I won't be for long," Zicon reminded him. "It's only a matter of time."
"Do any of you know where their lab is located?" inquired Shawn.
The children were silent. It was the first time all of them had stopped talking since the M.W.G.D. officers arrived on Yopela. They looked at each other hoping someone else would speak first. Finally, one of the children Guatamire had been playing with broke the silence.
"I didn't see where their lab was, but I remember the direction they were going when they took Guatamire," he informed them.
"I remember too," another child stated proudly.
Suddenly all of them began to talk at once. Each of them had their own story about what had happened to Guatamire and each of them felt their story was the most important.
"Can I have some order, please?" Zicon shouted at the top of his lungs.
The noise of the children gradually died down. It wasn't total silence like it had been earlier, but it was quiet enough for Zicon and the M.W.G.D. officers to be heard over the rest of the crowd.
"I want everyone who saw which way the adults who took her were headed to raise your hand," ordered Zicon.
About twenty hands went up in the air. Most of them were being waved about frantically to get his attention.
"I want you, you, and you to lead me to the spot Guatamire was last seen," ordered Zicon pointing to three people near the front of the crowd. "The rest of you will stay here and listen to Shawn and the other adults. They may be old, but they're at least as smart as I am, maybe even smarter. You are to follow their instructions as you would mine."
"Shouldn't one of us come with you," reasoned Peter. "We've dealt with the other group of adults before and know how to defend ourselves if they decide to attack."
"You're right," conceded Zicon. "I'm not use to having people older than me around. I'll let you decide for yourselves who comes with us and who stays here."
"I'm coming," declared Peter.
"Me too," Shawn added authoritatively.
"You can't come with us," protested Peter. "You're the leader of M.W.G.D. You're not suppose to put yourself at risk unnecessarily."
"I know the rules," snapped Shawn. "but they can't do anything if they don't know what I've done. You won't tell them. Will you?"
"No," mumbled Peter.
"If you can't change the rules, who can?" reasoned Hank.
"That settles it," said Shawn pretending he put the subject to a vote even though he was coming no matter what the others said. "Peter and I will go with Zicon and the other children. The rest of you will stay here and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. They may try to attack while we're gone."
"Is there anything else you want us to do?" asked Hank.
"Yes," Shawn considered. "You can teach the children first aid. I have a feeling we're going to be needing it."
"You can count on us," Hank assured him.
Peter, Shawn, and Zicon followed the three children Zicon had picked hoping they could find Guatamire in the near future. Peter looked back and saw Hank, Linda, and Lisa dividing the children into three groups. He guessed that they were going to teach them first aid individually so they could give the children more attention. They weren't wasting any time.
When he turned his attention back to where they were going, he noticed he was about Fifty meters behind the others and ran to catch up. They couldn't afford to waste any time either.
"This is where I last saw them," said the oldest of the three children stopping at the top of a large hill.
"They probably kept going in the same direction," stated Peter. "They couldn't have gone too far with a small child following them."
"I hope you're right," stammered Shawn out of breath from the fast pace they were walking. "They might have suspected someone might try to follow them and changed directions after they were out of sight."
"There's only one way to find out," Peter smiled.
With a newly found energy, Peter led the others down the hill.
Copyright MCMXCIV, MCMXCIX
