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Mendez crossed the room and activated the television monitor that was keeping track of the lava flow and the reactor room.
"We will now check the reactor room."
The reactor room was empty. The technicians who had been dismantling the reactor were gone. The temperature had become too high for them to work, even in protective suits.
Barry peered at the screen. "It looks safe to me, Mendez."
Mendez put his finger to the screen. "Does it? Look more closely, Barook."
Barry watched as Mendez manipulated the controls. The armored television camera in the reactor room zoomed in on a crack in the stone floor. A tiny trickle of lava was inching through, creating a small, steaming puddle. As they watched, a piece of the stone wall broke away and a bubble of lava burst into the room.
"If your friends do not hurry, our world is doomed."
Barry gulped, watching the slow but inexorable flow of the molten rock. He felt so helpless. But there was nothing he could do.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3pOvBflv0E
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General Urko turned to his aide-de-camp. "Sovak, tell our communications officer to radio Dr. Zaius. Tell him Blue-Eyes is somewhere in this area and that we'll have him soon."
"Yes, sir!"
The jeeps and troop carrier trucks would soon prepare to move on.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqGRivXSe2
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Valerie wiped sweat from her brow and exhaled shakily. “I haven’t run that hard since gym class—and even then I faked a sprained ankle.”
Betty, catching her breath beside her, added, “We’re lucky none of us dropped from heat stroke.”
Mark flopped onto his back, still gasping. “If this keeps up, I’m filing for early retirement from adventuring.”
Dan, shaking out the last of the sand from his boot, muttered, “I’ve got a dune in here. Somebody remind me why we didn’t bring water?”
Steve, peering carefully over the ridge at the installation below, replied grimly, “There was no time to dog it. Not with a reactor ready to blow and apes sniffing around our only weapon.”
Fitzhugh, fanning himself dramatically, groaned, “Well, I’d like it entered into the record that I nearly expired heroically—chased by baboons with rifles!”
Suddenly, Valerie stiffened, her breath catching in her throat. She leaned forward, eyes locked on the apes moving in and out of General Urko’s wall-less tent far below.
“There—on that table!” she whispered hoarsely. “That’s it! The screwdriver! They’ve got it!”
Steve swung his head toward where she was pointing, squinting through the heat shimmer.
He didn’t hesitate. “Dan! Get up here!” he snapped, motioning urgently. “Take a look. Tell me I’m not seeing things.”
The black aviator tugged on his boot and scrambled up to lie next to his captain. Steve pointed. "It's on that table in the tent. See?"
Dan nodded. "It's there all right. But how do we get it back?"
Fitzhugh scowled as he swept his gaze across the encampment. “What is this, the entire simian army? We’re going to need more than a screwdriver to get through that!”
Steve kept his voice even, though his eyes remained narrowed. “Calm down, Fitzhugh. It’s not the whole army—just a company or so. The rest are probably spread out on patrol.”
Fitzhugh jabbed a finger toward the ape camp below. “There are more of them than there are of us, Captain! Have you even thought of a diversion? Or are we just going to stroll in and ask for the screwdriver back?”
Steve didn’t answer right away. His eyes stayed locked on the camp, scanning the movement, the layout. Then his expression shifted. “They’re looking for me,” he said, a spark of grim resolve in his voice. “So why don't I just give them a hand?”
Betty turned sharply toward him, alarm flashing in her eyes. “Steve—what are you planning?”
He looked at her, calm but firm. “Something stupid. But it might just work. See that spire over there? The one above that little pass through the rocks?"
Betty nodded, her eyes squinting against the sun.
"If I can get inside that pass....without them seeing me....."
Mark stepped in, his voice low and tense. “Just be careful, Steve. If the apes get hold of you, it’s not just you they’ll want. They’ll use you to get the rest of us too.” He glanced down at the encampment, then back at Steve. “You walk in there without a plan, we’re finished.”
"Look, I'll make a fuss. As soon as they start chasing me---and believe me, they will---you guys watch and see if the screwdriver is unguarded. Then one of you needs to grab it and use the laser to undercut the pencil rock overlooking the pass."
Fitzhugh bit at his lip, eyeing the camp below. “Well, I am the genius who built the blasted thing,” he muttered, with a flick of his cravat. “Seems only fair I should waltz in and get it back. Volunteers are noble, you know.”
But before he could rise, Steve was already sliding down the slope, moving fast and low toward the rocky outcrop near the pass. “Give me ten minutes,” he called back over his shoulder, never breaking stride. “Then do what you have to.”
The castaways watched in silence as Steve melted into the rocks. Fitzhugh muttered something about show-offs, but his eyes were fixed on the tent and the gleam of the disguised laser screwdriver sitting so carelessly on a portable table.
Fitzhugh shifted his weight, eyes narrowing. “Ten minutes,” he echoed under his breath. Then, spotting a rounded stone at his feet, he picked it up and tested its weight in his hand. Primitive, maybe—but effective. And silent.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7xnKcoHLt
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Thris crossed the sandy bottom of the pass and leaned against the rock next to his friend, Nerrus.
"You're supposed to stay on that side, Thris," Nerrus rebuked him.
"It's hot over there. You got the shade."
"Yeah, but Sergeant Yar put you there and me here."
"You up for a trade?"
Nerrus shook his hairy head. "Naw."
"Half and half?"
"Naw, why should I?"
"Some friend you are," Thris grumbled, sitting down on the sand and putting his back against the rock.
"I hate the sun, too, Thris, when it's this hot."
"I hate being in the field," his friend said, wiping his face.
Nerrus nodded. "At least if you're stationed around Ape City you can go to the movies. Hey, have you seen that new one. The Apefather?"
Thris shook his head. "I wanted to, but everybody says it's not violent enough!"
Nerrus nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. That horror movie about the chimpanzee that turns into a gorilla, what was its name?"
"Doctor Hydo and Mister Jekkill."
"Yeah, that's the one. Really horrible! Really good!"
"Not as good as that creepy one. Remember? Coupla years ago? When the mad chimp comes up with this formula that turns a gorilla into a chimpanzee!"
"No kidding? I missed that."
"Really crawly stuff, seeing that big bruiser shrink into a scrawny little chimp nothing." Thris shivered in recollection.
"Well, there's always females in Ape City, anyway."
Thris shook his head. "What am I gonna do with you, Nerrus. You'll wake up married some morning, with your next re-enlistment bonus signed over."
"Aw, c'mon. I'm not that stupid!"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgplVcl5PNH
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In the dimness of a shadowed crevice, Steve Burton dropped to the floor of the pass. He had bypassed the chatting gorillas by moving quietly over the heaped stones above them. Now he came to the path through the pass itself. He crept out and peered at the two sentries. He could hear their murmuring voices, but they were hidden by a protruding rock.
He looked up, gauging the position of the lava spire over his head. Watchful of the rock spire, he moved up the pass, putting more distance between himself and the sentries.
Then the blond astronaut stepped into the center of the rock-lined pass and shouted. "Hey! Hey, you clowns!"
His voice echoed eerily, and the two sentries scrambled to their feet.
Thris clutched his M-16 and squinted up the pass belligerently. "Hey," he rumbled. "It's that...?"
"It's the damn humanoid, Blue-Eyes!" Nerrus cried.
Thris threw his M-16 to his shoulder and fired. The explosion echoed and made the rifle shot seem as loud as a cannon in the narrow pass. The bullet ricocheted off the rock ten feet from Steve, but he stood his ground.
"Aw, you can do better than that, Hairy!" Steve taunted.
Nerrus put a hand on Thris's arm. "Better hold your fire! Urko wants him taken alive---if we can!"
"We'll need backup, then." Thris turned and bellowed back at the camp: "It's the humanoid, Blue-Eyes!"
The camp had been alerted by the gunshot, and sleeping gorillas stumbled groggily from the hot tents to join their fellow soldiers, who were snatching at stacks of rifles.
General Urko strode out of the tent and peered up at the pass from under his black carved leather helmet. He could hear the ripple of voices.
"The humanoid!"
"It's the humanoid! It's Blue-Eyes!"
"Tell General Urko! It's the humanoid!"
A lieutenant ran up to Urko's tent, saluting by slapping a fist across his leather chestplate. "Sir, it's...."
"I know, lieutenant, I know!"
Two more junior officers ran up. "General Urko, the humanoid's in the pass!"
Urko glared at them. "I can see that!" He smiled fiercely in the direction of the tiny figure he saw standing in the cleft. "At last!"
He began to shout orders. "Get the humanoid! Don't let him get away! Zirk, you take a squad to the right! Kaar, you take left!" Urko whirled to point at one of the officers emerging from the tent. "Major Fotgorn!"
"Sir!"
"Take a squad and go straight in! Capture that humanoid and bring him to me!"
"Yes, sir!"
As the major started to move, Urko stopped him. "Alive, major, if at all possible.....Otherwise dead!"
Fotgorn's fist slapped hard against the leather of his breastplate. "Yes, sir!" He started running, gathering a squad around him as he went.
Urko started walking down the slight rise that led into the camp. "Come, gentlemen," he said to his remaining officers. "Let's watch the capture of this most unusual humanoid!"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTqzpLzLAP
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From up on the ridge, Fitzhugh watched the officers leave the tent. And he had already chosen his approach route. Conveniently, Fotgorn had stripped the trucks of men. The portly con man now slithered over the ridge and took temporary cover in a grouping of rocks. Then he rose and bent over, ran to the line of jeeps and trucks. The general's tent was directly ahead, up a slight rise.
But just as he started to advance, he saw someone move in the darkness of the tent, and he stopped short.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGg04PR4zz
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Urko climbed up on the hood of the outermost jeep in the circle of vehicles. He saw a movement deep in the pass and shouted to his men. "There he is! Close in!"
Three squads began to trot through the sand and sunbaked rocks.
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Fitzhugh decided to make a run for the tent. Gorilla sentry or no, he had only so much time to get to the laser. His shoed feet thudded on the sand, and then he was inside the tent!
"Hey, what are----a humanoid!"
A thickset gorilla wearing earphones rose from behind the portable command radio. He fumbled for the gun in his holster, but Steve was too quick for him. Still warm from the desert sun, a rock Fitzhugh had carried with him from the ridge, crashed against the side of the radio operator's head, and the ape staggered drunkenly. As he fell, the earphones ripped from his head, and he toppled two chairs.
Certain that his gorilla adversary was out cold, Fitzhugh kicked aside the now bloody rock and reached for the screwdriver.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0KaZZGSsx
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Steve Burton stood in plain sight.
A nervous ape had fired again, but Steve saw that the shot was far off-target. He expected the gorilla outfit to try to capture him alive first; then would come the attempts to kill him. He heard voices echoing in the rock passage, the voices of the quickly advancing simian force.
"Hurry!"
"Get him quickly---the general's watching!"
Steve glanced up at the lava spire over him, then back at the figures of the advancing gorillas.
"Hurry, Fitz!" he muttered to himself.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNoPn05L1s
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Standing in the cool shadow of the general’s tent, Fitzhugh carefully unscrewed the screwdriver’s casing, revealing the intricate hidden laser mechanism inside. With a practiced hand, he adjusted tiny dials and sliders along the concealed panel to crank the laser’s power for maximum range and precision.
He raised the tool slowly, sighting down its length as he locked onto the towering lava spire just beyond the camp—the spire that loomed directly over where Steve Burton was creeping through the rocks below.
Fitzhugh’s finger hovered over the handle, then decisively pressed the slim, unmarked stud near the base—one that activated the laser’s firing sequence with a quiet, almost imperceptible hum.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpix9i8TkIM
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Steve looked up just as the ruby-red beam flashed out. The base of the finger of lava exploded, and the gorillas below stopped in surprise. Steve heard one of them cuss. The laser beam had cut quickly into the rock---a purpose for which it apparently Fitz had designed it for specifically. Hot chips and ragged chips of the exploding rock showered into the cleft below. Several gorillas cried out in pain as the hot rock shower cascaded onto them.
Steve became alarmed again, however, when he saw that some of the gorillas were still running towards him. But there was a sudden sharp crack---almost a metallic sound---and then several more ripping, breaking, snapping explosions, and the undercut tower of rock began to tumble.
The attacking gorillas bellowed in fear. Some tried to run back to the retreating detachment of apes. Some stood rooted in shock. And some continued their run straight toward Steve.
Then the broken spire crashed into the pass.
The thunder of the falling rock obliterated any other sound, including the screams of the trapped simians. The fallen rock crushed their bodies, wedged itself into the pass, and exploded great clouds of dust up and down its length.
The first escaping ape reached Steve, before the dust did, but he only stared at Steve with wide, frightened eyes and ran past without attempting to capture him.
The second ape was more dedicated to duty. His red-rimmed eyes filled with hate; the gorilla ran at Steve with arms spread wide. "You murdered Rik!"
When the dusty, blood-soaked gorilla was almost upon him, Steve suddenly fell to his knees. The gorilla fell over him, striking his head against the rock. Then the cloud of dust obliterated everything. Steve saw no more apes escape the fallen debris. Choking, he ran back out of the cloud of dust.
Good show, Fitz! he thought.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMVPtxE3D3
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General Urko swiveled his head around to look at the tent he had just vacated, a hundred yards behind him. He could see a dark figure holding the object Krag had brought him. A ruby red beam had winked out.
"What in Galen's name!" Urko snapped at a nearby officer. "Captain Blendo, go back there and tell that nutty radio operator he's under arrest! He just killed half my men!"
"Sir, he was probably trying to help!"
"That stupid ape has the brain of a humanoid! I want him arrested! We'll have the court-martial just as soon as we capture this damn Blue-Eyes! Then I'll see the ape hung myself!"
"Yessir!"
"Sovak! Form up a column! We'll have to go the long way around to reach the pass, but he can't get away!"
"Yes, sir!"
Captain Sovak began shouting orders. Men piled into the trucks quickly, a little bit awed at what they'd just now seen.
Colonel Telfar came up to the general and saluted smartly. "We're ready to go, sir!"
Urko glared at him. "I don't need you for this, colonel. You and the other officers get busy on the plans to attack the humanoids' caves when we leave the Forbidden Zone. And get me that report on my secret weapon!"
"Yes, sir!"
The colonel stepped back as the column of trucks and jeeps started off. They went northeast, to outflank the ring of rocky hills and ambush Blue-Eyes in the pass or in the plain beyond.
Telfar started back toward the tent. "Come, we must prepare Urko's next triumph!"
Other officers followed him toward the general's tent.
Fitzhugh saw eight or nine officers coming toward him as he crouched just under the tent. With them coming this way, I can't slip away without being seen! he thought and clutched the screwdriver. Looking around him, he tried, to think of a way out, but decided it was too late to do anything except hide behind the radio table.
"Captain Skarg, you blundering fool! Why did you use that device on...."
"Look, Colonel! There's Skarg---dead!" one of the other officers shouted, pointing.
"What's going on here?! Telfar snarled. "And where's that device Sergeant Klag found in the desert?"
"Who's that behind the....?"
Fitzhugh stood up and started firing.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlY9jTJkP1
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General Urko's command vehicle bounced and rattled over the trackless sands. The gorilla leader held onto the sides of the twisting jeep with a grip of steel.
"We'll have to go all the way around this ridge to the other side," he growled to Captain Sovak, "but we'll beat him to it! Blue-Eyes will have to go on foot the rest of the way through the pass. He has no other way out!"
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Fitzhugh ran up the slope that led into the pass. His footsteps echoed in the cleft as he trotted along. He came upon the body of a broken-legged gorilla who had dragged himself away from the rock fall before he died. A little further and Fitzhugh came upon the great pile of broken stone that choked the pass.
Several feet and one bloody hand protruded from the rocks. None of them showed any signs of life.
Fitzhugh cupped a hand to his mouth and called out in his usual sarcastic tone, “Is everybody still in one piece, or should I start carving tombstones?”
He could barely make out their distant voices carried faintly on the wind. One by one, the castaways shouted up to him, their tones disbelieving.
“Fitz? Is that really you?” Steve called out.
“Who else would be standing on a mountain of monkey trouble with a glorified screwdriver in his hand?” Fitzhugh replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Yes, it’s me, and yes, I’ve got the miracle tool.”
It was Betty who shouted back next, her voice edged with frustration, “We can’t get up to you! The rocks are too steep—and too loose!”
Fitzhugh squinted down at the others, the screwdriver-turned-laser gripped tightly in his hand.
“Just so everyone knows,” he called, with theatrical sarcasm, “our good friend General Urko has taken his charming self and half the army around the ridge. So unless someone’s got a magic carpet, we’ve got about—oh—three minutes before he finds out Steve isn’t popping out the other side like a stage magician!”
He eyed the unstable pile of rocks blocking the others' path.
“If nobody’s limber enough to scramble over that mess,” he added, “I’ll do the civilized thing and carve a tunnel through with this wonder of modern warfare!”
Dan cupped his hands and called up, “Do it, Fitzhugh! It’s a good idea—just make it fast!”
"Stand back! Over to the left!---Confound it, no! Um---the right!"
"Okay, shoot!"
Fitzhugh crouched low beside the portable table, shielding the screwdriver-laser from any wandering ape eyes. His face was set with rare determination, though his hands still trembled slightly from adrenaline.
He flipped open a small, disguised panel near the screwdriver's handle—barely visible unless you knew it was there—and pressed the lower rear stud, the one he had rigged for precision beam mode.
The laser hummed softly to life, the faintest red glow building at the tip.
Carefully, he leveled the tool, aligning it with the base of the rock pile that blocked the others. He braced his arm against a tent pole to steady his aim. The spire of jagged stones shimmered slightly in the desert heat, but Fitzhugh focused past it.
He muttered to himself, "Let’s see if this little beauty still bites."
The red beam sliced into the soft pumice, cutting it like butter. The harder parts of the rock exploded, showering Fitzhugh with hot fragments, but the beam cut steadily through. Steam and dust billowed through the cut.
"It's through!" Steve cried.
Fitzhugh started slicing the beam back and forth, cutting the rock into pieces to enlarge the hole. More choking steam and dust emerged, but Fitzhugh grimly kept at it. He heard pieces of loose rock fall inside the tunnel he was cutting, and knew they were being reduced to gas by the deadly ray. Fitzhugh stopped a moment and peered into the hole, watching the steam dissolve until the tunnel was clear.
But it still wasn't big enough. He began to cut again, enlarging the narrow passage with long, carefully aimed shots.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCqmmK3Tqq
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Urko grunted as the jeep bounced high over a rock. The vehicle righted itself and sped on. Following the jeep, sharply jostled by invisible dust-colored rocks, other gorilla tracks and jeeps roared across the desert. They rounded the last hill and turned west, toward the northern exit of the pass.
Urko laughed harshly to himself, then spoke to nobody in particular. "I've waited a long time for this moment! Blue-Eyes, you troublesome beast! I've got you now!"
The jeep roared and battered its way onward, crunching low-growing cactus and small rocks under its wheels. Tiny lizards and dry-skinned snakes felt the vibrations far in advance and hopped and slithered into hiding.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDomcKuXnK4
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Steam drifted out of the jagged hole in the rock, curling in tendrils around the castaways as they approached from the far side.
"Fitzhugh!" Steve called through the haze. "That you?"
A moment later, Fitzhugh’s head appeared in the opening, his face framed by the swirling mist and the scorched edge of the passage.
"Who else would be mad enough to tunnel through solid lava with a glorified screwdriver?" he replied, grinning.
Betty coughed, waving a hand in front of her face. "Be careful, Fitz! That steam’s still thick—can barely see a thing!"
Fitzhugh narrowed his eyes, peering through to the others. Dan moved forward, reaching toward the stone.
"Dan, don’t touch that rock!" Fitzhugh barked. "Still hot enough to fry a gorilla steak!"
Valerie crouched near the opening, squinting at the glowing cracks in the stone. "How long before it cools down?"
Fitzhugh gave a theatrical shrug, his smirk returning. "How should I know? This is the first time I’ve actually used the thing for more than party tricks. You want a schedule? Try baking a soufflé in a volcano!"
Mark shook his head. "So, what—you want us to just poke it every few seconds?"
"Precisely, dear boy," Fitzhugh said, not missing a beat. "Keep testing—when it no longer sears off your fingerprints, we’ll call it progress."
From behind the group, Mark suddenly straightened, tense. "Wait—hold it. I think I hear the apes coming!"
Fitzhugh rolled his eyes and swore under his breath. "Of course they are. Nothing like a dramatic entrance being interrupted by stampeding baboons."
Mark turned to the group, his voice brisk. “All right, everyone—wrap anything you’ve got around your hands. Shirts, scarves, whatever. Unless you want your palms roasted getting through that tunnel.”
Mark, gritting his teeth, stripped off his jacket and wrapped it tightly around both hands. The others followed his lead without hesitation. Betty tore a strip from the hem of her blouse and wound it around her palms. Valerie used a light scarf she’d been carrying, while Steve did the same with his sleeves, binding the fabric as best he could. One by one, they hopped up onto the slag, still radiating heat from the laser’s recent cut.
Crouching low to avoid the jagged edges of the ceiling, they moved carefully through the rough, narrow passage. The scorched rock underfoot quickly began to warm their shoes uncomfortably and sweat broke out on every forehead as the heat closed in on them.
"Keep low!" Fitzhugh called through the haze. "And don’t stop to roast marshmallows!"
“This feels like a sweatbox,” Dan muttered, ducking beneath a jut of stone.
Fitzhugh cupped his hands around his mouth and called back, “Then consider it a complimentary steam bath—on the house! Now stop whining and move it before the apes decide to join you in there!”
They tiptoed as fast as they could, the soles of their shoes beginning to smoke against the scorched slag. Every footstep was a gamble between speed and searing pain. Instinctively, they reached out to the tunnel walls for balance, but even those brief touches made their fingers sting with heat.
“Don’t lean too hard,” Mark warned through gritted teeth, sweat trickling down his temple. “These walls’ll cook you------"
There was a low rumble, then a sudden thud!—followed by a whooshing rain of gravel and dirt cascading from above. Fitzhugh stumbled back, waving away the thick dust billowing from the tunnel mouth.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed into the swirling cloud, “Steve? Dan? Betty? Valerie? Mark?” Then, coughing a little and smirking despite himself, he added, “Come on, sound off! I need to know if my favorite barbecue skewers are still kicking—or if I’m gonna have to dig you out with a spoon!”
"We're okay," Mark yelled back. "Just some rubble from above. This isn't solid rock, you know." Another dirt slide began and a solid thunk rang out, but it was behind the group. They all emerged from the cloud of dust and scrambled out into the open air of the pass.
Bawdily, Fitzhugh threw his hands in the air. “Thank the Lord and all His angels—my favorite sweaty sausages are still in one piece!”
He stepped closer to the tunnel mouth, raising the screwdriver-laser and adjusting the stud. “All right, now that you’re through, I’ll just seal this baby up tighter than—”
Another rumble followed Fitzhugh's firing, then the whole tunnel collapsed thunderously. Dan, Valerie, Mark, Steve and Betty looked at their fellow castaway with their eyes wide.
Dan grinned fleetingly at the quirky Fitzhugh. "Just in time."
Mark said, “They won’t find a way through that—not now, at least,” as they all followed Fitzhugh down the pass.
Valerie replied with a grim look, “I just hope we get back to Barry in time,” then grunted as she pushed herself into a run.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhpqmNz2hf
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"What took you so long?" Barry asked anxiously. "What happened?"
Dan shook his head and told Barry, "No time to explain. We had a little trouble getting Fitzhugh’s laser back." Then he turned to Mendez and asked, "The reactor cavern is directly below us, is that right?"
Mendez nodded. "That is right."
Barry looked around at everyone—Dan, Steve, Valerie, Mark, Betty, Fitzhugh, and Mendez—and asked, “Alright, what’s the plan now?”
Mark pointed down. “The other passages into the reactor room are all blocked, right?”
Again, Mendez nodded. "Either by flowing lava, or they're just too hot or in danger of collapse.
"All right," Steve said, “we’ll cut right through here and lower ourselves into the reactor room. With Fitzhugh’s laser, we’ll blast a path into the side of an underground fault that shouldn’t be far from here—one of the faults that ran under old Metropolis. That vent will allow the lava to escape downward.”
Steve turned to his fellow castaways, about to give the order, but was stopped by Fitzhugh's tense expression.
Fitzhugh looked up. “Well, I’m not so sure we’ll all make it out of this one.”
"What's wrong?" Barry asked nervously.
Fitzhugh jabbed a finger at the empty power cell slot and said sarcastically, “Looks like one of my precious energy cells has gone on a little vacation—hope it sends a postcard.”
Betty asked, glancing around nervously, “Where could it have gone? Did the apes grab it, or maybe it just slipped away?”
“Who knows?” Fitzhugh shrugged, scanning the ground. “Could’ve been the apes, could’ve been gravity doing its thing. Either way, we’re short one power cell.”
Mendez turned to look at the television monitor, tuned still to the reactor room. The lava was flowing faster now, rising through the crack in the floor and spreading over it. The workbenches were burning or had collapsed into the molten rock. Only the reactor, sitting on a raised platform of stone, still remained untouched.
Steve urged, “Let’s move—time’s running out!”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvdURENwBF
