Sprinting across the asphalt road, on her way to school, all Drew had on her mind was how the prank was going to unfold. Over the years, she had perfected her talent for imitating other people’s voices. Hmmm, how can I make sure she’s out of her office? Drew thought as she rounded the corner. She paused briefly to tie back her unkempt brown hair. I hope she’s still getting her coffee. Still racing, Drew caught glimpses of nice cottages in rows, each one with a window box and a grassy patch for a small garden. Everything was neat and tidy in The Dome, everything organized, and everything was always exactly the same. Drew had lived in The Dome all her life. Her parents told her that she should be grateful for what she has, and where she is, for the remains of the human race were living inside this huge glass dome, safe from the wasteland the world had become. The Dome was perfect, and Drew was known for messing up the perfection. For example, a year before, she flooded the boys’ bathroom, and earlier this year, she had pulled the fire alarm and set all the sprinklers off. Those were some of her best, and most prized, pranks. Finally, Drew snapped back into the present at the sight of the school building. She dashed right in, holding her hands in front of her to push open the wooden double doors. Drew knew the quickest route to the principal’s office by heart and automatically rushed there, hoping again that Ms. Pavo and her ridiculous beehive hairdo wouldn’t be there to ruin Drew’s devious plan. Luckily, her office was completely deserted, ex cept for her tank of bobble-headed fish. Drew jogged over to Ms. Pavo’s window and kept watch for the usual swarm of approaching students. And sure enough, they came, all racing to be the first into school. This was convenient, Drew thought, Ms. Pavo is always the last one in from the playground. Perfect. The Dome was perfect, and Drew was known for messing up the perfection Drew strode across the room and scanned the office quickly for something resembling a microphone. Halfway through her scan, she noticed a small headset with a tiny microphone lying askew on the principal’s desk. She chuckled as she imagined this tiny headset perched on her principal’s huge hairdo. Drew snatched up the headset and felt around for an On button. She fiddled with the microphone for a fraction of a second and heard a faint crackling noise. She took a quick look at her watch and began to impersonate Ms. Pavo’s shrill voice. “Attention, students. We have been notified that there is a gas leak in the science lab, and the building must be evacuated immediately. Go home, and don’t come back until tomorrow.” Drew finished with a grin, and in the wink of an eye, she was back on the pavement, headed to her grandmother’s cottage, closely followed by the rest of the students. * * * Drew looked deep into her beloved grandmother’s eyes. They were bright blue, just like her own. She and her grandmother were very close, and even though she didn’t always fully approve of Drew’s pranks, she never tried to stop her. Drew loved her grandmother for this, and for many other reasons. Her grandmother yawned, and Drew realized that she should probably go and let her grandmother rest. She was getting older and slowing down. The wrinkles in her face were becoming more pronounced, her hair increasingly white. Drew went home and spent the day relaxing. After sunset, though she wasn’t tired, she followed the rules and got ready for bed. Her schedule was prescribed like all citizens of The Dome. Mealtimes and bedtimes were set. You couldn’t skip meals or stay up late. It was hard for her to fall asleep, but eventually she did. * * * In her troubled slumber, Drew watched in despair as her grandmother got wheeled out into the cold night air. The door to her grandmother’s cottage slammed, and Drew suddenly found herself near the glass wall of The Dome, the wind whipping her pale face. Time stopped as she desperately searched for her grandmother. Where have they taken her? She heard a dull thud, and there, on the smooth surface of The Dome, was a slightly smudged, dusty handprint. Out of impulse, Drew tried to wipe it off, before realizing with an overwhelming feeling of despair: the handprint was on the outside of The Dome. * * * Drew woke to the sound of her own screaming. She sat up in bed and wiped the sweat off her forehead. The handprint was still vivid in her mind. She knew she would never be able to unsee it. How could there be a handprint on the outside of The Dome? No one ever left The Dome. No one came in. There was nobody but them. She shook the thought away. No, it couldn’t be true. It was only a dream. Her grandmother was still in her cottage a block away. Nothing could have happened. She had just spoken to her the day before. Still worried, she ran out the door and down the path to her grandmother’s cottage, not eating the breakfast that had just been delivered. Drew knew something was wrong when she didn’t see her grandmother tending her garden as usual. “Grandmother,” she called softly, walking to the back of the house. No answer. She called again, a little louder this time. “Grandmother, where are you?” Every second that she couldn’t find her grandmother made the dream more and more likely to be true. “But it couldn’t be,” she reassured herself in a soft whisper. As she circled to the front of her grandmother’s house, a cleanup crew was clearing away her grandmother’s things. “Do you know where my grandmother is?” Drew asked, while trying unsuccessfully to keep the panic out of her voice.
Science-Fiction
Searching for Atlantis
JULY 6, 2052, 9 A.M. Elizabeth pulled on her trench coat and adjusted the straps to her flying goggles. Her frizzy red hair was barely controlled under her striped bandana and her dark green eyes squinted in the glare of the sun. She was standing on the stone pavement of the San Francisco wharf, gazing out to sea, past the airships lined neatly in a row. Behind her lay the city with its multicolored skyscrapers, which were topped with gardens that looked completely out of place on the buildings. The sky was clear, with not a cloud to be seen. Perfect flying weather, especially for this trip. “Wow, look at that thing! I can’t believe the university let us borrow it!” said Elizabeth’s friend and lab partner, Jack, who was standing next to her. He was pointing to the airship directly in front of them. It was a smoothly built contraption, its large propellers whirring as it floated a few feet above the sea. “Well, I suppose it’s for science. But you know, not everybody wanted to lend it to us,” Elizabeth replied. “Really?” said Jack with interest. “Yeah,” Elizabeth said. “Some of those guys thought our whole idea was baloney!” “What?!” he exploded. “I’ve studied tons of old geography and history books. Lots of them suggest that Atlantis could be lying in the Pacific instead of the Atlantic all along. That’s why nobody has ever found it. Besides, your sonar readings don’t lie, there is definitely something down there.” Perfect flying weather, especially for this trip “I know, we’ll show them,” Elizabeth replied, and she was about to say more when Jack’s watch started going off. A tiny 3-D projected image of himself, short brown hair, jeans, glasses, and all, appeared on the screen. “Come on, Jack,” it said, hands on hips, “you have got to go!” “Yes, I know,” he grumbled. Jack turned off his watch and the projection disappeared. “Well, we had better get a move on,” he said. Elizabeth nodded. So they walked up the gangplank and onto the airship. As she passed through the entrance she saw The Hurricane written in large black letters on the side of the ship. “Well, I sure hope not,” Elizabeth said to herself, then hurried after Jack. Inside there was a small sitting room with a couch, a table, and a mini-fridge. The walls were made of glass so you could look out in all directions, the floor and ceiling were of polished wood. It’s going to look cool in here when we get up in the air, Elizabeth thought to herself as she passed. The control room had such a bewildering number of switches, knobs, and levers that only an expert airship pilot could actually use them without getting a headache. Expert pilot that she was, Elizabeth sat down and put on her headset. “Everything in working order?” she asked Jack, who was sitting next to her. “Yep,” he replied. “OK, I’m starting up the engines.” Elizabeth adjusted a lever, and a loud hum began beneath their feet. “We’re gaining altitude,” said Jack. “This is going to be a great day for flying.” The airship looked out of place in the vast emptiness of the sky. It had a blimplike top, large propellers, and a relatively small human compartment. In the sky, all that could be heard was the drone of the propellers and the shush shush shush of the engine. That’s why Elizabeth loved flying in an airship. When you’re up there you feel as if you and your copilot are the only people in the world and the sea stretches on forever. Today, The Hurricane flew low under the clouds and closer to the ocean than some would deem safe. But, as was mentioned before, this was a very special mission. Inside, Elizabeth pulled out a piece of paper on which she had printed the sonar readings and showed them to Jack. “See that part in the middle, with all those weird lines? That’s where we will be looking.” About an hour later, they arrived at their destination. Elizabeth checked the coordinates on the map, then fiddled with a compass on the control panel. “Perfect, this is just where we need to be. Jack, can you get us down any… Whoa.” To the west a huge storm was brewing, reaching high into the sky and blocking out the sun. Lightning crackled, clouds were blown all over the place, and Elizabeth could hear the distant rumble of thunder. From Elizabeth and Jack’s perspective, it looked just like the unsightly contents of a witch’s cauldron were being stirred quite violently. “Oh great, just amazing!” said Jack, glaring at the storm. “Just as we come close to making a great historic and scientific discovery, this storm is conjured up. As if to drive us away!” Elizabeth sighed. “Well, we will just have to come back another time.” But the moment she said that, The Hurricane gave a sudden lurch, sending the two companions sprawling. Elizabeth heard a crash as the furniture in the sitting room was knocked about. By the time Elizabeth managed to get to her feet, she almost fell back down again in surprise. “Jack!” she cried. “We’re heading straight into the storm!” Elizabeth helped him to his seat and the two pilots desperately tried to get The Hurricane going back in the right direction. But it was too late, the storm had already swallowed them up. Rain lashed at the windshield and lightning struck so close it nearly killed them. All they could see through the windshield was a whirling gray soup. “We’ve got to get out of here!” Elizabeth shouted over the howling wind. “I’m working on it!” Jack yelled back. He furiously tried to get The Hurricane facing into the right direction, but the airship just kept turning in ludicrous circles, buffeted by the wind. “Jack, we need to get to the top of the storm!” Elizabeth cried. “Are you crazy? It’s
Falling into Earth
The meteorite kept hurtling towards Earth, and Cam watched as her vision darkened PART I: A NEW MISSION Dallas took his last breath of fresh air and put on his helmet. It was as hot as an oven in his space suit. In about thirty seconds he was sodden with sweat; nevertheless, Dallas and Cam took a spirited step into the elevator. “Say your goodbyes to the ground,” said Dallas. “You won’t be seeing it for a while.” Dallas caught a sullen look in Cam’s eyes; something was plaguing her. “Something has been seriously scraping at my instincts.” Dallas looked bewildered. “Like what?” Dallas goaded. Silence. The drone of the elevator scaling up the ship was the only thing disrupting the awkward silence between the two astronauts. “I don’t know,” said Cam, eradicating the silence. “I’m just getting some foretaste of a bad thing, like a preview of a movie.” The elevator was almost at the top of the ship, and Cam stared out the transparent window. They were at the top finally, and the elevator doors opened. “Bzzzzzt.” The interstellar mission was to repair the broken lunar module on one of Jupiter’s moons; as simple as breathing. It would be a breeze. The two astronauts stepped onto their space shuttle, which was in the middle of nowhere. “All systems are go!” said Cam. Unresponsive, Dallas just stared into the bright blue sky. Although it would be a piece of cake, Cam hesitated to start the spaceship. She didn’t feet right about the mission. “Hey,” Dallas said calmly. “Don’t worry about it! It’ll be fine.” Despite her instincts, Cam started the spaceship and blasted into space. Blasted into danger’s way. After the jostling of the atmosphere, Dallas could think clearly and was back on track. They were now passing the moon. “All right. Prepare for hyper-jump!” Dallas started pulling the lever and listening to the ultra-powerful engine get ready for light speed. But Commander Jenkins showed up on the monitor in the middle of his controls. Dallas and Cam snapped to attention and saluted. “At ease, astronauts.” “What’s the problem, sir?” asked Dallas. “Well, it seems our satellite has picked up a giant meteorite, on the trail for Earth.” Cam’s face turned chalk pale. “How much longer until impact?” “About twelve hours. You better get some rest because when you wake up, you’re gonna stop this thing.” “What?” Dallas yelled. “With all due respect, sir, how are we possibly going to stop a giant meteorite?” “That is for you to figure out, Mr. Graham.” “But what about Cam? She’s got a family at home.” “All the more reason to make it home. I’m done here. You have exactly eleven hours forty-seven minutes. Good luck, astronauts.” The monitor turned black, leaving Dallas Graham and Cam Donston praying for their deaths to be quick and painless. Cam stared blankly into space. Literally. “I was right,” Cam said, with no emotion. It was like she was in a trance. “I knew there was something wrong, but I went anyway. And now we’re going to die here in the middle of the void of space.” “But we’ll die with pride, honor, and patriotism. Now let’s go to bed and wake up early, so we can plan how we’re going to stop this big rock!” So Cam mindlessly slumped into bed and lay there, silently crying and saying goodbye to everyone she loved. * * * PART II: FALLING INTO EARTH “Wake up, Cam. Wake up.” Dallas stood over Cam and gently shook her awake. “How much time left?” Dallas looked at the time on the monitor. “Three hours and 54 minutes,” said Dallas. “We better get started,” Cam said somberly. “No need, Cam. I got no sleep last night. Spent the whole time devising a plan. I know how we’re going to stop this thing.” Cam looked at the several bags under Dallas’s eyes and the completely slumped way he held his shoulders. “That’s great!” said Cam. “We’d better start preparing!” The plan was simple. The ship had mining lasers on it in case they needed to cut through rock. They would fly closer to the meteorite, try cutting it into the smallest pieces possible, and turn it into space dust. They contemplated that they would cut it into fractions, until it was so small, the impact would be no more destructive than dropping a bowling ball from a building. As long as people go to underground shelters, they will be fine. “Thirty minutes left. We should be seeing it in about three… two… one!” Sure enough, they could see the meteorite, coming in way faster than expected. “Uhoh. Start mining lasers now!” “Zzzzzzz!” the lasers heated up. Cam grabbed the controls and started the ship going in reverse. “We’re not fast enough!” “Then we’ll just have to let the meteorite hit.” Dallas looked at Cam. She was silently crying. “OK.” Dallas grabbed the controls and veered right. But it wasn’t enough. * * * The meteorite smashed into the engine part of the ship, with a terrible screech of metal ripping. The ship was totally exposed to the void of space. The shock wave threw Cam and Dallas against the side of the ship, and Cam knocked her head bad, even in her space suit. The meteorite kept hurtling towards Earth, and Cam watched as her vision darkened. Before she went unconscious, she saw the impact of the meteorite and the end of Earth. And then everything went black. Cam and Dallas were unconscious, falling into Earth. * * * FINAL PART: ALONE Cam… Cam… Cam! Wake up!” Cam Donston slowly let the light flood into her eyes. Immediately, dust covered her vision, but when she wiped her eyes, she saw Dallas Graham, standing over her, looking casual as ever. “Geez, you took quite a nap there, Cam!” Cam was confused. Was she dead? Did she somehow make it? Or was it all a dream, from beginning to end? No, she thought.
