Julius Rosenthal will make candy no more and other short stories by Nicholas Russell (young adult books to read .txt) 📗

computer system was online they could order the system to jettison the contents of the cargo hold. Conklin held back his criticism as long as he could but as the approached the final airlock he had to voice his concerns “That gravity well is tearing this ship apart if it damaged the doors were screwed.”

Ram looked over her shoulder at Conklin as the door slid open. “We’re already screwed.”.

She slid through the second set of doors as soon as they started to open. The red emergency lights didn’t light the hold as well as the standard ones but she decided not to waste time trying to bring them online. Barking orders at Conklin she moved to the line closest to the center and started entering commands into a cryo unit.

Their internal systems were designed to protect the person inside making it difficult to bring the system down outside its normal parameters. It took her forty seconds on the first one and she was hoping to get through the second faster. So was almost done when Conklin rounded the corner “We got like 3 minutes till it blows the doors, please tell me you are ready.”

Before she could answer the locks popped and frigid air hissed out. Conklin grabbed he first and swung the doors open. The occupant was a woman a few years younger than Conklin and she looked to be sleeping peacefully. His eyes locked on hers and he froze, he couldn’t tell you what he expected but he didn’t expect a woman. Ram was yelling something but he ignored her “I...

His voice broke and he wanted to just reseal the tube and pick another. But couldn’t bring himself to do it, Conklin knew he didn’t have time. Finding a strength he didn’t know he had Conklin found his voice and gave words to his fears. “I can’t kill this woman... She I mean what, I don’t”

Ram pushed him aside and pulled the woman out ripping the IV’s shearing the tubes at the base. “Their all dead, twenty-five minutes after they disconnect the tube won’t have enough power to keep them in status. You on the other hand can live for a few days now get in.” Conklin was still frozen, his gaze never leaving the woman. Ram pushed him and slammed the door; the locks instantly sealed and she moved to her unit. Its occupant was short and round with a big grin and a bald head. Ram gave a weak smile and an even weaker apology as she yanked him out.

Climbing in Ram made sure her fingers clear of the seal as the door snapped shut. The internal systems started to churn out a stale recycled air. A low hiss followed by a beep signified the tube was sealed and Ram sat waiting. The thick glass was almost sound proof but she could still hear the siren as the explosive bolts began to blow. Ram braced herself for the launch.

The tubes shot from the cargo bay faster than She had expected. The sudden acceleration threw Ram against the door and putting her case into a spin. As she turned she could see that not all of the cryo tubes made it most got pulled back into the ship. With each revolution the ship grew smaller as the gravity well pulled it in tighter. Eventually Ram closed her eyes trying not to watch its descent into the anomaly that all who followed would avoid.

A deep thumping woke Ram from a light sleep. Panicking for a moment Ram jerked wildly about the Cryo tube, forgetting that she had sealed herself in the floating coffin. As she calmed she saw a man – his bright orange atmospheric suit standing stark against the black of space. He gave her a thumbs up, and waved a signal to someone she couldn’t see. Moments later she could feel the Cryo Tube begin to move and a peace settled over Ram as she thought of tomorrow for the first time today.

The Gatekeeper

It had seemed like days but he couldn’t tell for sure, the sun neither rose nor set across the desert of the forgotten. At first he rested when he was tired, sleeping if he must but on the third night the scavengers had sensed his presence and the girl. The girl’s soul reeked of innocence. The Scavengers had been here long enough to know how to survive, they ripped the innocence from the newly arrived and feasted. Twice he had to pull them from this plane, but that was dangerous. He could feel the hands of Lucifer closer to his mind each time.

He could feel the fiend’s anger at his betrayal. In all the history of Lucifer’s control no Gatekeeper had refused to turn over a charge. But here he was, he had crossed The Forgotten and in that braved the rubble of Eden. Once they crossed the desert they came to a woods, the gatekeeper had never seen before. The girl walked at his side looking about with a child like interest in the unknown. A short way into the forest they came about a small cabin.

The door was cracked open for any and all to enter. The Gatekeeper slipped in first fearing more what could be inside than that which stalked outside. The building held only one sparsely furnished room. There were two shelves in the room, both loaded down with broken trinkets. Sitting in the room’s center was a small round table, like most people would place in their kitchen. Sitting atop the table was a small gnome-like creature; it was sitting with its legs crossed ignoring all but the tiny gold bodied alarm clock in his hand. Its body was emaciated from its time here and its eyes glowed an ominous green. It turned its attention from the clock to the figure now before it. The creature’s voice was high pitched