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Authors: Douglas E. Richards
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haven’t they attacked us yet?”
Good question. Ryan was about to say, I wish I knew, when the answer hit him. Of course! “Because the scientists damaged the inside of the city,” he said. “They cut a piece of the webbing from that staircase. They actively attacked it. If something does that to our body the damaged part sends out all kinds of chemical signals that can activate the immune system.” He paused. “Even though people are foreign to the city, we must seem pretty harmless, so it isn’t too worried about us. But as soon as the scientists cut that piece of material out the city saw us as a danger and sent out the army.”
This had to be right, thought Regan. How else to explain the insect attack only minutes after the webbing was cut. “So if we concentrate on being totally harmless . . .” she began.
“Then we won’t attract them,” finished Ryan. “Exactly. We just have to be sure to be very gentle. Don’t even disturb a single flower,” he cautioned.
Damaging the city on purpose would be a great way to test his hypothesis, but then again, if he was right, it would also be a great way to get himself devoured by the city’s ‘antibodies’. This was one hypothesis he wasn’t so eager to test at the moment.
A tear rolled gently down Regan’s face as she thought once again of her parents. If only their mom could be with them to see how well they had paid attention to her lessens in biology.
Ryan knew he couldn’t afford to consider his parents’ fate right now. He was determined to get his sister to safety and they were still trapped in a very dangerous alien city. His parents wouldn’t want him to just give up. They would want him to do whatever it took to save himself and his sister.
“We need to explore the city,” said Ryan in determination. “We have to find a way out, or maybe some alien equipment we can use to open another hole in the shield. And we need to find food and water, too. We may be here a long time.”
Not finding food and drink was Ryan’s biggest fear. They would have to keep exploring individual buildings until they did. People could last a long time without food if they had to, but the human body couldn’t get by without water for very long at all.
“Let’s go,” said Ryan, pretending to be confident. He was determined to find a way out of here somehow.
But he didn’t have the faintest idea how he could accomplish this impossible task.
Chapter 16
Technology and Magic
Ryan and Regan explored for hour after hour as their hunger and thirst mounted—and their desperation.
They went into several structures and discovered artifacts of every size, shape and kind. They inspected several very cautiously but couldn’t figure out how to operate any of them—or even if they could be operated. It was maddening. For all they knew they had held the key to leaving the city in their hands and hadn’t recognized it.
Dr. Harris had said current human technology would seem like magic to earlier ages. So what would a prehistoric man make of the inside of their house? Would he think a telephone hanging on a wall was art? That a computer was something used for hunting—to throw at animals? What would he make of a microwave oven? He could be in total darkness, searching frantically for some flint to hit together to make a fire, not knowing that all he had to do was push the small white switches sticking out from the walls and he could have all the light he needed. What if he was hungry? He could find a can of soup and never know there was food inside. Even if he did, he wouldn’t know what a can-opener was or how to use it. A feast could be waiting inside the refrigerator but he wouldn’t guess it, and he wouldn’t even know for sure that a refrigerator could even be opened .
Ryan and Regan knew that in this case, they were the ignorant primitives stumbling around in the dark, not advanced enough to have any idea of what they were seeing within the
Good question. Ryan was about to say, I wish I knew, when the answer hit him. Of course! “Because the scientists damaged the inside of the city,” he said. “They cut a piece of the webbing from that staircase. They actively attacked it. If something does that to our body the damaged part sends out all kinds of chemical signals that can activate the immune system.” He paused. “Even though people are foreign to the city, we must seem pretty harmless, so it isn’t too worried about us. But as soon as the scientists cut that piece of material out the city saw us as a danger and sent out the army.”
This had to be right, thought Regan. How else to explain the insect attack only minutes after the webbing was cut. “So if we concentrate on being totally harmless . . .” she began.
“Then we won’t attract them,” finished Ryan. “Exactly. We just have to be sure to be very gentle. Don’t even disturb a single flower,” he cautioned.
Damaging the city on purpose would be a great way to test his hypothesis, but then again, if he was right, it would also be a great way to get himself devoured by the city’s ‘antibodies’. This was one hypothesis he wasn’t so eager to test at the moment.
A tear rolled gently down Regan’s face as she thought once again of her parents. If only their mom could be with them to see how well they had paid attention to her lessens in biology.
Ryan knew he couldn’t afford to consider his parents’ fate right now. He was determined to get his sister to safety and they were still trapped in a very dangerous alien city. His parents wouldn’t want him to just give up. They would want him to do whatever it took to save himself and his sister.
“We need to explore the city,” said Ryan in determination. “We have to find a way out, or maybe some alien equipment we can use to open another hole in the shield. And we need to find food and water, too. We may be here a long time.”
Not finding food and drink was Ryan’s biggest fear. They would have to keep exploring individual buildings until they did. People could last a long time without food if they had to, but the human body couldn’t get by without water for very long at all.
“Let’s go,” said Ryan, pretending to be confident. He was determined to find a way out of here somehow.
But he didn’t have the faintest idea how he could accomplish this impossible task.
Chapter 16
Technology and Magic
Ryan and Regan explored for hour after hour as their hunger and thirst mounted—and their desperation.
They went into several structures and discovered artifacts of every size, shape and kind. They inspected several very cautiously but couldn’t figure out how to operate any of them—or even if they could be operated. It was maddening. For all they knew they had held the key to leaving the city in their hands and hadn’t recognized it.
Dr. Harris had said current human technology would seem like magic to earlier ages. So what would a prehistoric man make of the inside of their house? Would he think a telephone hanging on a wall was art? That a computer was something used for hunting—to throw at animals? What would he make of a microwave oven? He could be in total darkness, searching frantically for some flint to hit together to make a fire, not knowing that all he had to do was push the small white switches sticking out from the walls and he could have all the light he needed. What if he was hungry? He could find a can of soup and never know there was food inside. Even if he did, he wouldn’t know what a can-opener was or how to use it. A feast could be waiting inside the refrigerator but he wouldn’t guess it, and he wouldn’t even know for sure that a refrigerator could even be opened .
Ryan and Regan knew that in this case, they were the ignorant primitives stumbling around in the dark, not advanced enough to have any idea of what they were seeing within the
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