voice Being chased by the deadliest assault squadron in the galaxy is not easy when you’re 987 years old I glanced out of my two rear eyes and saw my grandmother grandmother falling behind My sensory enhancer the trunk like appendage that grows out of my upper back must have smelled her fear It’s good at that just like it’s good at enhancing all our other senses like taste touch sight and hearing Instinctively my enhancer stretched out to grab my grandmother’s hand She slapped it away and I felt the sting reverberate through my body Don’t help me Grandson Short Nose she wheezed with her last bit of energy Escape from here and meet your destiny I can’t leave you grandmother Wrinkle This is our plan grandson My life is nearing its end Yours is just beginning
Those were the last words I heard her say as the Squadron Squadron threw a titanium net over her frail body We have the old one the commander shouted Surrender Surrender now and you both will survive Survival was not my goal Living was There was no way I could live my life if I stayed here They would neutralize me Deactivate my sensory enhancer Eliminate my ability to experience all the wonders of life Turn me into one of them robotic joyless dead No I couldn’t I wouldn’t I summoned the strength to run even faster forcing myself not to look back The red sun was setting and I had to be at the Cemetery before the moonrise was complete or I would never be able to break out of my planet’s gravitational gravitational pull But my stupid suction cups were not helping me Here’s a piece of advice for you if you need to get somewhere somewhere fast remove all suction cups from your feet
Unfortunately I couldn’t I was born with them The Squadron was gaining on me I could see Red Algae Ravine just ahead The Cemetery was at the bottom down a steep winding road I made an instant and dangerous decision Closing all six of my eyes grabbing my sensory enhancer and pulling it close to my body I tucked into a ball and flung myself off the rim of the ravine I hit the ground hard and hurtled down the canyon bouncing off jagged rocks that punctured my outer epidermal layer what you humans call skin The pain was so intense I couldn’t even scream Just when I thought I couldn’t bear it anymore I hit bottom bottom and crashed headfirst into the iron wall that surrounded the Cemetery My head was spinning but there was no time for dizzy Half the Squadron were up on the rim firing laser beams at me while the other half were scrambling down the road also taking shots at me I staggered to my feet and made my way to the secret keypad buried in a hidden compartment compartment of the wall Grandmother Wrinkle had instructed me to memorize the code but now my mind was blank I was codeless Stop The commander’s voice was near I couldn’t tell exactly how close it was but I knew it was too close Don’t be a fool Give yourself up he bellowed 4
The code The code It was right there in my memory but clouded by fear Grandmother picked it because it was my favorite character from all the Earth movies we secretly watched together Of course With my fingers trembling I reached out and punched in S-K-Y-W-A-L-K-E-R The heavy gate rumbled open I slipped through and pressed the button on the other side to close it Wait Was that a hand I saw reaching through the gate trying to grab me The piercing scream I heard as the gate slammed shut confirmed my suspicion The Cemetery was the final resting place for our planet’s obsolete vehicles My grandmother would often go there to gather spare parts for old spaceships that she repaired Because she had been the best master mechanic in the fleet she knew every piece of equipment that was there and had even secretly changed the code that opened the gate Over the last year she had snuck me in every afternoon to prepare for this very moment when I would escape the fate that was awaiting me She remembered a time before the New Squadron when life on our planet was colorful and creative and fragrant and her fervent wish was that I would have that life too 5
