Stranded (A stand-alone SF thriller) (The Prometheus Project Book 3) Read online

  Praise for

  THE PROMETHEUS PROJECT: TRAPPED

  “A thriller that you won’t put down until you’ve reached the last page.”

  —Kids’ Picks, Odyssey Magazine

  “Trapped is a complete thrill ride.”

  —TCM Reviews

  “This adventure will keep kids turning the pages … perfect for middle grades.”

  —Teaching Pre K-8 Magazine

  “Highly recommended for both boys and girls. Wonderful and unique.”

  —Discovery Journey

  “My class loved it. They were totally engaged. It’s a hard book to put down.”

  —Jeff Montag, 5th Grade Teacher

  As Quoted in the San Diego Union-Tribune

  “Cinematic. Readers will surely be reminded of Eleanor Cameron’s Mushroom Planet series, as well as Heinlein’s Have Space Suit—Will Travel, and even Clarke’s 2001. Vividly speculative. Able to capture the imagination of any teen.”

  —Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine

  “Keeps you turning the pages. It had me hooked by page two of the first book.”

  —The Children’s Book Review

  “Captures that pulse-pounding excitement you remember from your Have Spaceship Will Travel and Postmarked the Stars days. Crisp, clean, and delivers what it promises.”

  —SFReader.com

  “Brings to mind the classic young reader’s novel A Wrinkle in Time. An adventure story for young and old alike.”

  —Associated Content

  “Fun and suspenseful. Highly recommended.”

  —Kirkus Discoveries

  “An entertaining novel … that reads in a flash.”

  —Bookloons Reviews

  “The gripping storyline will make young readers read this story in one sitting and want a sequel. I strongly recommend this book.”

  —The Midwest Book Review

  “I did not want to stop reading.”

  —8th Grade Student

  Published in the Newsletter of the ISTA

  “If you have a middle schooler that is into science or sci-fi, buy this book. If you have a reluctant reader who has an interest in science or adventure stories, buy this book.”

  —Amateur de Livre Book Reviews

  “I read this book with my class for the first time this year and my class loved it.”

  —President, Idaho Science Teachers Association

  “Brilliant. Perfect for a class reader for 9-13s, and a ‘must’ for any school library. These books are, I hope, the first of a long series!”

  —Primary Science (UK Journal)

  “Nonstop action adventure … You really can’t put the book down for very long. A thrilling read.”

  —California Science Teachers Association

  “Would make a great read-aloud and would foster much talk among families.”

  —The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

  “A suspenseful thriller that you will not want to put down…. vividly written.”

  —The Science Reflector

  Praise for

  THE PROMETHEUS PROJECT: CAPTURED

  “A page turner that kids—and their parents—will love reading … thrilling adventure.”

  —Catherine Hughes, Sr. Editor

  National Geographic KIDS magazine

  “Fast paced adventure, mixed with quick thinking. Ryan and Regan are great fun, and the story is just a cool idea! Very well written.”

  —TeensReadToo.com (5 stars)

  “I would give this book three-thumbs-up, but I only have two thumbs.”

  —7th grader, published in the Newsletter of the MSTA

  “Fast paced and full of action.”

  —ForeWord Magazine

  “I was captivated by Captured. I found the second book in this great series as entertaining and action filled as the first book.”

  —TCM Reviews

  “An intense storyline that will have you churning through the book without putting it down.”

  —The Super Mom

  “A sequel that matches the pace and excitement of the original. In Captured, the author has added a second gem to the reading treasure chest.”

  —The Reading Tub

  “A delightful tale of kids working together, much as you would find in the Lemony Snicket books. Readers will look forward to more.”

  —Curled Up With a Good Kids Book

  “Will keep you on the edge of your seat while begging you to read on … full of fast paced action (that) keeps the reader wanting more. I eagerly await the third book.”

  —Steve Fielman, Director-at-large,

  Intermediate Science, New York State

  “Holds even an adult readers attention to the very end. I look forward to his next offering in the series.”

  —AAAS

  “With Captured, the author continues to tell a story that leaves the reader reaching for chapter after chapter with plenty of suspense and cliff hangers. This is a fun and adventurous story.”

  —California Science Teachers Association

  The Prometheus Project

  Book 3

  Stranded

  The Prometheus Project

  Book 3

  Stranded

  Douglas E. Richards

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2009 by Douglas E. Richards

  Published by Paragon Press, 2010

  [email protected]

  All rights reserved. With the exception of excerpts for

  review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced

  or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or

  mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any

  information storage and retrieval system.

  ISBN: 978-0-9826184-0-0

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2009944189

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Edition

  Contents

  Chapter 1 Zero Chemistry

  Chapter 2 Leaving School

  Chapter 3 Isis

  Chapter 4 Collision Course

  Chapter 5 The Enigma Cube

  Chapter 6 Entering Other Dimensions

  Chapter 7 Lockdown

  Chapter 8 Arrival

  Chapter 9 An Ideal Location

  Chapter 10 Attack

  Chapter 11 Stranded

  Chapter 12 Hate Mail

  Chapter 13 Cut Off

  Chapter 14 Death Awaits

  Chapter 15 Flying Bloodhounds

  Chapter 16 From Bad to Worse

  Chapter 17 A New Hypothesis

  Chapter 18 Through the Looking Glass

  Chapter 19 Pinned

  Chapter 20 Pursuit

  Chapter 21 Sweating it Out

  Chapter 22 The Hunt Continues

  Chapter 23 Starlight and Storm Clouds

  Chapter 24 Secrets

  Chapter 25 Full Briefing

  Chapter 26 Inspiration

  Chapter 27 A Missing Device

  Chapter 28 Sixth Sense

  Chapter 29 A Lethal Decision

  Chapter 30 Decoy

  Chapter 31 Deadly Encounter

  Chapter 32 The Return

  Chapter 33 Friends

  The Prometheus Project

  Book 3

  Stranded

  CHAPTER 1

  Zero Chemistry

/>   Ryan Resnick squirmed in his seat and struggled to pay attention to Mr. McPherson, his tall, wiry chemistry teacher, as he droned on and on. So far Ryan had managed not to lapse into a coma, but he knew he couldn’t hold out forever. Ryan loved chemistry, but Mr. McPherson could probably find a way to make a daredevil attempt to jump across a wide, alligator-filled river on a rocket-propelled motorcycle seem routine and uninteresting.

  It wasn’t so much that Mr. McPherson was Ryan’s least favorite teacher: always in a foul mood and always delivering lectures so mind-numbingly dull that they would be considered torture in every free country in the world. It wasn’t even that Ryan knew the material so well. The main problem was that it was Friday. The closer it was to the weekend, the harder it was for Ryan to pretend to be interested in the ordinary part of his life when the totally incredible part of his life was about to begin.

  His life outside of school hadn’t always been extraordinary. He and his sister Regan, two years younger, had once been normal kids leading normal lives. But a few years earlier, when their family moved from San Diego to Brewster, Pennsylvania—a wooded town in the middle of nowhere—this had changed forever.

  When their parents had behaved suspiciously after the move, they had investigated. They soon learned their parents were members of a top-secret team of scientists assembled to explore the greatest discovery ever made—an immense, abandoned underground city, in perfect condition. A city built by an alien race, filled with such fantastic structures and advanced technology that the greatest cities on Earth seemed like a collection of straw huts and Bronze Age tools by comparison. A city code-named Prometheus.

  The entire city was contained within a hockey-puck shaped hole that had been hollowed out a mile beneath the woods of Brewster, surrounded by a thin force-field. This energy barrier was so impenetrable that only the genius of Ben Resnick, Ryan and Regan’s father, had enabled the team to finally break through.

  When the team entered the city they had discovered its most astonishing feature of all: Prometheus was far larger than the hole it was in! This should have been impossible, but there was no denying it was true. While the hole was about a mile around and thirty feet high, the city inside covered nearly as much ground as Manhattan and its ceiling was almost fifty miles high. If not for the absence of the sun in its bright, cloudless sky, visitors to the sprawling metropolis would have sworn it was above ground.

  After Ryan and Regan had discovered the buried city, their involvement should have ended. Dr. Harry Harris, the head of the Prometheus Project, had refused to let them join the team. But just as they were about to be banished from the city forever there had been an emergency, during which they had saved their mother from almost certain death. They had also made a key discovery—that a race called the Qwervy had built Prometheus using automated nano-robots, with the intention of visiting Earth every hundred years or so to check in on human progress. Dr. Harris had been so impressed with their accomplishments he had allowed them to join the team after all.

  Now they spent almost every weekend, and several nights each week, inside the remarkable city. They assisted top scientists who were attempting to unlock the secrets of Qwervy technology. They were part of the most important project in history, one that had already led to numerous scientific breakthroughs.

  No wonder Ryan found it nearly impossible to stay focused on Mr. McPherson as he delivered information Ryan already knew with all the excitement of a robot. Ryan’s eyelids slid shut three times and each time he managed to jerk them open again, shaking his head to bring himself back to life. Finally, despite his heroic efforts, his eyes closed for good, his chin fell against his chest, and he drifted into unconsciousness.

  “So who can tell me the definition of ‘absolute zero?’” said the tall teacher in bored tones.

  Thirty-three students sat at desks in the front half of the class. Behind them were rows of long black chemistry benches, each with a sink, evenly spaced gas lines that could be connected to Bunsen burners with rubber tubing, bottles filled with chemicals of all kinds, and beakers and flasks in various shapes and sizes.

  Several eager hands shot up immediately as Mr. McPherson surveyed his class. His eyes narrowed as they settled on Ryan Resnick in the second row. He ignored the few still-outstretched arms that stood out like tall, thick weeds in a well-trimmed lawn of students, and walked quietly over to Ryan. Mr. McPherson stood as close to him as he could get and folded his arms irritably.

  Ryan’s chin remained glued to his thin, black sweatshirt as his subconscious mind failed to notice how unnaturally quiet the class had become and awaken him. After ten seconds of hovering over his motionless student, Mr. McPherson made an exaggerated show of looking at his watch, which elicited a roar of laughter from the entire class.

  The laughter broke Ryan from his nap, and when he opened his eyes to find Mr. McPherson’s scrawny, goa-teed face staring at him from point blank range, he was so startled that he actually pushed his chair—with the desk attached—six inches backward.

  “I didn’t wake you, did I?” snarled Mr. McPherson.

  “Uh … sorry,” said Ryan, as the class laughed once again.

  “Okay, Ryan, now that you’re with us in mind as well as body, why don’t you tell the class what I mean by the phrase, ‘absolute zero.’”

  The definition, and much more about the topic, flashing into Ryan’s brain in an instant. He had learned about this subject from a member of the Prometheus team who had won a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Absolute zero was the coldest temperature anything in the universe could ever be. It was −273° Celsius or −460° Fahrenheit, a temperature at which even the microscopic movements of molecules virtually stopped, frozen in place.

  “Absolute zero?” repeated Ryan, as if stalling for time.

  “That’s right,” said Mr. McPherson.

  Ryan shrugged stupidly and gritted his teeth. “Uh … my chance of getting an A in participation this week,” he said with just a hint of a smile.

  The class erupted in laughter yet again, the exact reaction for which Ryan had been hoping.

  “No,” said Mr. McPherson seriously. “That’s absolutely zero, not absolute zero. But you’re not wrong about your participation grade, that’s for sure.”

  The grim-faced chemistry teacher moved away from Ryan and called on another member of the class.

  Ryan could have easily given a dazzling answer that would have blown Mr. McPherson away, but more and more lately the existence of a certain girl was affecting his every behavior.

  He had just turned fifteen and was in his first year of high school. As much as he loved being a part of the Prometheus Project, it was a curse socially. In San Diego he had had numerous close friends. He had played soccer and baseball, and kept up with the latest video games. But now that he spent almost every weekend in Prometheus, he had been forced to give up on these other activities. He was generally well liked and there were a lot of kids he was friendly with at school, but close friends did things together outside of school, and he just didn’t have the time for that.

  Without close friends or any outside activities he could talk about, he knew that if he showed off his scientific knowledge too much the other students would classify him as a single-minded nerd, whose only interest was studying. He had never cared about this before, but then again, he had never met the girl of his dreams before, either. Next week he was determined to ask her on a date, so it wasn’t such a bad idea to practice being a little more normal, even though his secret life made him anything but.

  “Ryan, are you there?” came a telepathic broadcast from his sister.

  Okay, thought Ryan, shaking his head, maybe his secret life on the Prometheus team wasn’t the only thing that made him different. He should probably count the whole, telepathy with his sister thing also. He was confident the first few dates with a girl would be okay, but he wondered how long he could keep almost everything about his life hidden before a girl decided he was about as normal as a
two-foot elf with a foot growing out of its forehead.

  “Yeah,” Ryan broadcast back. “What’s up?”

  Ryan and Regan’s telepathy stemmed from their interactions with Prometheus’s super-advanced central computer, which they had activated during their first adventure within the city. Since they had been inside an alien schoolhouse at the time, the computer had introduced itself simply as the Teacher. It had connected with them telepathically, and afterwards they found they could communicate with each other in the same way! Over a range of about fifteen miles. Since this ability was due to their interactions with the Teacher, and they had promised to keep its identity secret, they had decided to keep their telepathy secret as well.

  “My teacher just told me that Mom called the front office. She’s pulling us out early. She’ll be here soon and wants us to meet her at the front desk.”

  “Any idea why?” asked Ryan as he absently closed his book and began loading up his tan backpack.

  “No,” answered his sister. “But who cares? As long as we get to start the weekend early.”

  Ryan was about to reply when he realized the mistake he had made. But it was too late. Mr. McPherson’s beady eyes had already locked onto his fully loaded backpack like two laser-guided missiles. Ryan groaned. How could he be so stupid?

  “Going somewhere, Ryan?” snapped Mr. McPherson.

  Ryan decided in a flash his best strategy was to pretend he had no idea what his teacher was talking about. He put a bewildered look on his face and pointed at his own chest as if to say, “Who, me?” when the phone on Mr. McPherson’s desk began to ring. The tall chemistry teacher put the receiver to his ear, listened for a short time, and then returned it to its cradle.

  Mr. McPherson stared at Ryan long and hard, and then shook his head in disapproval. “That was the office asking me to excuse you from class,” he told Ryan. “Which you obviously expected,” he added, gesturing toward Ryan’s fully loaded backpack in disgust while thirty-two thoroughly entertained students looked on in fascination. “Next time, Mr. Resnick, if you know you’ll be leaving my class early, I expect you to tell me about it before we start. Is that understood?”