Order of Magnitude

XII. What Remains

     The scientists were gone now, far behind him. Thom finally let out a sigh of relief. Somehow he had made it through the lab unnoticed by the scientists. He had heard one of them say that there were traps around the front door but it must have been a bluff, because Thom was almost there, and he hadn't seen a single one yet.

      I can't get complacent, he thought to himself. Now's the chance to prove you have what it takes to go out on the more dangerous hunts and missions. Now's the chance to prove to the community that you're a man, and not some little kid.

      Thom sneaked toward the front door. He noticed a few areas of glue on either side of him, but the path straight ahead was mostly clear. Still, he took it slowly. It would be foolish to get caught now. After all, the parvs at home would never come to rescue him.

      There was something covering the doorway. Thom almost didn't see it until it was right in front of him. It was a long strip of grated metal with wires running underneath. Another trap! He thought. Good thing I caught it. It looks like it has electricity coursing through it. That would have been painful. He chuckled to himself. The only question now is how to get across? Thom looked around for a way through, but couldn't find one. What would Jacques do? he wondered as he scanned the area. Suddenly he saw something in the door jamb: a splintered piece of wood. He pulled out his grappling hook. If he could somehow swing across, he would be home free.

      He flung his hook into the air, where it missed the splintered wood by a large margin. He collected the hook and tried again, only missing by a little bit the next time. This is the one, he thought. I've got it this time. He flung the grappling hook with all his might. The pointed metal end dug into the splinter of wood, much to Thom's surprise. He laughed with delight, and pulled the rope taut. Okay, I can get across now, he thought. I can do this.

      Thom leapt, and swung over the metallic grating. Halfway through, the hook came loose, and Thom tumbled onto the trap. He stood up, quickly, waiting for the jolt of pain and electricity to come coursing through his body, but none came. That's weird. They must turned it off by accident. Lucky me.

      Thom ran out of the lab and into the open yard. He knew that the path through the grass led to the gooey trap that caught Jacques and his gang. He didn't want to make the same mistake. If I go wide of the area, I can come around the other side and avoid the whole thing altogether. It might take me a little more time, but in the end it will be worth it.

      The 15-year-old teenager hopped off of the landing, his head filled with ideas of glory. He had no clue that not far behind him Dr. Soleil and Dr. Moon waited very patiently in their lab.

      "Are you sure this is going to work?" Moon asked as he monitored Thom on his special parv radar.

      "I sure do," Soleil said. "He's going to take us right to his home community, where our specimens are surely waiting."

      "What if he gets lost?"

      "Hey, he broke into our lab and freed a group of parvs in a glass tank. I doubt this thing is going to get lost on its way home."

      "I don't know, he got tripped up on our electric trap. Good thing you turned it off, and left the door open."

      Soleil had a good laugh thinking about it. "Granted, he's not the smartest parv in the group. If he was, he would probably realize the trap we're setting. But as long as he can find his way home, then it won't matter."

      "Who knows how far away that is? This could take a while."

      "We got time," Dr. Soleil said. "Just as long as you don't lose him on that radar, then we're good. Then we can find BTOF-Delta and avoid the firing line."

      "Hopefully we can find a few more parvs to experiment on while we're at it," Dr. Moon said. "We're going to need them."

      "And BTOF-Delta must be destroyed."

      "Destroyed? Why?"

      Dr. Soleil looked at him like he was crazy. "There are too many variables that are unknown. We can't determine what effects it potentially has on humans, and our window of observation has passed. We also don't know who it interacted with after the escape. Believe me; I'd rather have that thing destroyed than running free. The consequences are too great otherwise. No, when we find BTOF-Delta, make no mistake, it will be incinerated immediately. As well as anybody else in its community. We can't take any chances. We just can't."