Goodbye Earth

???CYPRESS, CYPRESS. LOCK THE MAIN HATCH, PREPARE FOR CRASH LANDING!??? Yelled dad in a shaky voice. ???I AM!??? Screamed Cypress. ???CALM IT VECTOR!??? I was under the main control panel as we were hurtling towards the fiery depths of a newly found crater. Into the unknown, possibly death....
Everything was flashing red, it felt like some high tech roller coaster ride. Suddenly we hit strong turbulence and my head hit the control panel above me. I felt blood gushing down the sides of my face. It was streaming into my mouth. I could taste the saltiness of it. ???Cypress!??? I wept. The pain was intense but I had to get this ship up and running again. ??? Get the Tricepter!??? The three ended fork tool was important to get the ships gear back into place. I saw Cypress crawling up to the storage unit to get it. She was half way up when again, we hit strong turbulence.









This time the ship slanted almost vertical. Cypress was still clambering for the Tricepter. ??? She got to the top and was reaching for it but could not reach the store room hatch. The strain in here eye was frightening. ???PULL UP!??? She moaned. Vector raced to the steering control and pulled on it as hard as he could. We barley moved but it was enough for cypress to open the room. She swiped the switch drive out of the bag. She lost her footing and slipped. She slide down the floor and was trying to get hold of something. It was no use and her back slammed against the control panel nearly missing me. Cypress groaned in pain.
I snatched the Tricepter off her. ???You???re welcome??? She muttered. My hands clicked the tool in place. ???Help??? i told Cypress. Together we pulled the Triceptor towards ourselves. There was a loud click, then a thump, and the ship was back on line again. ???I???ve done it I gasped. ???Pull up Vector??? Cypress barked. We were suddenly straight again, and there were no more flashing lights. ???Well done boy??? cheered Dad. ???That???s my Rueben. I told you he should come Cypress was enjoying my appreciation when wound started to throb. I ripped some of my black T-shirt off and wrapped it around my head. We have to land this thing.
The Zonerfinder wasn???t up to shape. It was just online so it was a very bumpy landing. We hit the ground before we could switch to landing mode. I felt the thump run through every cell in my body. We were sliding at full speed with a gut wrenching screech that made our ear drums feel like they were burning. We were holding on for life and limb. It felt like an eternity sliding down the side of the giant crater. Dirt kept flicking on the glass until we could not see anything. It was pitch black apart from a tiny yellow light flickering above us. We were hoping, praying, wishing we wouldn???t hit a rock abandoned from the meteorite.
As we finally started to slow there was a sigh of relief that echoed through the Zonerfinder. Then it finally came to a halt. I climbed out the door but flopped onto the ground. My legs were like jelly from the shock of everything. Cypress wobbled out too and sat on a large rock, shaped perfectly for her body. I slowly stood up and headed towards the ship to look for Vector. He was babbling to himself about his robots that he had left behind while he was collecting the gear he needed to find the elusive organisms. He raced out past me and from the far distance away yelled out ???Cypress, come help me find the organisms! We must waste no time!???
???He never stops does he???? sighed Cypress.
???Nope???
Cypress hesitantly stood up and followed Vector. I grabbed my gear and tools and then got on to fixing the ship, grateful for taking so many classes in technology and robotics. It took me hours to finally fix our ship, but the whole time I was thinking about the day I came home to Dad building some shiny black robots. He explained to me how the planet he had been studying on for years had other life on it. He called the aliens Xanthiens and the planet Xonner. Vector was rushing around as he was explaining and all I heard was meteorite, organisms, fly to planet, and robots. I understood it all. Her was going to fly, or we were going to fly, to Xonner, find organisms, and put them into the robots to bring them to life.
???But why???? I asked.
???No one likes chore??? grinned vector.
After a year, dad had created hundreds of robots, all while we were working on the Zonnerfinder, or ZF. It???s a new 2050 model, designed to block out the virus around Zonner that shuts down many ship???s systems. Our ships design didn???t succeed going through the virus, and that???s how we crashed. I sat in the shade of ZF, and ate some food from the ship ??? extremely crispy bacon. The sun was glaring down at me like a hot fire plate. The rugged landscape around me used to look like earth, but has slowly disappeared, the black aliens with it. Now it???s a lifeless black, orange, and yellow wasteland that sucks the sense out of any person. I was dozing off to sleep when I heard vector scream out hopefully ??? I HAVE FOUND IT ??? COME HERE GUYS!??? My eyes flicked open and I droopily stood up to run to Dad. I tripped over a small stone, scrapping my hands and knees, but didn???t hesitate going over to him. I climbed over the top of the crater, and saw Vector jumping up and down with his hands in the air. I had just got there when Cypress started studying the alien particle. I put the tiny yellow piece of skin into a glass container. Dad whisked us away by the arm with a firm hand and pulled us to the ship. ???We must hurry, we don???t want the organism to die!??? I???m in the ZF, ready to go back to earth.
We landed with pride and the world welcomed us. Cypress and I took the joy of being in a parade, but vector stayed at home, cloning g the organism. At some point we had to help him, we were part of the mission too.
I remember when we first got Cypress as a co-pilot ??? the only woman willing to do the job. Her CV said she was a real ???take charge??? person. She definitely looked like one! She wears a baggy silver singlet and black ???tight to the bone??? skinny jeans. She also has a gold glimmering chain she always wears around her neck. That???s why we chose her to be the co. Now Cypress has become a pretty good friend.
On a deep, dark, lifeless evening, after Cypress had left, I headed outside and lay on the ground to look at the moon. Dad was putting the finishing touches on the robots that were going to be spread around the world tomorrow. Looking at the moon made me remember the night we made history. It was that pitch black moment hoping for survival. The moon felt like the tiny light. I wonder what will happen with the robots. What if they don???t like chores either?
I woke late in the morning, not ready for being famous. Pulling the curtain to see a line of many people was incredible. America on our doorstep. ???Oi, Reuben, get up. We don???t want to be late!??? nagged Cypress. I dragged myself into some fancy clean clothes, then opened my bedroom door to see Cypress and Dad smiling at me. We walked into the giant metal barn. There were hundreds of shiny black robots in perfect rows. They had copper plates on their thighs and shins. You could see the place where the cloned organisms were. Suddenly the robot???s bright yellow eyes flashed open. Everyone came pouring in trying to snag a robot. I heard on a loud speaker, ??? Please calm down everyone. There is one for everybody!??? It sounded like my dad???s voice. Only about an hour after the unveiling, the robots were all cleared out. Now we were merely standing in an empty garage. This is man???s latest, greatest achievement and me, myself and I , am a part of it. I turned to dad who was grinning proudly. He held his lab coat in the air for his robot to collect, which happened to have the original organism in it. ???Robot,??? he chuckled ???Hang my coat up!???
Smash! ???What was that???? I woke up in the middle of the night to a disturbing noise. I quietly moved down the stairs to see what it was. I saw Vector rushing around gathering supplies. ???Dad?????? I said puzzled. ???Son!??? he gasped ??? I have some bad news, I was watching TV when I heard something outside. It was robots talking about taking over earth because they are fed up with doing chores. I used my language translator to find out what they were saying.??? Before I could say anything Cypress burst through the door then slammed it shut again. She was puffing hard. ???Rueben..... Have you....... Seen.......... Outside??? I rushed to the window and pulled the curtain. Robots were racing around, chasing humans! I could see robot remains everywhere, buildings were collapsed and windows were shattered. It looked like a horror movie. I turned to dad with a helpless look in my eye. ???Follow me kids??? He sighed ??? I know a place to hide, down by the old apartments. In the cliff face there is a cave, that???s where my cloner is.??? The apartments were my childhood playground. All my friends lived there but it was closed down from ???Insecure Structures???. No one believes it though, all I saw were some leaky roofs. Vector ran upstairs to find weapons. ???I hope we don???t have to use these??? I muttered. ???Let???s go then eh??? giggled Cypress in a funny accent.
PIC - BUILDINGS







The only other way to get out of the house instead of the front door is through the shed. We crept downstairs and through the shed until we got to the door that leads outside. We had to run like cheetahs if we wanted to be unseen. 3.....2.......1....... GO! We burst through the door into an army of robots. My heart stopped, I could barley breath. I caught eyes with a robot only a few paces away. It held up a gun, pulled the trigger, and shot it. The noise nearly burst my ear drums. It felt as if slow motion when the bulled zoomed past my eyes. I was relived but then I heard a cold scream. I turned around and saw my father on the ground. ???NOOOOO!!!??? It was too late, he could not be saved. Cypress grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. ???RUN, THERE COMING!??? I didn???t know what to do but I followed Cypress. We sprinted to a small brick building and dived inside. We waited, listened for what felt like an age. My breathing was deep. The whole time tears were trickling down my face. I was the one to break the silence. ???He was the only one I had left??? I cried quietly. ???My mum was officially a lost person in 2045. My heart was filling with sorrow, I felt like screaming. I was remembering my loving mum. ???Don???t worry Rueben??? said Cypress sympathetically ???You have me.???
That night I woke from hunger pains. I was drooling over the thought of a tasty meal, craving a simple packet of chips. I took my cell phone out of my track pant pocket. It???s 3am. I heard a noise outside, it was a robotic squeak. I froze in fear. Cypress yawned out loud. I jumped towards her threw my hand over her mouth. ???Shhh??? I whispered. After a while the robot went away. I sighed in relief. I decide we have to go in the morning before it???s too late. I couldn???t get to sleep from that moment. I spent the time looking on the ground for things we might need. The light from my cell phone was the only thing I used to see, but it helped me pass the time. All I found was a rusty spanner and a spider. The sun was starting to come up so I watched the horizon. It was fiery red and intense orange. I could feel the warm rays of sunlight reflect off my face. It felt wonderful.
PIC - SUN










Cypress woke soon after, the sun was in her eyes. ???Morning Ruben, I was thinking. What are we going to do at the hiding place???? I didn???t know what to tell her. We couldn???t live like this our whole lives could we? ???Come on Cypress, we have to go???.
I stuck my head out of the door, and looked around. It was clear. ???Come on Rueben??? Cypress whispered. ???Remember, use agility, not force???. ???Cool??? I sniggered, ???Stealth mode!??? We sprinted to the next building and pressed ourselves against the wall in an unseen area. ???Owww??? I squeaked. ???A brick fell on my foot???. Cypress ran again. I hopped after her. Upon entering the next building, I spotted a discovered a vending machine. ???Look??? I exclaimed. Cypress turned around and grinned. She took my backpack to the machine and smashed the glass with the spanner. We stuffed everything into the bag then retreated back to shelter. ???No eating ???til we get back to the cave??? said Cypress. I nodded my head in agreement. ???Let???s go, we???re close now???.
When we finally got there we ducked under the tape barrier. The miss placed apartments were scattered all around the bowl like cliff area. They are like two circular building stuck on top of each other. The apartments were covered in rust and mould. The poles holding up the buildings looked like they were about to collapse. All grass was dead and brown. The whole place is a lifeless ghost land. We were walking through the apartments and saw piles of robot parts, they must have already been here. ???Keep a sharp eye Cypress.??? I feel unsafe, insecure. The changes are astonishing. I feel like I have never been here before. Cypress turned to me ???How the heck are we going to find this cave, the cliffs are about a kilometre long!??? ???We better start looking then.??? I sighed. My legs paced towards the wall and gently placed my hand on the wall. ???Hey Cypress, you start at that end, I???ll start here.??? Slowly we ventured our way inwards.
PIC ??? APARTMENT



???RUN, RUN!??? screamed Cypress. I turned around sharply. There was Cypress running as fast as she could, with robots chasing after her. I looked beside me and there was a large hollow in the wall. I through myself into it, Cypress jumped in almost straight after me. There was fear in her eyes. ???Where do we go???? She cried. I looked up to see if we could climb out, nothing. I looked down and there was a small opening we could crawl into. ???Come on!??? I yelled ???the robots won???t fit in here. We scurried in quickly. Cypress and then me. Just when I thought I was safe a hand grabbed my foot. ???HELP!??? I shrieked ??? ONE???S GOT ME!??? Cypress grabbed my hands then pulled as hard as she could. I kicked my foot and didn???t care about the pain. All this in a claustrophobic tunnel. I whipped the gun out of my bag and pointed it at the robots arm. My hand was shaking. I heard the gun rattling. My finger pulled the trigger slowly. BANG! The sound echoed through the cave, then silence. The robot was gone.
16The tunnel was getting smaller, the air thinner. I had to take my bag off as we were degraded to wiggling through it. It was starting to get scary. If we kept going and the tunnel just got smaller we would not be able to get out again. I was relying on luck. ???I see light!??? exclaimed Cypress. ???keep going!??? My eyes were tightly shut and within minutes we were in a spacious fire lit cave with the cloner in the middle! I stood up and stretched my arms in the air, Cypress was already into the food. I soon joined her. Suddenly an idea struck me. I could use dads cloner to clone earth! It was simple, all I needed to do was some minor adjustments. But I did need to figure out how to clone Earth just by putting a couple of items into it. ???Hey Cypress, I know how we can save Earth!???.........

I explained to her the whole thing. ???Great idea Rueben, but how are we going to get the humans to the new earth???? I hadn???t thought of that. What???s the point of creating a new planet if we couldn???t get there? But then I remembered something my Mum had told me before she had disappeared. Her and Dad had built three giant cruise crafts. Mum told me they had built them just in case anything happened to us. She didn???t tell me where they were though. That was the last time I ever saw her. If we found those ships we could bring all the remaining humans to the planet. But where were they?
18I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to make the cloner work. I found a couple of tools on the ground that i could use. I turned to Cypress, who was carving her name into the sandstone. Starting on the cloner was something i had to do even if we didn???t know how to get humans to the new planet.
CRASH!! I swung my head around to see what the noise was. The wall where Cypress had been had collapsed, but she wasn???t there. I ran towards the pile of dust and sand then dug into it. I found her deep inside and pulled her out. She had bruises but was OK. How was it possible for a thick wall to just collapse?
I stood up and strode over to where the wall had been. There in front of me were three giant cruise crafts. My eyes almost popped out of my head! This was unbelievable. Our plan might actually work!
19I was exploring these breathtaking vessels with complete concentration, and didn???t notice a stranger following me. I felt a hand grab my shoulder and jumped in fright. I spun around and found myself staring into a beautiful smiling face. She looked very familiar. ???Rueben, is that you???? she gasped. It suddenly struck me, I remembered the sweet, down-to-earth voice. ???Mum???? My eyes widened as she gave me a giant hug. ???How did you get down here???? I asked. She explained to me that she came here to work on the ships and an explosion at the top of the cliff caused the entrance to the cloner room block up. Cypress crept in and saw us hand in hand. ???Who???s this???? she asked. I replied, ???Meet my Mum ??? Elza???.
I had told Elza all about our plan and she agrees it will work. I told her about Dad and she cried a little. Elza luckily is a ???fix-it??? as well so we got the cloner done twice as fast. Mum typed in the coordinates for where the new earth was going to be, and Cypress and I collected some of earths main elements. Water, plants, dirt, and rock. It was a lot quicker crawling through the tunnel this time because the walls around us had been scraped down from the first time. We placed all the things we collected into the cloner and pressed start. A small shockwave swept through my body. We looked at each other, then rushed to the tunnel to get outside...
PIC ??? CLONER







I stood up, and walked to a clearing. Looking up, the clouds cleared, and I saw the new planet. Tarsonis.

EPILOGE
Reuben, Cypress and Elza collected the remaining humans off Earth. The flew everyone to Tarsonis in the Cruse crafts and are reviving it to Earths state. It will be a long and hard process but it is shown nothing is impossible!
Blurb
The worlds greatest scientist (Vector) has discovered a new planet he calls Xonner. He finds life on this planet and is urged to study more. Vector, Reuben (his son) and Cypress (the co-pilot) venture to the planted after a meteor destroys the aliens. They find a small living organism that Vector clones and puts into robots. Incredibly The robots come to life but the alien-robots are offended by being forced to do chores! Its up to Cypress and Rueben to save the human race before its to late!