12 The End Is Nearish

Chapter Twelve The End Is Nearish Finn balanced on the edge of the bridge that the giant aliens had just built. He looked down into the ravine. The planet was breaking apart. The bridge was shaking along with the planet. It was like standing on a seesaw during an earthquake. Their ship was down there, in the ravine. It was made to withstand extreme temperatures, and it was still in one piece. It had rolled onto its side and landed on a shelf of rock. Beneath that shelf was a lake of molten lava. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Vale next to him. He looked as scared as Finn felt. "And now," said Doug. "For a moment of incredible heroism. You will be spoken of for centuries to come. Finn and Vale, you are strangers to this world, but with this one selfless

act you will become legends to our people. We are grateful to you, and we await your return." Finn looked back at the edge of the cliff. A deep rumble came from below him. The planet had almost completely coconutted now. It was breaking apart. The quakes were so strong, even the giants looked like they might topple over. Finn couldn't quite remember how he and Vale had gotten onto the bridge. He looked over at his friend and saw that his head seemed to be glowing inside his helmet. Vale's eyes looked unfocused, like they weren't seeing what was in front of them. "Why are we doing this?!" called Finn. "Why are you all standing over there while we are out in the middle of the chasm?" "Because only you know how to fly the ship." Doug's words appeared in his head. "You have to be the ones to go get it."

Finn shook his head, trying to clear out Doug's words, but he couldn't. All he could picture was himself and Vale jumping off the bridge. They would land on the pod. They would fly the ship up and out of there. They would pick up the aliens and drink lemonade as they escaped. Why was it always lemonade? He didn't even like lemonade.

"Please hurry now," said Doug. "We have maybe six minutes left. But that's being generous." It was all so overwhelming for Finn. The pictures in his head, the heat from the chasm, the smoke rising all around them. He and Vale held hands. Without saying a word, they listened to Doug's counting in their heads. "Three... two... one." They jumped. The steam from the magma blew brutal winds up at them. Their space suits became hotter and hotter as they plummeted. Finn squeezed Vale's hand even tighter. Vale's eyes were now focused, and terrified, looking back at Finn. There was nothing they could do. They had to hope they could land on the ship and get inside it. But they weren't falling toward the ship. They were headed right for the lava! Suddenly, a gust of wind knocked them sideways. They spun wildly. Finn couldn't tell which way was up. It was just a few seconds before Finn realized they weren't falling anymore. They were headed toward a rocky ledge. And it wasn't the wind that

had changed their direction. It was Foggy! The robot had grabbed Finn's left ankle and Vale's right elbow and was piloting them to safety. When they landed, Finn hugged Foggy hard. "Thank you" was all he could say, he was so out of breath. But Vale had recovered a little more quickly.

"Wow, great work," he said to Foggy as they high-fived. "You kept us from becoming doom doughnuts." Finn grabbed Foggy. He needed to explain to the robot that Doug had messed with Vale's brain. "You know," said Vale. "Because we would have been dunked into the lava. And that would have been our doom. Like if you dunked a doughnut. Into doom. Doom doughnuts. Think about it for a second. It works." Finn laughed. "Hey, you're back!" said Finn. "Yep, totally un-Doug'd!" laughed Vale. "Foggy, I'm so sorry," said Finn. "I—I couldn't think straight. Doug had—" "I know," said Foggy. "The bunny told us you'd been Doug'd. And I know your next question, too. I left Abigail and Elias up in the forest. Elias was building something to help get us out of here. But now that we're here, we should be able to just get in the ship and fly to them." "One problem," said Vale. "Actually, three problems. Three very large, very angry problems." Vale pointed up. The giant aliens were quickly climbing down the rock face. And they did not