“Another raptor, maybe?” Kat whispered, and a sound like footsteps suddenly started racing in our direction.
“It doesn’t sound that big,” Hae-won murmured. “Hopefully, there’s only one of them.”
“We can’t let it down near the Hadron Collider,” I said. “I’ll go up the stairs, and--”
The door swung open, and Hilda stood at the top of the stairs with wide eyes and her red hair sticking out at odd angles.
“Hilda?” Mateo gasped. “What on Earth are you doing here?”
“Did you come from the dome by yourself?” I asked. “What the fuck? You could have died.”
“Well, I was frightened,” the scientist snapped. “You all left me by myself.”
“You chose to stay there because it was safe,” Mateo said through gritted teeth. “Remember? There was a whole conversation between us, and you didn’t want to come and help.”
“Well,” the red-haired woman sniffed. “I’m here now.”
“Lovely,” Becka said stiffly, and she took a step closer to Adhara before she propped a hand on her hip.
I sighed as I let go of my weapon, but I knew there was a chance the CERN workers would get themselves eaten if they stayed in the building without us.
I noticed Arnie had taken one of the bags of food with him to building 33, so all they needed was a safe place to stay where the dinos couldn’t reach them.
“Do you guys want to wait in the ships?” I asked, and the scientists stared at me.
“The ships?” Mateo asked. “Us?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’m sure Adhara and Leo wouldn’t mind, and it would mean you could be protected by the forcefields while we’re away.”
“I thought you said underground would be safer,” Mateo said.
“It might be from the fleets.” I nodded. “But if four angry t-rexes come to destroy the building, you could get buried down here. I don’t want to scare you, but maybe having protection from dinos would be the best thing?”
“And you won’t need to worry about the fleets anyway.” Kat shrugged. “We’re all set to go save the world. You guys just need to survive until then.”
“I’m not getting on those things!” Hilda spat. “It could be a trap.”
“Fine,” I said as my patience wore off. “You can stay here without the protective shield and try out hand-to-hand combat when a group of raptors break inside.”
The red-haired woman pursed her lips, but she didn’t argue anymore.
“You can stay in my ship,” Adhara said. “But do not try to fly. And do not touch anything. Is my ship.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Mateo said hurriedly. “Arnie told me that the interior is amazing, I can’t believe I get to go inside one!”
“I’ll need one of you guys to come with us,” I said to the aliens. “Just to get through the forcefield, sorry to pull you away from your work.”
“Hmm.” Leo frowned as he glanced at me. “I do not wish to leave this. I will give you a coating instead.”
I looked at the alien man blankly and tilted my head to the side.
“Coating?” I asked. “What is that?”
“It is a high-frequency energy,” Adhara explained. “We can use tools to coat you so you can pass through forcefield.”
“Why the hell haven’t we done that this whole time?” Becka scoffed.
“It wears off very soon.” Adhara shrugged. “I did not have tools for it, Leo has them.”
“Are you sure?” I asked as Leo bent down to rifle through his silver bag. “This will definitely work?”
“It lasts about half human hour,” Adhara said. “Maybe less, so you must be fast.”
“Okay.” I grinned. “Let’s do it. That way you guys can stay and work. Becka and Hae-won, stay here, too. It’s just a short walk, and I don’t want you two out in the open when you don’t need to be.”
“He’s getting all protective,” Becka pouted. “I love that. We can help, though, we’re pregnant, not made of glass.”
“I know,” I chuckled. “You’re both ridiculously incredible, but it’s just a quick run. Kat can come with me.”
“Can I get the coat thing, too?” the soldier asked eagerly. “I’ve always wanted to jump through the forcefield.”
“You do that already,” Hae-won pointed out. “It probably feels the same going through both ways, right?”
“Actually not.” Adhara shrugged. “Going in is more, um, buzzy? I do not know human word.”
Leo stood up with a golden disk that was about the size of his hand. He grabbed my arm and turned my palm upward.
“This might feel,” he said.
“Feel what?” I asked, but then the alien man slapped the golden disk into my outstretched hand.
The disk was ice cold, and I shuddered as a chill ran through my body. I felt like I had goosebumps over every inch of my skin, and then after a second, the feeling was gone.
Leo took the disk from me and gestured for Kat to stick out her hand.
“Does it hurt?” the soldier asked as she eyed the device.
“Not really.” I looked down at my arms. “It’s just really fucking cold.”
“Holy crap,” Kat gasped as Leo placed the golden disk in her hand.
“So, now we can go through the forcefield?” I asked, and Leo nodded as he took the disk back from Kat.
“Now you two,” he said as he pointed to the scientists.
The CERN workers hurried forward, and Leo placed the disk in Arnie’s hand first. The older scientist shuddered and then laughed as he looked down at his hand.
“Incredible,” he muttered as Mateo was given the device.
“That is cold,” the engineer shivered.
Hilda was last to receive the coating, and she gingerly held out her palm. She winced as Leo placed it down on her hand and wrinkled her nose at the lilac-skinned man.
Leo didn’t seem to notice her grievance with him, and he took the golden disk back wordlessly.
“Like we say, not for long,” the male alien warned. “Go now.”
“Thanks.” I grinned.
“Be careful,” Hae-won said. “We don’t know how long those dinos will hide for. They might get brave again soon.”
“Of course.” I smiled. “You guys just don’t jump through any black holes until we get back.”
“You do not jump--” Leo began, and I waved a hand.
“I know,” I chuckled. “Forgive my human attempt at understanding. Love you guys.”
“Love you,” the three girls echoed, and Leo raised an eyebrow.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go.”
Kat ran beside me as we hurried up the stairs, and we made our way back to the dark tunnel entrance.
The CERN workers were silent behind us, and I felt like my heartbeat was going a million miles an hour. As we ran through the dim halls, I realized the usual surround sound of roars wasn’t there.
“I guess it’s still clear out there,” I said. “We really put the fear of god into them with those cannons.”
I slowed down as we reached the smashed doorway and carefully stepped over the broken glass as we stepped outside.
There were still some tiny dinosaurs in the nearby landscape, and they looked like they were picking at the exploded flesh that littered the ground. Blood stained the ground red around me, and there was a putrid smell of death in the air along with all the goop and bones that was strewn everywhere. There didn’t seem to be a single spot that hadn’t been splattered with some form of dino insides, but then I heard the unmistakable cry of a mapusaurus far off in the distance, and it sounded pissed.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get these guys inside before something gets brave enough to come back.”
We sprinted over the bloody grass toward the glistening forcefields of the ships, and I kept a close eye on the sky as we ran. When we reached Adhara’s craft, I slowed down toward the entrance out of habit, and I eyed the hazy shield warily.
> “I guess we just…” Kat trailed off and stopped at the door. “We just jump through?”
“I guess so,” I agreed. “We better do it quickly before this coating thing wears off.”
I braced myself for the coat not to work and to be smacked right back onto the ground as soon as I tried to jump inside. Then I took a step back and leapt through the doorway with my whole body clenched.
As I passed through the forcefield, my body felt like it had gone numb for a split second. It was as if I had been submerged in a pool of ice, and it was too cold to even feel properly.
Then I landed on the ship floor, and the feeling vanished.
“It worked!” I cheered, and I gestured for the others to follow me.
Mateo went next, and he cautiously stepped through one leg at a time.
“That is bizarre,” he shivered as he joined me.
Hilda half-jumped and half-stumbled through the entrance, and she stared silently around her and flinched as if something was about to attack her.
Kat gave Arnie a hand to climb up through the doorway, and the old man laughed as he slowly passed through the shield.
“My goodness,” he chuckled. “How bizarre. How wonderful.”
Kat leapt through last, and she threw me her lopsided grin as she landed.
“Nice,” the Corporal laughed. “I wasn’t expecting that. I feel like I just took a cold shower.”
We headed through to the control room, and Mateo walked around with his mouth hanging open.
“This isn’t real,” he muttered. “I’m in a coma. This cannot be real life.”
“It’s real, alright,” I chuckled. “Welcome to alien space travel. So, a quick tour, that’s the control panel.”
“Don’t touch anything on it,” Kat added. “Adhara will be pissed.”
“Exactly,” I said. “But you can sit in the chair, or there’s a bed back here if you guys want to sleep.”
I was about to lead the scientists to the bedroom when I hesitated. It wasn’t long ago we had a rampant sex session in there, and we hadn’t exactly found time to do laundry.
“Adhara told me the sheets self-clean,” Kat whispered with a barely-concealed smirk. “You’re all good.”
“Ah.” I cleared my throat. “So, yeah, the bed is back here. I guess you can have a bit of a rest?”
“What’s through there?” Mateo asked as he pointed to the weapons room.
“That’s the armory,” I said. “Well, it was. We have most of the weapons now, but Arnie has his sword, and I think there’s a sharp gun left in here.”
Kat swung the door open, and I stepped into the pink-hued room.
There was one gun left on the back wall, and I grabbed it before I handed it to Mateo.
“You know how to shoot?” I asked, and Mateo shrugged.
“I’ve had a go at a shooting range before,” he said. “But not really.”
“We don’t have time for a lesson,” I said. “If you stay in here, then you shouldn’t even need to use this. Just in case you do, aim at whatever the fuck you want to kill, and pull the trigger. That’s it.”
“Noted,” Mateo said nervously as he clutched the weapon. “So, nothing can get through here? Even if a t-rex comes along, it can’t step on us? Or bite us? Or--”
“Nothing can touch you,” I assured him. “This alien technology is legit. You guys are as safe as it’s possible to be right now.”
“Well,” Hilda muttered. “I suppose it’s mildly helpful.”
I raised an eyebrow, and the red-haired scientists cautiously examined the control panel.
“Don’t touch it,” I said firmly.
“I wasn’t,” Hilda huffed.
“Jason, we should get back,” Kat said.
“Let’s go.” I nodded. “You guys will be okay. We’ll see you when this is all over.”
“Thank you,” Arnie said quietly, and Mateo gave me a silent wave.
I turned and ran back toward the exit, and then I leapt through the forcefield. The familiar buzz was all I felt as I jumped through, and Kat was right behind me as we started to run back to building 33.
“You think they’ve done it?” the soldier asked as we raced across the grass.
“I hope so,” I said.
We sprinted over the broken glass and into the dim building. I didn’t speak as we hurried back toward the dark tunnel, and the hair on my neck tingled as I thought about how close we were to saving the world.
As we reached the metal staircase, I could hear a dull hum that echoed around the walls, and the hurried chatter of the girls came along with it.
I took the steps three at a time and jumped down onto the underground floor.
The girls and Leo stood staring at something that looked like the portals we’d been seeing for weeks, except it was inky black and only about eight feet tall.
“Holy shit,” Kat breathed as she jumped down beside me. “Is that it?”
“We did it,” Adhara said with a stoic nod. “We made the tear. This is how we get to the mothership.”
“Leo followed Arnie’s instructions,” Becka said. “And it worked, the black hole got sucked out into the room.”
I walked forward slowly and tried to take in what I was looking at. It was like there was a hanging picture in the middle of the room, but when I stepped past it, there was no shelf or hanging. Nothing to support it, only the black void.
A tear in the universe to transport us into an alien craft.
“I can’t believe we’re here,” Becka said. “It’s finally time.”
“Are you sure this is safe for humans?” Hae-won asked. “We don’t need to use that golden disk thingy?”
“You do not,” Leo said. “Anyone can pass through.”
“Okay,” I said, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the doorway to another world. It was so strange to see something like a portal, but with no dinosaurs coming out to fuck with us.
“Who’s going through first?” Kat asked.
“I will,” I decided as I stepped right up to the tear. “If there’s something waiting for us on the other side, I don’t want any of you to get hurt.”
“Do you know where exactly on the ship it leads?” Becka asked, and Adhara shook her head.
“It is impossible to say exact location,” the alien said, and her emerald eyes were fixed on me.
“So, I just step through?” I asked, and she nodded.
“You will not feel anything,” Adhara assured me.
“We’re right behind you, Jason,” Kat said as she folded her arms.
“Always.” Becka nodded.
I looked at my four gorgeous girls and then back at the ominous void before me.
If I wanted them to have the lives they deserved, I needed to do this. It was the final hurdle.
All I had to do was leap through a floating, black void into an alien spacecraft full of a race that wanted to kill me for all the wrong reasons.
“Let’s do this.” I took a deep breath, and without a second thought, I leapt toward the void.
As I jumped, I heard the girls gasp behind me, and suddenly, they were gone.
I wasn’t in CERN anymore.
It took a second to realize I was in a small, silver room with a doorway right in front of me. I didn’t even know if I was on the ship until I spun around to see a large window that went from floor to ceiling.
Outside was an endless abyss of black decorated with countless stars, and my head felt weightless as I gaped at the view.
Then a grin crept over my face.
It worked.
I was in space.
On a mother fucking spaceship.
Chapter 14
The girls appeared quickly after me, and Leo was the last to arrive.
We were silent for a moment as we took in the sight out of the window, and I watched the great, dark expanse of the universe with my mouth hanging slack.
“Fuck,” Becka whispered eventually. “We’re in space. Fucking space.�
��
“I can’t believe it worked,” I said as I ran a hand through my hair. “We’re really here.”
“Look at all the stars,” Kat said as she pressed her nose against the window. “This is the coolest fucking thing I have ever seen.”
“It’s so beautiful,” Hae-won breathed.
“Where’s Earth?” Becka asked. “I can’t see any planets, oh, unless that’s one?”
“I think that’s a bit of rock,” Hae-won said. “But maybe that bright star over there is actually a planet?”
I wanted to spend more time just staring outside and taking in the insane beauty of being amongst the stars, but reality snapped back in my head, and I tore my eyes away from the jaw-dropping view to look at the aliens.
“Okay.” I nodded. “Do you know where we are on the ship?”
“No, we will need to move.” Leo was next to the door, and he carefully grabbed the silver handle before he pulled it open slowly. “We are on low floor. There is stairs close.”
“And where exactly would Adhara’s parents be?” I asked.
“Top,” Adhara replied. “They will be in the bridge.”
“How many floors are there?” Becka asked, and the aliens shrugged.
“Sometimes three,” Adhara said. “Sometimes four. Depends on ship.”
“How are we going to go up four floors unnoticed?” Kat hissed. “We kind of stand out.”
“We should have painted ourselves purple,” Becka giggled quietly. “That might have worked.”
“I guess we’ll just have to be cautious,” I said. “Stick to the walls, and try to hide behind Adhara and Leo as much as possible.”
“I mean, Leo is built like a tank,” Becka snorted. “So, that’s fine, but our beautiful Adhara looks like the wind would blow her over. There isn’t much to hide behind.”
“I am very sturdy in the wind,” Adhara argued, and I tried so hard not to smirk at her severe scowl.
“She didn’t mean it in a bad way,” I gently assured my alien lover. “It’s only that you’re--”
“Super tall and lean in that sexy supermodel way,” Becka cut in. “I’m fucking wild about it, Adhara, really. No offense meant. But with all our tits out here in the open, there’s no way your body alone is going to hide us all from view.”
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