by Kate O'Hearn
Astraea could hardly believe what she was hearing. “You don’t actually expect me to leave Zephyr?”
Jake came closer. “You have to come with us. You’re hurt. What if that serpent comes back for you? How will you run away?”
“I won’t run away,” Astraea insisted. “I’ll stay here and fight along with the centaurs. I won’t leave Zephyr—not now, not ever.”
“But…,” Tryn started.
“You heard her,” Cylus said. “She’s staying right here with Zephyr. So stop arguing and get going!”
9
JAKE AND TRYN WASTED LITTLE time getting ready. Before leaving, Jake asked Nesso to tell two snakes to stay with Astraea and to call out to any other snakes that might be passing in the area. He would take the juveniles with him.
When they were freed from his backpack, they settled around Astraea’s neck and promised to get anyone else they found to join in the fight. After that, they said brief good-byes.
“Hurry!” Astraea called as she lay beside Zephyr. Her face was a portrait of pain and fear. “Please hurry.”
“We will,” Jake promised. He looked at Tryn. “You ready?”
Tryn nodded. “But I hate leaving you in case Lergo comes.”
Cylus charged up to him, still holding his bow at the ready. “We’ll take care of Lergo. Just stop talking and go!”
Tryn nodded and looked down at his skateboard. “Take me to Xanadu.”
Jake repeated the message to his own skateboard and its tiny wings appeared and started to flap. He looked back at Zephyr collapsed on the ground. “Hold on, Zephyr. We’ll be back soon.”
Jake faced forward as the skateboard climbed up over the trees and high into a sky of blazing reds and greens of sunset. Soon his eyes were watering from the speed and he couldn’t speak. Faster and faster, higher and higher they flew until there was a sonic boom and a bright flash as they entered the Solar Stream.
* * *
Jake was still surprised by the experience of traveling within the Solar Stream. He looked around at the swirling, blazing light and was reminded of all the sci-fi movies he’d ever seen where starships entered light-speed or wormholes. The one thing the movies never addressed was just how loud it was.
He’d never noticed before, but as he rode his board, the hair on his arms was standing up with the static electricity. He was also curious why he could still breathe. There had to be air because he could breathe. But where did it come from?
Experience in the Solar Stream had taught him that trying to speak was just as futile as trying to walk or run. All you could do was stand and wait.
Jake became aware of time’s passage. It appeared that the more urgent the situation, the longer it took to get anywhere. Leaving Earth to go to Nesso’s world had seemed to take forever because the Titans and Olympians hiding on Earth were counting on them. But now that Zephyr’s life was at stake, the trip to Xanadu felt endless.
Eventually they burst free of the Solar Stream and appeared above another lush jungle.
“Yes!” Tryn cheered as he punched the air. “I’m home!”
Jake moved his skateboard closer to Tryn. “How can you tell? It looks the same.”
“No, it doesn’t. Look around you, Jake. The trees are different colors and the leaves are much bigger. Smell the air. It’s so much sweeter and it’s not nearly as hot.” Tryn looked around and gathered his bearings. “Okay,” he said, “I know where we are. If we go that way, we can reach the continent of the Rhean. My home.” He pointed in the other direction. “Or we go that way to reach the Temple of Arious, where we’ll find Riza, Emily, and the others.” He looked down at the skateboard. “Take us to the Temple of Arious.”
Jake called down to his own board, “Follow Tryn.”
As they zoomed across the sky, they were soon joined by a flock of strange-looking birds. Their feathers were fluffy orange and they were as big as dogs. Jake wondered how it was possible for them to fly. He was also stunned by how tame they were. They flew right next to him and kept their green eyes on him. One even lightly pecked at his skateboard.
“Have you seen this?” he called over to Tryn. “I bet I could reach out and touch them. This is freaky!”
“No, this is Xanadu,” Tryn called back. “Every living creature here is at peace. There are no predators, so none of the wildlife has reason to fear. Even if an animal was once a predator, it changed when it was brought here. You need to be careful and not hurt anything or you could disturb the balance, and that will really upset Riza.”
“I keep hearing that name. Who exactly is Riza?”
“You’ll see,” Tryn said. “But try not to stare when you first meet her.”
“Why? Does she have two heads or something?”
Tryn shook his head. “No, just the one, but she’s the most beautiful being you’ll ever meet. You’ll just want to stare. Riza finds it funny, but the Olympians think it’s rude.”
“I’ll be careful,” Jake said. “I just hope she can save Zephyr.”
“She will,” Tryn said confidently. “There isn’t anything that Riza and Emily can’t do.”
The skateboards brought them lower in the sky as they flew closer to a clearing. A flat-topped building stood in the center of the clearing, surrounded by multiple white marble houses. Jake leaned forward and gasped when he saw the center building. “Hey, are those helicopters on the roof?”
Tryn nodded. “Many years ago, Emily’s powers were unpredictable, and she accidentally sent them here. Riza thought they were cute, so she put them up there as decoration. That’s where we’re headed. That’s the Temple of Arious.”
They were soon touching down in the clearing. Tryn picked up his skateboard and looked around as a frown crossed his brow. “Hello!” he called.
“Is it always so quiet?” Jake asked.
“No,” Tryn said. He pointed to the closest marble house beside the temple. The vegetable garden was untended and overgrown by vines from the jungle. “That’s Emily’s house. Her aunt loves that garden. She’d never let it get overgrown.”
Tryn ran toward the house and didn’t stop when he reached the front door. He threw it open and entered. “Emily? Pegasus? Steve? Are you here?”
Jake followed him inside and saw a strange mix of furnishings. Some were like what he’d seen at Zephyr’s house on Titus, but there were definitely some pieces from Earth—including a large entertainment center with a flat-screen television, a stereo system, and racks full of music CDs and movie DVDs.
“Emily!” Tryn shouted. “Are you here?”
Jake followed Tryn out of the house and into the main clearing. “Hello? Diana? Apollo? Chiron? Is anyone here?”
The only sounds they heard came from the jungle. Soon there was loud crashing and sounds of branches breaking as a massive two-headed creature—that was easily double the size of an elephant—came charging up to them. It had multiple legs, long purple fur, and mouths full of teeth.
“Brue!” Tryn cried as he ran up to the animal and disappeared in her long shaggy coat. “I’ve really missed you!”
Brue started dancing on her feet like an excited puppy.
“You know what that is?” Jake asked fearfully, looking up at the animal.
Tryn looked back at him through all the purple fur. “This is Brue—she’s the Mother of the Jungle. She’s kind of like a guardian. But she shouldn’t be here alone. She’s always with Paelen.” Tryn scratched Brue’s chest. “Where is Paelen, girl? Take us to Paelen.”
Brue shuffled on her feet, threw back her two heads, and let out a mournful howl. She caught hold of Tryn’s arm and tried to pull him into the trees.
Tryn patted Brue and pulled his arm free. “I’ve missed you too, but I don’t have time to play.” He looked back at Jake. “Something’s wrong. Even if Riza and Emily are off world on a rescue mission, there are always Olympians here.” He trotted away from Brue and shouted, “Is anyone here?”
Again, all that came back to them w
as the sound of the jungle.
Tryn caught Jake by the arm. “Come with me. If anything has happened, I know who can tell us.”
“Who’s that?” Jake asked as he jogged behind him.
“Arious,” Tryn answered. “She’s a huge supercomputer that helps run this world.”
Jake gasped. “This world is run by a supercomputer?”
Tryn nodded. “But she is unlike any computer my people have ever encountered before. She has a consciousness all her own—and has independent thought.”
“Like AI?”
“AI?” Tryn repeated.
“Yeah, it means artificial intelligence.”
Tryn shook his head. “There is nothing artificial about Arious. You’ll see.”
Jake followed Tryn into the Temple of Arious. The entrance was immaculate, and as they entered, unseen lights came up. Images were carved into the walls, and Jake wanted to explore, but the desperateness of the situation kept him on Tryn’s heels.
He followed Tryn to a deep staircase and was forced to run to keep up with him as they descended. When they reached the bottom, Tryn ran down a long corridor and stopped before a stone wall. He looked around as a deep frown set on his face. “This door is never closed.”
“There’s a door here?” Jake asked.
Tryn nodded. “Something is definitely wrong.” He banged on the thick stone wall. “Arious, it’s me, Tryn. Can you hear me? Run a scan and you’ll see it’s me. Please open up!”
After several seconds, there was a hum and the whole stone wall moved to reveal it was a door. Tryn and Jake entered the control room.
“Whoa,” Jake said as his eyes tried to take in all the polished metal. The walls, floor, and ceiling shone brightly. In the center of the room was a large consul with a step and a platform. “This place is awesome.”
Tryn nodded and walked up to the consul. “This is where the Xan would deposit and receive their collective knowledge. If you were to stand on that platform and touch those two posts on either side, your mind would be scanned for its memories, but also, you would gain the shared knowledge of everyone who ever stood there before you. I’ve been on there and it’s amazing. Through it, I saw when the Xan first visited my world long before the sun went supernova. I also saw it destroyed.”
“Trynulus,” Arious called. “I am so pleased to see you. We are in trouble.”
“Arious, what’s happened?” Tryn asked. “Where is everyone? We really need to speak with Riza and Emily.”
“They have all been taken. The attack was fast and brutal, and we couldn’t defend ourselves. The last thing Riza did before she was disabled was to seal me to protect me from the invaders.”
Tryn’s face turned pale silver in shock. “Riza has been disabled? How is this possible? She and Emily are Xan, the most powerful beings in the universe.”
“They are, but those that took them came disguised as friends. With one touch, Riza and Emily were weakened and then rendered unconscious. The others tried to fight, but they too were defeated with a touch.”
Jake was standing beside Tryn and whispered, “That sounds like the Mimics.”
“Mimics?” Arious responded.
“Arious,” Tryn said. “This is Jake, a human from Earth. Please, I must link with you and share what we’ve encountered.” He crossed to the center consul and stepped up on to the platform. When he put his hands on the two pillar receivers, he looked back at Jake. “I’m going to link with Arious. It’s the fastest way to share what we’ve experienced. Stand back and don’t touch me, no matter what you see or hear. Arious has been set to receive and share with humans, but not a human and a Rhean at the same time. It would be dangerous for you.”
Jake held both his hands up and took a step back. “Gotcha. I won’t move. Just hurry.”
Tryn nodded. “All right, Arious. Initiate upload.”
The moment he said that, the room started to hum. Tryn threw back his head and became stiff as he linked with the supercomputer.
Jake watched in fascination as his friend communicated with Arious. This was right out of a science fiction movie. But usually the supercomputers in them were evil. In this case, Tryn trusted Arious. Jake just hoped he was right.
After a moment the humming stopped. Tryn shook his head and stepped clear of the platform.
“Well? Did you see what happened here?” Jake asked.
Tryn nodded. “It was the Mimics, all right. But they’re not what we thought. They’ve been around for millennia and are the ancient enemy of the Xan.”
“Now that they have taken Riza and Emily, the Phirril, or Mimics as you call them, will spread through the known universe,” Arious said.
Jake still couldn’t understand. “What do they want with Riza and Emily? Just to stop them from defending Titus? Did they kill them?”
“No,” Arious answered. “It is worse than that.”
Tryn nodded. “Riza and Emily aren’t the first Xan to be taken by the Mimics. Arious just showed me. Every thousand years or so, they would come here and abduct a Xan. They are then taken back to the Mimic world. No one knows exactly what happens to them there.…”
“But we speculate the Mimics feed off their power,” Arious finished.
“They’re going to eat them!” Jake cried.
“We do not know what they do,” Arious said. “Though the ancients speculated that they didn’t; otherwise they would be back more often. It was reasoned that the Mimic queen fed off the Xan power when she was preparing a big division. A kind of species spawning.”
“Only now they’ve taken the last two Xan in existence,” Tryn said. “This will be their last chance to divide on a large scale, so they’re probably going to make it a big one.”
“That’s seriously dangerous,” Jake said. He looked over at the computer. “What about the others? The Olympians and Emily’s family? What about Pegasus? Why did they take them as well?”
Arious hummed and then spoke again. “I must assume they took the others as hostages to control Riza and Emily. Especially Emily. She may be Xan, but she has all her human emotions. She would surrender herself to the Mimics if it meant keeping those she loved safe. With two Xan under their control, the Mimics will spread farther than ever before with no one able to stop them.”
“But we have the snakes,” Jake insisted. “Their venom is deadly to the Mimics. We’re gathering them up now.”
“Yesss,” Nesso said. “We will ssstop them.”
“I am sorry, young Nesso, but even you will not be able to stop the queen.”
Tryn frowned. “Wait, Arious, you can understand Nesso?”
“Of course,” Arious answered. “I understand all. And we are grateful to Nesso and her kind, but the Mimic queen never leaves her world. After millennia of searching, we never discovered where it is. Now, because of my link with you, Tryn, I have seen what Mimic Vulcan told you. That the Mimic queen’s name is Langli and their home world is Tremenz in the Zolcar system. But that knowledge is of little use now that the Xan are gone. It would be too dangerous for anyone to attempt a rescue. So the queen will divide, and the Mimics will overrun the universe.”
“What are you saying?” Jake asked. “That we give up and wait for the Mimics to take over?”
“What choice do we have?” Arious asked.
“We fight. That’s what we do,” Jake insisted. “Look, Nesso has venom that kills the Mimics. We’ve been to Nesso’s world and there are other snakes that are willing to help us. So we get a team together, take a lot of weapons and snakes, and go to Tremenz to free everybody.”
“You are prepared to do this?” Arious asked.
“Well, duh, of course. And don’t say I’m too young. I’ve seen what the Mimics can do, and I’ll do anything to stop them from reaching Earth.”
All the lights on the mainframe flashed. “You remind me of Emily. You have the same spirit. Come, link with me, Jake. Let me know you and add your memories to my collective.”
“Um, what?�
�
“Yes, that’s a great idea.” Tryn caught Jake by the arm and pulled him over to the center consul. “Just in case anything happens to you, there will be a record of your existence.”
Jake shook his head. “But you said it was dangerous for me.…”
“No, I said it was dangerous if you touched me while I was in. It’s safe if you go in alone. Arious will be set up for a human.”
“Yes,” Arious said. “I have linked with humans before and you will be perfectly safe. Join me, Jake. Let me know you, the one who is prepared to fight for the last Xan.”
Jake looked at Tryn. “You’re sure this is safe for me?”
“I promise.”
Jake didn’t feel the same confidence. He’d seen too many movies where things went bad. But it was kind of cool to think that all his memories—his family, friends, and all the skateboarding tricks he’d learned—would be recorded. Kind of like a big library with a book called Jake in it. “All right,” he said finally. “But if my brains get scrambled, I’m going to be really angry.”
“You’ll be fine,” Tryn said. “Just step up there and place your hands on those columns. Arious will do the rest.” He reached up to Jake’s neck. “Nesso, come to me. I don’t want you hurt while Jake is linked with Arious.”
Nesso slid away from Jake and rested in Tryn’s hand.
“I am ready,” Arious said. “I will also set to retrieve only. So you need not worry about seeing the history of the Xan until after this is over. Then, if you want to know more, you will be welcome back.”
“Ah, I was kinda hoping to see the Xan,” Jake said. “Especially if they are as beautiful as Tryn says.”
“You’ll see Riza for yourself when we go get her,” Tryn promised.
Jake nodded and placed his hands on the receivers. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“All done,” Arious said.
Jake shook his head. “Wait, you haven’t started yet.”
“Yes, I did,” Arious said. “You are but a young child. Viewing your memories took only a millisecond.”