Remember the tesseract, Nova had said.
As Riff stared out the airlock window at the approaching vessels, the memory pounded through him.
"Remember the tesseract," he whispered.
Steel frowned. "Remember what?"
"That's what Nova told me. Before they grabbed her. Remember the tesseract." He stared out the window at the enemy vessels. "That's what they are. Tesseracts."
Riff barked out a laugh. Of course. He remembered that day. Nova and he had visited the Museum of the Strange in the asteroid belt, a floating sideshow of mutated calves in jars, the bones of medical mysteries, wax replicas of deformed circus performers . . . and a holographic projection purporting to show a tesseract.
"A tesseract!" Riff repeated. "A four-dimensional cube."
Steel narrowed his eyes. "You speak in riddles."
Riff shook his head. "A single dimension is a line. Two dimensions allow a square. In three dimensions you get a cube. In four dimensions . . . a tesseract." He pointed at the fast-approaching ships. "That's what they are . . . seen in our own three dimensions. Nova knew."
He stared at the black ships. Their shapes could only exist in their higher dimension. In his three-dimensional world, they looked convoluted, cubes cobbled together into impossible, mind-twisting constructions.
"I don't care what they are," said Steel, "only that they die at my blade." He inhaled deeply. "Fight well, my brother. I am with you. Always."
The ships landed outside, slamming onto the planet with a jolt that shook the observatory.
Riff looked behind him at the scientists who stood there, holding their rods.
"This is your last chance. Step down into the cellars now. Lock the doors. Be safe."
They stared back, eyes hard. Lenora hefted her magnetic rod and raised her chin. "If we cannot repel the enemy, there will be no safety anywhere. We fight with you, Starfire brothers."
Perhaps unconsciously, Steel took a step sideways, placing himself between Lenora and the airlock door.
Outside, coiling shapes were emerging from the tesseracts and bounding across the surface. Growing. Changing. Shrinking. Appearing and reappearing.
Remember the tesseract.
"Not ghosts," Riff whispered. "Beings from a higher dimension."
With shrieks and thuds and denting metal, the creatures slammed into the walls and doors of the observatory.
Riff snarled and aimed Ethel, his loyal plasma gun. Steel raised his blade. Behind them, the scientists hefted their rods.
The doors rattled. Dents appeared across them. Outside the fused silica windows, the shades stared with red eyes, opening maws thick with white teeth. Their swirling, shadowy forms hid the world beyond. Their laughter and screams filled the airlock. Deeper in the observatory, Riff could hear metal shatter and Romy scream.
He stared at the door. Waiting.
It shook. Again. Again.
A crack appeared in the wall.
A dent shoved into the doorway.
Riff and the others lowered the visors on their helmets.
With shrieking air and ethereal screams, the doorway shattered.
Riff fired his gun.
Plasma blasted forth, showering over the creatures. Steel thrust his blade, casting out a disk of light and a pulsing electromagnetic field.
The shades howled. Several of them fell back, shattering. The rest flowed forth, claws outstretched.
Riff fired again, blasting another creature, but the horde was too strong. The shades shoved into the doorway, mobbing him. Riff fell and swung his rod, trying to hold them back.
"For Sol!" Steel cried, swinging his blade, tearing through the creatures, scattering shreds of their black flesh.
"For . . . science!" Lenora cried, thrusting her electric rod. Her fellow scientists fought around her, casting out their electromagnetic fields.
Shades howled, a deafening sound, a sound so loud Riff thought it could split his skull. He struggled to his feet, fired his gun again, slew another creature. More slammed into him, knocking him down again. Jaws materialized around his leg and snapped shut, tearing into his skin. He pistol-whipped the shade, then fired upward into a swooping ghost. Claws lashed at him.
And more of the enemy kept pouring in.
They flowed through the door like polluted water. They smashed the windows. They scuttled across the ceiling, then rained as black tar.
"By my honor, by the light of Sol, you will not pass!" Steel cried, swinging his sword in circles. But the ghosts swarmed across him too. Their claws sparked against his armor. Their fangs drove into his breastplate, cracking the metal. Their shadowy, convulsing bodies knocked him down and they laughed, drooled, screeched.
"Now you die, ones of three. Die. Die. Die."
The room shook as more tesseract ships shrieked outside. Between the shades, Riff caught a glimpse of the sky outside. The enemy ships hid the stars, covered the surface of Kaperosa like a blanket, and still more flew. Still more shades emerged.
"Now you die. Die. Die."
Riff stared in horror, barely able to breathe.
Nova and Twig—gone. The Dragon Huntress—dead. All hope for aid—lost. The Earth—dying, maybe already gone.
Fear, colder than the grip of ten thousand ghosts, twisted Riff's heart.
If I die, I die fighting side by side with my brother.
He grabbed Steel and tugged him up.
"The airlock is lost!" he shouted. "We fall back. Back into the observatory. We'll fight them in the labyrinth of corridors."
One scientist fell beside them. The shades leaped onto the old man, tearing into his flesh. Blood spurted. The creatures howled as they fed upon him. To Riff's right, another man fell, the dark creatures tearing him apart.
"Fall back!" Riff shouted. "Back! Lenora, get them into the corridors."
Blood seeped from a gash on Lenora's head, and scratches covered her arms. But she nodded. Swinging her rod before her, knocking the shades aside, she herded scientists into the corridor. Every man or woman who left the airlock merely made room for more shades to stream in.
Riff and Steel stood side by side, firing their weapons. Plasma and electricity lit the airlock. A fog of the creatures hid the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Riff could see nothing but their inky flesh, their red eyes, their teeth, and beside him always, his brother.
"It's been an honor to fight with you, brother," Steel said.
"We ain't done yet." Riff fired his gun. "Back!"
The last scientist fled the airlock. Walking backward, weapons firing, Riff and Steel followed.
The corridor was narrow, closing in around them, trapping them here in a labyrinth of metal. Ahead, the airlock shattered. Its walls and ceiling collapsed, revealing an endless cloud of the creatures. With triumphant laughter, the enemy flowed into the corridor.
"Die, ones of three. Die!"
The labyrinth of Kaperosa Observatory shook and echoed with ghostly howls, with laughter, and with the screams of the dying.
* * * * *
The dark wave flowed through Kaperosa Observatory. Steel felt as if the network of corridors and chambers were the innards of some alien conch, tossed into a pit of tar, the sticky darkness invading its twisting halls.
So this is where I die, he thought. So this is where I fall in glory.
As Steel stood in the corridor, swinging his sword, a thin smile tingled his lips.
It was a good place to die.
The shades swarmed. Their fangs and claws dented and cracked his armor. Their bodies swirled around him, grabbing him, showing him visions of a nightmarish land of black hills, stormy skies, a laughing queen. Outside the window, the black hole loomed, laughing, a mouth waiting to engulf him, to take him to that shadowy realm. Yet Steel would not let them take him. With blade, with cold determination, he fought back.
For the Alien Hunters. For Lenora. For all life.
"Fall back!" Riff cried behind him. "To the inner chambers! Back!"
; Scientists were rushing back, fleeing deeper into this labyrinth, but every step, they fell. The creatures emerged from the ceiling, from the walls, bubbled up from the floor, seeped through vents.
Riff fought at Steel's side, plasma gun filling the chambers with light and heat. Giga leaped through the air, katana swinging, cleaving the shades. But the creatures kept advancing, ten more appearing for every one that fell. A scientist swung a rod, driving two ghosts back, only for a third to leap from the ceiling, envelop him with blackness, and tear him apart.
"Steel, come, to the inner chambers!" Lenora said behind him. Blood splashed her space suit. Not all of it was her own.
Steel nodded. "I will hold back the evil. Go, take them deeper!"
Fear filled Lenora's eyes, but she nodded. She herded her people back. Steel stood his ground in the corridor, teeth bared, swinging his blade, refusing to fall, refusing to let the enemy reach Lenora.
I failed you once, Lenora, many years ago. I will not fail you again.
That old pain dug through him. None of this should have happened. How Steel wished he could turn back the years! To be young again, eighteen and in love!
If I could go back in time, I would never have left you, Lenora. I would have gone with you to the stars, not joined your father's order. We could have married, raised a family, not ended up here.
Steel roared, swung his blade, and cleaved a ghost. A wall shattered at his side, and more shades emerged, and he fought them, howling in his rage.
I'm sorry, Lenora.
His long years of servitude, of exile, had given him this strength. Made him a warrior. Perhaps now, with this strength beaten into him, he could at least save Lenora.
Yet could he truly save her? What awaited them in the innards of the observatory if not more battle, a death in a trap? Why did they still fight if no hope remained?
"Piston!" Riff shouted into his communicator. "Piston, we need the Dragon Huntress flying!"
The gruffle's voice rose through the speakers. "I'm doing all I can, sir! But . . . without Twig, I can't fix the turbines, and—"
"Fix them now!" Riff fired his gun, melting a shade. "Fix them and bring the ship to the observatory roof. Now! That's an order!"
Riff still clung to hope, Steel knew. His brother still believed the gruffle could save them, that the Dragon Huntress could swoop down with glory, pick them up, deliver them to safety.
Yet Steel knew: I was always meant to come here, to die here. This is why I spent years in the knighthood, then years in exile, honing my blade, my inner strength. He swung that blade now, slaying the enemies. To come here. To die in darkness. With Lenora.
"Steel, come on, hurry!" Lenora cried behind him, retreating into an inner lab.
You cannot flee me, knight, rose a voice in his head. Outside the window, the black hole seemed to laugh, to mock him, a swirling pit ready to swallow him. You cannot save her. I will keep you both alive, knight. You and the woman you abandoned. You will both scream eternally in my darkness.
Steel raised his head and stared directly into that black hole.
The Dark Queen laughed within, tugging at him, showing him visions of his body broken, of Lenora screaming at his feet, of a land of endless torment and devilry, a dark hell in the bowels of space.
Steel stared and smiled thinly.
"No," he whispered.
Behind him, Lenora retreated into the lab. Steel swung his blade in a great arc.
"No!" he roared, cutting down the enemy, and stepped back with the others into the innermost chambers.
Perhaps he could not win this fight. But they would never take him alive. He would slay the enemies with his sword until he could slay no more . . . and then he would fall upon it.
They fought in shadowed chambers, racing through the labyrinth of Kaperosa, trying to move upwards, to reach the roof, to reach Riff's hope of rescue.
I do not fear falling upon my sword, Steel thought as he fought up a staircase, holding the shades back as Lenora and the others climbed with him. Yet do I have the courage to grant Lenora the same mercy?
For the first time in the battle, Steel felt some of his courage wane.
Would he dare drive Solflare into Lenora's heart, grant her a quick death before the ghosts could grab her? Would he do the same to Riff, to Piston, to the others? His eyes stung, and his hands trembled, and he roared in pain as he fought. He would do what he must. A knight always did what he must. Yet the horror seemed too great to Steel, a weight too heavy to bear.
How can I find the strength for this? Whatever gods can hear me, grant me the courage.
A soft golden light flickered.
As Steel fought on the staircase, climbing ever upward, he gasped.
The golden light shone again.
A spirit! A spirit of gold fought with him! He could barely see the figure, but as he fought, it seemed to Steel that a woman of light, golden as dawn, was fighting ever at his side. A goddess from another world. A comforting presence. The others did not see her, but it seemed to Steel that the spirit met his gaze, offered him comfort, strength, an answer to his prayers. Her light flared out, casting back the enemy, guiding him onward.
"My lady," Steel whispered, tears in his eyes. "My lady of light."
He did not know what goddess this was, what benevolent presence had sent him this protector. But as the golden light shone at his side, new strength filled Steel. Perhaps not all hope was lost. Not all in the cosmos was visible to him. The darkness was full of evil, of devils he did not comprehend. Yet there was goodness too in the worlds beyond, goodness that watched over him.
They fought onward, holding back the enemy as they climbed the stairs. Alien Hunters. Scientists. And an angel of light, blessing him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
SWORDS AND SHADES
Twig tossed her wrench through the corridors, knocking down shades, but more kept flowing in, an endless ocean of the beasts. Nova fought at her side, sneering, terrible to behold, her electric whip a bringer of light and death. For every shade Twig killed, the ashai warrior slew twenty.
Yet there are thousands here, Twig thought. Maybe millions. Too many.
Still stuck in the higher plane, Twig no longer saw the shades as ghosts. They loomed, solid, ten feet tall, creatures of burnt robes and withered flesh. Twig wished she were back in three dimensions, fighting only shadows, fighting with her fellow Alien Hunters. Riff shouted at her side, firing his plasma gun. Giga somersaulted through the air, bouncing off the walls, swinging her katana. Romy wailed as she fought, lashing her pitchfork. But none could see Twig and Nova, two souls lost in the fourth dimension—ghosts themselves.
All but . . .
Twig frowned.
"I think Steel can see you, Nova!" she shouted, leaping into the air and thrusting her wrench.
Nova stood a few paces away in the corridor, lashing her whip. Riff and Giga were fighting a few steps back, herding the surviving scientists onto another staircase. Steel stood ahead, swinging his sword, fighting at the vanguard. While the others seemed oblivious to Twig and Nova's presence, Steel kept glancing toward Nova, smiling softly.
"Steel, can you see me?" Nova shouted, standing at his side, helping him hold back the enemy.
The knight glanced toward the ashai. "My golden lady," he whispered.
When Twig stared at Steel's armor, she could see flecks of gold reflected in the metal, a mere spirit of light, vaguely shaped as a woman. Nova's ghost—how her gleaming armor and flowing hair appeared in three-dimensions.
"He can see your golden armor!" Twig cried. "A rough image, at least."
A shade leaped toward her, and Twig lashed her wrench, electrocuting it. Another one of the creatures slammed into her, tearing at her flesh. Twig's blood spurted and she screamed.
"Twig, get to the Dragon Huntress!" Nova cried. "You're no more use here. You have to help Piston fix the ship."
Twig groaned. "I can't! I can barely touch anything in three dimensions anymore, a
nd Piston can't see me. I'm just a ghost to him."
"Then go and haunt him!" Nova shouted. "Get out of here, Twig. Do what you can. I don't care how. Get the ship flying!"
Tears stung Twig's eyes as she fought. How could she help? She had tried to grab ahold of objects in three dimensions, only to see them slip between her fingers. She had tried to speak to the other Alien Hunters, but so far, only Romy and Steel seemed to have noticed their presence at all, and—
Twig's breath caught.
Romy!
Of course!
Back when Nova and I first entered the observatory, Romy saw us. She thought us ghosts. She fled. She too can see us.
The battle moved upstairs into an attic. Twig pulled down the visor of her helmet. The observatory scientists, clad in space suits, did the same. A hatch opened, and the battle moved onto the rooftop of Kaperosa Observatory.
Twig could see the black hole directly above. It seemed to have grown tenfold, nearly covering the entire sky. A sea of shades surrounded the observatory, climbing the walls, flowing through the corridors, an endless tidal wave. More shades kept charging up the stairs from deeper in the observatory, trying to push through the defenders.
"Twig, we're dead if the Dragon Huntress doesn't pick us up now." Nova pointed. "Go!"
Twig tightened her lips. She nodded. She jumped, lashed her wrench at a shade, and landed before Romy.
"Romy!" she shouted.
Twig stood barely taller than Romy's bellybutton. It was hard enough to get the demon to notice her even in three dimensions, let alone with Twig stuck in the higher plane.
"Romy, can you hear me?" Twig grabbed Romy's hips, surprised that her hands could feel the demon, not pass through her. "It's me, Twig."
The demon looked down and gasped. "A tiny ghost!"
"It's me! It's Twig. Twiggle Jauntyfoot." She grabbed Romy's clawed hand. "I need your help."
Romy's wings and tail stuck out from holes in her space suit; the latter wagged furiously. "You turned into a ghost! You look all funny and smudged. How did this happen?"
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