Termination - Book 9 in The Trapped in the Hollow Earth Novelette Series (The Conclusion)

by Peebles, Chrissy

  Chapter 5

  The huge objects sparkled like diamonds set against a blanket of black velvet. Casey rubbed over the goosebumps on her skin, her fingers trembling as she pointed out the cockpit window. “They’re getting closer.”

  No one spoke as Thorn squinted at the computer screen and smiled. “Those aren’t enemy aircraft. It’s the Galactic Federation!”

  Casey let out a long breath as relief flooded every fiber of her body.

  Jack shook his head. “No idea what the Galactic Federation is, but I hope they’re friendlier than the rebel Greys.”

  “For a moment, I thought we’d be ash this time,” said Mike. “But those are the good guys, right?”

  Thorn nodded, still staring ahead. Casey frowned, wondering why he wasn’t laughing and jumping for joy like everyone else. Granted, he didn’t have human emotions, but still. She cocked her head in thought. How does Thorn show happiness anyway? She hadn’t spent enough time with him to really know.

  Her dad put his arms around her mom’s shoulders. “Does this mean it’s all over?”

  Thorn sighed and turned away from the screen, his gaze sweeping over Casey but not really focusing on her. Whatever was the matter with him, he didn’t seem to want to share it. He was most likely grieving for his brother. “As you humans would say, we’re out of the woods,” said Thorn.

  A hologram materialized in the center of the room. “This is General Ashtar, Commander of Agarthian Forces.”

  A wave of relief flooded through her. General Ashtar stood tall and resolute in a one-piece black and white uniform that clung to his muscular body. His confident stance screamed authority, but then again, it could also be his imposing height that gave Casey a sudden sense of confidence that their mission would turn out successful. “Unidentified vessel, you’ve entered restricted space,” said the general. “Power down immediately and be prepared to be boarded.”

  Casey lunged forward, but Mike beat her to it. He pressed a gold switch and sauntered up to the floating image. “Hey, General Ashtar, it’s me, your lifesaver.”

  “Mike,” said Casey.

  He shrugged. “Yeah, I’m called that too.”

  “You’re alive!” General Ashtar ran his hands through his short blond hair, and a sudden grin crossed his lips.

  “Not only are we alive…” Mike threw Casey a meaningful glance. “But we also rescued the kidnapped Agarthians.” He smiled, adding under his breath, “And saved your galactic butt. How about that?”

  “They made it!” the general yelled over his shoulder. “And they saved the others.” Cheers erupted in the background. General Ashtar’s stiff posture relaxed a little, his shoulders raising as though a great burden had just been lifted, but his hands remained behind his back. He cleared his throat and focused his eyes on Casey. “Nibiru, our largest battleship in the fleet, isn’t far behind. She changed course when her commander was informed the rebels intended to sterilize Earth.”

  Casey nodded. She didn’t know what to say. She’d doubted him a lot on this mission, but his brilliant plan saved everyone on Earth. She still had to get her head around that one. In her eyes, he was a true hero, and she’d never forget him for as long as she lived.

  “Were you able to rescue your friend Jack?” asked General Ashtar.

  Jack stepped forward. “That’d be me, sir.”

  The general nodded but didn’t avert his gaze from Casey. “Excellent. A celebration’s in order when you return. And Casey, you did a brilliant job. I’d be proud to have you under my command.”

  Casey smiled and tried not to choke up. His words meant everything to her. They were validation for every single struggle she went through. “Thank you, General. It’s a tempting offer, but I think I’m done saving the world.” She took a step to the side and wrapped her hands around her mom’s waist. “I’d like to introduce to you my parents, Joel and Sarah Smith. They were abducted during the storm.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that. No one should have had to go through that.” The general bowed his head slightly. “It’s good to make your acquaintances.”

  Casey translated the message to her parents. Her mom blushed and mumbled, “Thanks.” Her dad saluted like a soldier, and Casey suppressed a giggle. Three months ago, she would have found her parents to be annoyingly old-fashioned, but now she saw how sweet they were. She was just happy to have them, and she didn’t care what Mike or Jack thought any longer because she didn’t need to appear cool. She’d gladly wear her dad’s goofy fishing hat with all those pins and hooks. Heck, she’d even put on the vest with the hat and pose for millions of her mom’s pictures.

  General Ashtar’s voice jerked her attention back to the room. She peered at him, wondering what she’d missed, as he continued, “The Federation received the message you sent from the mothership. They shut down the force-field, disabling Earth’s communication system and ships, and they also destroyed the scout ships over Agartha.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” said Thorn. “The rebels should be defeated then.” His gaze remained glued on the control panel.

  Casey inched nearer and put a hand on his shoulder, but he ignored her, his eyes now fixed on the general. Of course he wouldn’t be over the slaughter of his people, who defected to Commander’s Tio’s side. Thorn shot Casey a weak smile and removed her hand from his shoulder.

  “Guess they’re not going to make Earth their little cozy home after all,” said Mike.

  Casey elbowed Mike in the side. Why can’t he just shut his insensitive mouth for a sec? He wouldn’t see someone else’s pain if it poked him in the ribs with a hot iron.

  “That reminds me…” General Ashtar paused and cocked an eyebrow. “What happened to their mothership?”

  “When we inserted the microchip in the weapon, the self-destruct sequence activated,” said Thorn.

  “I’m sorry about your brother,” said General Ashtar. “I wish he’d been different, that he’d seen a better way at the end.”

  Thorn’s jaw set, the soft skin on his cheeks tightening. His eyes hardened. “My brother brought this on himself. He chose his path, as we all do.”

  “You know you have my deepest condolences,” said General Ashtar. “You’re a great warrior, my friend, and I’m going to grant you special permission to land in the middle of the city at Blossom Gardens—a special custom reserved only for honored heroes.”

  Casey smiled. She didn’t mind where they landed, as long as she could stand on solid ground again. All she wanted to do was throw off her boots and feel the grass and dirt beneath her feet, or maybe lift up her hands and dance, sing, shout, and cry.

  General Ashtar continued, “Would you like an escort to Agartha?”

  “That’d be great,” said Thorn.

  “Plot a course, open up a wormhole, and let’s jump drive to the city. We’ll be right behind you.”

  “General, I’m afraid that’s not possible,” said Thorn, fussing with the gauges. “We don’t have enough fuel to power up the antimatter reactor to open the wormhole.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll go first and open it for you, then you can follow. My fleet will be right behind you.” He turned and shouted over his shoulder. “Put the coordinates through.”

  Casey gulped. A wormhole? She couldn’t take another sci-fi moment. All she wanted was to fly back home. Besides, the ship could travel at the speed of light. “Okay…” She hesitated to get the others’ attention. “Why not come the way we came?”

  Thorn shook his head, frowning. “May I have a minute to converse with my team?”

  “Acceptable. It’s going to take a few minutes to plot the course anyway.” General Ashtar’s hologram turned and signaled to someone standing to his right, and then he leaned over and fussed with blinking crystals on some kind of control panel.

  “Do you want to take a little road trip, wormhole style?” asked Thorn. “It’s kind of like a subway system that travels faster than the speed of light. It’ll take us straight to the city.”r />
  Casey blinked, a shiver sliding down her spine. A cosmic shortcut?

  “Why’s it called a wormhole?” asked Mike.

  Jack smiled. “Have you ever seen a worm crawl on an apple trying to get to the other side?”

  Mike nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Instead of traveling around the outside of the apple, the worm could take a shortcut through the apple and get to the other side much quicker. That’s how a wormhole works. It’s a shortcut through space rather than going all the way around.”

  “True,” Casey said with a nod, “but I learned in school if you fell into one of those, you’d be stretched into a long piece of spaghetti for miles and miles.” She pulled a face at the prospect. Forget the sci-fi subway.

  “Your concerns are misplaced,” said Thorn. “We’ve been using wormhole technology for thousands of years for travel. It’s completely safe and won’t hurt. Gravity will accelerate and do all the work, pulling the ship through the tunnel to the other side. It’ll feel like you’re being swept by waves at the beach.”

  “Whoa! Never figured you for a surfer dude,” said Mike.

  Thorn shook his head. “I’m not, but before I defected, my brother made us study your planet so when we took over, we’d be well equipped.”

  “I don’t mind feeling a few waves at the beach,” said Casey.

  “No spaghetti then?” Jack winked at her.

  She smiled. “Whatever gets us back quicker. I’ll click my heels together three times if I have to.”

  “Take us home, Thorn,” said Jack, squeezing her hand tight.

  Mike’s face lit up as he leaned forward. “All right, hyperspace, here we come.”

  Thorn’s hands danced over the console as he turned back to General Ashtar. “Lead the way.”

  The general looked up, a smile playing on his lips. “Great! The course has been plotted. Just give me a head start.”

  “See you on the other side,” said Thorn.

  The general disappeared, and Casey turned back to the galaxy stretching out before her.

  The ship wobbled as though a minor tremor had just hit it, and the wormhole sprang to life. The stars in its path moved aside as a black hole, the size of a giant Ferris wheel, opened in the blink of an eye.

  Mike laughed. “Black holes suck.” He threw Casey and Jack a glance. “Get it? They suck everything in their path like a big, hungry monster?”

  “Yeah, nothing can escape, not even light,” said Jack with a chuckle.

  Thorn peered from the screen back out the window, a frown of concentration perched between his brows. “Okay, General Ashtar just entered. We’re right behind. Casey, pull that silver lever on your right.”

  She did so without hesitation, her heart drumming in her ears.

  General Ashtar’s ship turned bright red.

  Casey straightened in her seat and opened her mouth to speak, but her throat felt coarse and dry. Even though Thorn had said there was nothing to worry about, she couldn’t get the image of a bowl of spaghetti out of her mind.

  Mike gasped. “Dude, the ship’s on fire!”

  “On fire? I thought it was just…” Casey gulped, the hair on her neck rising. She knew it was a stupid idea to take a shortcut; that’s always a stupid idea. “Oh gosh! The ship’s going to burst into flames.”

  Mike glanced over at her, a twinkle playing in his eyes. “If it is, I want you to know that I honestly love you.”

  “Next time, when you find the girl of your dreams, grab her, and never let her go,” she said, peeking over Thorn.

  Jack tried to change the subject. “I don’t think what you see is a fire, but more of a reflection of red light or something.”

  “How do you know?” Casey asked.

  “Because if it were fire, we’d be feeling the heat right now.” Jack motioned around him. “I don’t see anyone melting, do you?” He smiled.

  He had a point, but still. Casey turned to Thorn, waiting for him to give the red alert.

  Thorn shut down the engines and steered the nose of the craft into position. “It’s just the warping of space around the hole.”

  The what? How does space warp? Casey cocked an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?” When Thorn remained silent, she shrugged and turned back to the horizon. As long as they weren’t going to burn in the process, she didn’t really care. The sooner they got going, the sooner they’d be back home. Jack sat on the floor next to her, and she reached for his hand and held it tight.

  “We’re drifting toward the event horizon,” said Thorn.

  “Whoa!” Casey felt a jerk as the ship started its freefall toward the massive, spinning hole. The stars around the wormhole blinked out of existence as light was pulled into the singularity. The ship shook around them. She clenched her fists, digging her fingernails into her palms as the ship gained more speed. It was like being sucked into a giant, cosmic vacuum cleaner.

  “Hold on tight, everyone,” Thorn shouted.

  Casey stared straight ahead, concentrating on General Ashtar’s ship as it descended into the mouth of the tunnel. She stiffened when movement of the lead ship ceased. “Why’s he stopping?”

  Mike squinted. “We’ll crash right into him! Thorn, radio him to get moving, pronto.”

  Traffic accidents in space? Casey and Jack exchanged looks as Jack squeezed her hand. She swore she’d never ride in a spaceship ever again, no matter how much UFO insurance it came with.

  Thorn chuckled. “It’s just an illusion. That’s the way space time works. He’s actually halfway through.”

  If you say so. Casey watched until General Ashtar’s ship faded into the darkness.

  “We’ve reached a velocity of 150,000 meters per second,” said Thorn. “We’re almost at light speed. Hold on! Here we go!”

  “Oh gosh!” Casey drew a sharp breath, bracing herself, her palms pressed into the control panel. Her heart pounded in her chest, preparing her for the moment that would prove right all her nightmares, but nothing happened. She barely dared inhale as she let her gaze wander to the left and right. Nothing happened, and then she started to feel it in the pit of her stomach: a slow, uneasy pull, growing stronger by the second. The sudden rush of nausea as the ship rattled and shook reminded her of riding a roller coaster—only a huge, cosmic one. She squeezed her eyes shut to tune out the ringing in her ears, the tug on her body intensifying, almost like a rubber band being pulled taut.

  The Agarthians’ yells echoed through the air. She was surprised, because surely it wasn’t their first time, or maybe it was. How many people from Earth have ever ridden in a spaceship to the moon? Only lucky astronauts.

  “Speed increasing…160,000…165,000…” Thorn’s voice competed with the whine of the vibrating ship.

  In spite of the sudden pressure on her eyes, she forced them open. No way was she going to miss the experience of a lifetime because of a little headache. Rings vibrated in various colors as they danced around the wall of the tunnel. Hot gas whirled around, much like water spiraling down a bathtub drain. She couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.

  Thorn’s voice cut through her thoughts. “170,000…175,000…180,000…”

  But something wasn’t right. Something pressed on her arm, vibrating and squealing in a high pitch. She realized it was her radar device. The chronometer flashed, bright red and insistent. She stared at it with unbelieving eyes. The seconds on her radar screen barely passed. The more the ship accelerated toward light speed, the slower time moved.

  “186,000 meters per second.” Thorn’s yell drifted through the cockpit over the noise of the ship. “We’ve reached light speed!”

  Then time stood still. She called out for Mike and Jack, but her speech came out slow and garbled. The ride became more bumpy as they traveled further through the tunnel. The gravity pulling at her feet didn’t hurt any longer. “We must be somewhere in the middle by now.” She couldn’t even understand her own words, but at least her mind was still working.

  Minutes trickled
by, but she had no idea how many. She tried to count, to wrap her mind around the new sense of time, but it moved past her perception and understanding. A small flutter made her stomach clench. Casey’s attention moved back to the room and her friends, the expressions on their faces mirroring her thoughts. She peered ahead and saw a small, white circle in the distance. “Oh! We’re coming to the end.” The trembling of the ship lessened as the white circle grew larger and larger. Finally, they emerged from the wormhole, seconds ahead of the rest of General Ashtar’s fleet. A glance down at her radar device now showed the passage of time once more.

  Gazing out the cockpit window, she was rendered speechless. The city sparkled below. Brilliant white lights cascaded over the shimmering glass buildings, some as tall as skyscrapers. Soaring towers sparkled, highlighted against a black sky over Agartha. The view was just as breathtaking at night as it was during the day.

  “We’re here! That was so much quicker than the trip out there,” Casey said in a high, squeaky voice as she bounced up and down in her seat like a child arriving at Disneyland, barely able to contain the sudden burst of happiness inside her. She looked at her friends. Their smiles and backslaps told her they were just as excited as she was. She peered at Jack with his disheveled hair and glinting eyes, and a warm rush rose to her face.

  “Woo-hoo!” Mike raised his arms high in the air. “What a shortcut, huh?”

  “Wasn’t it freaky the way time and space got all scrambled up?” asked Jack.

  For a moment, their eyes connected, and the room was forgotten. Jack cleared his throat, and Casey turned her gaze quickly, her hands fumbling with her uniform.

  Thorn’s hands raced across the control panel as he glanced up at them. He spewed out a few facts, but Casey stopped listening. This was Thorn’s pride and joy. Of course he couldn’t stop teaching them what he knew, but she had had enough of space and technology to last her a lifetime. She smiled as she realized Jack was still looking at her.