Dimensions (The Young Neos Book 4)
Page 9
“Whew,” said Space, lowering the weapon and wiping the sweat off his forehead. “That was a close one! Nasty freak nearly got us when we weren’t paying attention.”
“What does your weapon do, anyway?” said Treehugger, glancing at Space’s gun uneasily. “I saw a flash, but not much else.”
“Concentrated sound blast,” said Space, hefting the weapon. “The flash just blinds the target. It’s as effective as the old guns of Earth that used bullets, except it’s more like shooting ten bullets all smashed together to make one big bullet that can kill a human instantly. Very deadly weapon. Definitely don’t want to be on the business end of it, that’s for sure.”
Treehugger felt kind of queasy when she thought about the glimpse of the most likely dead Servant she’d caught before it vanished into a portal, but then yet another portal appeared dozens of yards down and two Servants emerged from within it. Like the four that had appeared before, these Servants carried huge rifle-like guns in their hands, which they immediately pointed at Treehugger and Space with practiced ease.
“Duck!” Space shouted.
Treehugger and Space both fell to the floor as the Servants fired their weapons. Something hot and burning exploded from the tips of the Servants’ weapons and flew over Treehugger and Space’s heads. The burning substance just barely missed them and slammed into the wall on the far side behind them, leaving a smoking, blackened hole where it had crashed.
“What was that?” said Treehugger, looking at Space in alarm.
“Plasma,” Space replied. “The Servants are known for their use of plasma weapons, but it doesn’t matter because those bastards are getting ready to shoot again.”
Space was right. The Servants were busily flipping switches and pressing buttons on their weapons; perhaps their plasma rifles required some kind of reset after every blast. That did not seem like a terribly practical weapon to Treehugger, especially if it had been designed by the Starborn, but she supposed that they really only needed to shoot it once in order to take down a target.
Space immediately jumped to his feet and fired two sound blasts at the Servants. One of the Servants managed to jump out of the way, but his friend was less fortunate, taking a brunt of the blast to the face and falling flat on his back onto the tread, looking quite dead. The surviving Servant, meanwhile, drew some kind of disk out of a pouch hanging from its neck and hurled it at Treehugger and Space. The disk flew through the air too fast for Treehugger to dodge, but Space shoved her to the ground at the last second, allowing the disk to fly over her head, and crashed into the floor behind her. When it hit the floor, the disk exploded into a bunch of bolts of electricity, though it was a brief burst that didn’t last long.
“Electro disks,” Space said briefly without looking at Treehugger. “One hit and you would be down for good. Annoying little things.”
Before Treehugger could say anything, Space aimed his gun and fired at the Servant. The Servant, however, rolled out of the way of the sound blast and then jumped onto the walls. Somehow, the bottom of the Servant’s feet clung to the wall, allowing it to run across the wall toward them without needing to run against the moving treads.
Once more, Space aimed his gun at the Servant, but the Servant was upon them faster than he could shoot. It jumped off the wall and kicked Space in the chest, knocking him down to the floor with a stunned look on his face. The Servant stopped above Space and raised the butt of its plasma rifle above his head, most likely about to crush his head with it.
Desperate, Treehugger got back to her feet and tackled the Servant from behind. Unfortunately for her, however, she was not nearly heavy enough to knock the Servant back; however, the Servant did look over its shoulder at her. Then it slapped her across the face with the back of its hand so fast that Treehugger didn’t even see it coming. She hit the floor, the impact of the Servant’s hand on her face making her dizzy, but she could see well enough to see Space jerk the sound gun up at the Servant and pull the trigger.
The next scene was so awful that Treehugger wanted to look away. The Servant’s head exploded, causing its body to crumple onto the treads of the hallway, while Space got back to his feet and wiped off his suit. Treehugger, on the other hand, couldn’t take her eyes off the now-headless corpse of the Servant; it was the most disgusting thing she had ever seen in her life.
“Treehugger, are you okay?” said Space. “Treehugger?”
“Huh?” said Treehugger, looking up at Space. “What?”
Space ran over to her and hauled her to her feet with one hand. “Come on! We don’t have time to stare at the corpses of our enemies. More Servants could appear any second now. Follow me!”
Space ran down the rapidly moving treads, pulling Treehugger behind him, who struggled to keep up with him. The image of the headless Servant was still burned in her brain, making it hard to focus on much else. But she was in such a hurry to get out of here that she didn’t let herself think too deeply about it. She just followed Space, hoping against hope that they would reach the escape pods before more Servants showed up.
Miraculously, they reached the room where the escape pods were kept without any further Servant incidents. Ten identical escape pods lined the wall of the room, each one big enough for three full-grown adults. The pods were all silver-gray and looked somewhat like the escape pods that Treehugger had once seen on a crashed Pokacu starship on Hero Island not long ago. The only differences between these ones and the Pokacu ones was that they were larger and thicker than their Pokacu counterparts, though Treehugger assumed that their interiors were probably different, too.
“All right,” said Space, looking this way and that as if searching for any Servants. “This is the escape pod room. It’s easier to open them, so let’s get you inside before more Servants show up and start attacking.”
“Okay,” said Treehugger. “But where are you going to send me? Back to Earth?”
Space shook his head as he pressed a button on the nearest pod, causing its lid to flip open. “Nah. I’ll program the pod to take you to the IEA’s headquarters. When you show up, they’ll know who you are. It’s the safest place for you at the moment.”
“What do you mean, ‘they’ll know who you are’?” Treehugger said. “Aren’t you coming with me?”
Space glanced over his shoulder at her. “Nope. I’m staying behind to help Galaxy and Sparky fight off the Servants. This is my ship, after all, and I have no intention of seeing the Servants destroy it.”
“But—” Treehugger was interrupted by the sound of a portal opening. She looked over her shoulder just in time to see two Servants pop out of a portal just outside the escape pod room. The two Servants immediately aimed their plasma rifles at Treehugger and Space.
But before they could pull the triggers, Space shouted, “James, shut the door!”
Immediately, the door to the hallway slammed shut just as the Servants fired their rifles. Hot plasma slammed into the door, making the metal twist and hiss, but it managed to stand its ground, although how long it would last once the Servants started firing at it again, Treehugger did not know.
“All right,” said Space, turning to face Treehugger. He gestured at the opened pod. “Step in and get yourself seated. We don’t have much time before those two Servants break down the door.”
“Okay,” said Treehugger, but she hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me? Those Servants—”
“I can handle them,” Space interrupted her. “Don’t worry about me or Galaxy. Just get in there and I’ll send you on your way.”
Treehugger didn’t much like the idea of abandoning Space, even though she didn’t know him well. Still, she decided that she did not want to get melted into slag by the Servants’ plasma rifles, so she climbed into the pod and sat down in the padded seats. As soon as she sat down, thick leather straps automatically covered her waist and shoulders, keeping her securely strapped into the pod, although it did feel a little too tight for her tastes.
“It’s pretty tight, so I’ll be safe if I crash,” said Treehugger, “but—”
“Good,” Space said. “This is good bye, I guess, but don’t worry. We’ll see each other again soon, I’m sure. You can count on it.”
Just as Space pressed a button on the outside of the pod, the door to the room suddenly burst inward. At the same time, the pod’s lid fell shut on Treehugger, although it was clear enough for her to see the two Servants enter the escape pod room with their plasma rifles in hand. She could also see Space turning around to fire his sound blaster at them, but that was the last thing she saw before she felt movement under her and the escape pod shot off into space, out of the ship and into the great unknown.
CHAPTER TEN
Treehugger had no idea what she saw through the clear lid of the escape pod. It wasn’t the darkness of outer space; rather, it was the strange colors and textures of the space between dimensions, a world that looked nothing like anything she’d seen. The colors and textures of the void were bright and indescribable. It looked kind of like a mixture of all of the colors of the rainbow, plus ones that she was pretty sure did not exist on Earth. The void itself looked less like darkness and more like murky water, if that made sense, which she was pretty sure it didn’t, but given all of the strange things she had seen already, Treehugger supposed that that wasn’t very surprising.
But Treehugger didn’t think about that. She was too busy thinking about everything that she had learned about the Starborn, as well as wondering if she would ever go back to Earth ever again. She didn’t think that Space and Galaxy intended to keep her away from Earth forever, but she still didn’t know why they had saved her and her alone, instead of one of the other Young Neos or some other superhuman far stronger than her. She had been utterly useless against the Servants; without any plant life to manipulate, Treehugger wasn’t very useful in a fight, despite having received the same combat training as the rest of her teammates.
At least I’m going somewhere safe, Treehugger thought, leaning back in her seat. Better than being killed by those weird Servants, anyway.
Just as Treehugger thought that, however, a bright light flashed outside the pod and something slammed into the pod hard enough to send it spiraling out of control. Treehugger screamed as her whole world flipped over and over again, the pod now clearly spiraling out of control, but she had no idea where it was going, nor could she calm down long enough to think about it. She could only scream as the pod spiraled away from existence until she smashed her head against the headrest hard enough to knock her out.
-
How long Treehugger was knocked out, she couldn’t say. She only knew that she woke up sometime later, her head spinning and her waist and shoulders hurting from being strapped in so securely, her mouth dry due to a lack of water. She blinked several times, at first unsure where she was or what she was doing. She only knew that she was strapped into something and that the thing into which she was strapped was holding her sideways. It was also very dark, except for a couple of lights above her that lit up the interior of the pod well, but outside of it, she could only see darkness.
What happened? Treehugger thought, rubbing the back of her head. Feel like I fell from a cliff.
That was when Treehugger suddenly remembered everything. She had been inside the escape pod, shooting through the endless void between dimensions, only for her pod to get hit by something and go spiraling off course. She was still inside the pod, but she realized that she must have crashed somewhere at some point. She could not feel the pod moving, though where she had crashed, she had no idea. A part of her hoped that she had crashed somewhere on Earth, but deep down, she knew she was probably not that lucky.
Only way to find out where I am is to get out of here and look around, Treehugger thought. And if that means having to wander around in the darkness for a while, so be it.
Bracing herself, Treehugger began to undo the straps holding her against the seat. It was tricky at first, because the straps were extremely tight and difficult to undo, but eventually she managed to remove them. She carefully lowered herself down onto the side of the pod, though her landing was not exactly perfect and she nearly fell on her head. Standing upright as much as she could, Treehugger pushed against the lid, thinking it would require a lot of effort to open, but to her surprise, the lid popped open as easily as a soda can. She pushed the lid open, although it was only when the lid was halfway opened that she realized that the environment outside might be hostile to her body and that there might not even be air out there to breathe.
As it turned out, however, when Treehugger fully opened the lid, there was no sudden lack of air, nor was the air in her pod sucked into some great void. Although the air was very cool, it was not unbreathable. That made Treehugger think that she must have somehow ended up back on Earth; after all, there were no other planets with air as breathable as Earth’s. She eagerly climbed out of her pod, but as soon as she did, she realized that she was still nowhere near Earth.
A heavy, oppressive darkness covered the entire area; it was even darker than midnight, so dark that it was completely black. Even though the area appeared to be open, it felt more like walking into a cave than entering a wide-open place. The only lights were the exterior lights of the pod, but even those lights were not as comforting as they could be, because they revealed a horrifying sight that would never leave Treehugger’s memory as long as she lived.
The red exterior lights of the escape pod revealed a large, scary-looking statue of some kind of beast looming over her. The beast looked kind of like a rhinoceros, except with wings like a bat and teeth like a lion. She could not see all of the statue due to the shadows—the escape pod’s exterior lights were not strong enough to show her everything—but what she did see caused her to fall back into the escape pod and pull her legs against her chest. She knew it was just a statue and that it couldn’t hurt her, but the sudden appearance of something so scary-looking and so alien from anything she had known on Earth made her want to curl up into a ball and hide. Besides, if a statue like that existed, then it had to have been made by someone and she doubted that it was human, especially if she was not on Earth, as she suspected.
Calm down, Treehugger, Treehugger told herself. Don’t get too excited. Take a deep breath, like Mecha Knight told you, and think everything through carefully before you do anything.
Even so, Treehugger decided not to leave the escape pod just yet. She would take a moment to rest, reflect, and gather her courage before leaving again. She would also check the escape pod to see if it had any communications technology or devices in it that she could use to contact Space and Galaxy and let them know where she was.
Assuming they’re even still alive, that is, Treehugger thought.
That thought more than any other filled her with anxiety. Treehugger still did not think of Space and Galaxy as friends, exactly, but given how they were the only people who knew that she was not on Earth anymore, she could not count on her fellow Young Neos to save her. Nor could she count on the NHA, INJ, G-Men, or any other major superhero organization on Earth to come looking for her, for that matter. Unless she got help soon, she had a strong feeling that she was never going to see Earth again.
I wish the others were here, Treehugger thought, lowering her head and sighing. I know that Bolt would know what to do. So would everyone else, for that matter.
There was also the thought, of course, that Space and Galaxy had been destroyed by the Servants of the Starborn. Part of her doubted that they were gone, because she figured that the Servants would have found her by now if that was the case, but given how Treehugger was quite clearly no longer in the void between dimensions anymore, she had no way of knowing the outcome of that battle. For all she knew, both Space and Galaxy and the Servants might have wiped each other out, meaning that Treehugger would never be able to return to Earth or leave this dimension ever again.<
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“No,” Treehugger muttered aloud, even though there was no one around to hear her but herself. “Can’t let myself dwell on my negative thoughts. Must stay positive.”
Treehugger raised her head, listening for any sounds, but she heard nothing. As carefully as she could, Treehugger rose from her pod and peered over the side of the pod. She looked up at the statue again; it was as still as ever, but for some reason it looked almost alive. Whoever had built it, Treehugger decided, had to be a great artist and sculptor if they could make it look so real. Not that that meant that Treehugger wanted to be anywhere near it, however. She carefully climbed out of the pod and looked around at her surroundings.
The intense darkness all around her made it almost impossible for her to see where she was. And because the darkness was so complete, she did not want to go any deeper into it without knowing what, if anything, lay around her. She climbed back into the pod quickly, found what appeared to be a flashlight, as well as a pack of what looked like food and water, plus a small gun that shot lasers. All of it looked as futuristic as you’d expect, but Treehugger figured each pod had to be equipped with this kind of equipment in order to give the rider a chance of survival in case they ended up in a dangerous situation like Treehugger had. There was even a utility belt for storing the equipment so she wouldn’t have to carry it around with her.
Once more standing outside the pod, Treehugger clicked on the flashlight and waved it this way and that. Despite the unusual thickness of the shadows, the flashlight managed to cut through the darkness as easily as the darkness back on Earth, which told her that this darkness was perhaps less unusual than it seemed. Even so, Treehugger sensed that she was not alone, and she was not thinking of the statue, either. It seemed to her that someone—or something—was watching her from the shadows, but her flashlight revealed no other living beings in the immediate area aside from herself.