Everyone else just sat there with their mouths hanging open in shock. Thorn was the first to respond. “Wouldn’t the Elders be a little upset with you, Butblacruze?”
Through a mouthful of meat, she muttered, “The Elders can just kiss my—”
“Tonya!” Simon stopped her. “What’s wrong with you?”
The young girl looked at Simon. Tears welled up in her eyes. Without warning, she threw the eel down on the table and ran to her room.
“That girl’s been acting strangely ever since she got home from school,” Mrs. Troodle commented.
Simon scooted into his hover chair and followed after her.
“Tonya,” he called from behind the closed door. “Tonya, can I come in?”
“NO!”
“Tonya, what’s wrong?”
No answer.
Simon waited a while. As he turned to leave, Tonya finally said, “It’s just not fair.”
“What’s not fair?”
“You… me… everything!”
“What do you mean?”
She ranted on and on. “I can’t stand living here. I can’t stand being treated like an imbecile every day. If I have to eat another seed, I’ll go ballistic. I can’t bear to think I’ve missed my first year of school. And most of all, I’m going crazy, not being able to use magic! Speaking of magic, there aren’t any E.M. waves on this planet, but, somehow, you’re able to do things that can only be explained by magic.”
Simon realized she was referring to his newfound language abilities. “Tonya, I don’t know how I’m able to speak the Pudo language,” he said. “I just talk like normal, and everyone seems to understand me. To me, it sounds like everyone is speaking English.”
“But that’s exactly how the language spell works,” she said.
Simon lowered his chair to the ground and sat with his back to the door. In the guest room, Tonya sat with her back pressed against the door as well.
The girl continued, “Do you know how long it took me to learn the language spell?”
“How long?”
“Three years.”
“Wow! But you’ve mastered it now, haven’t you?”
“Yes—well, sort of—but, Simon…” She paused. “When you cast the language spell, you’re only supposed to be able to speak the same language as the people nearby. I don’t even think the Guardians of the Crown would be able to learn a language that hasn’t been used for hundreds of years—let alone learn it without E.M. waves.”
Simon was dumbstruck. He thought for a moment that he should mention the woman from his dreams but decided against it. “Tonya,” he said slowly. “I’m sorry you’re stuck on this paraworld. Sometimes I feel a little out of place, and if it wasn’t for you, I’d probably go crazy too.” The girl smiled, and Simon continued, “I think you’re wonderful—even without magic. You and Thornapple are the best friends I’ve ever had. You’re the only friends I’ve ever had, really—at least, my age. I’m not so sure if I want to go back to Earth anymore. This is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a family.”
The door opened suddenly, and Simon fell over backwards. Tonya knelt down and gave him a warm embrace. A sweet fragrance entered the young boy’s nose as her long green hair brushed against his cheek.
Tonya, her face streaming with tears, whispered, “Thank you.”
“Hey,” came a squeaky voice from behind, “don’t I get a hug, too?”
Simon and Tonya stretched out their arms, and Thorn joined them in a group hug.
Chapter 11
Griffen Lasher
The man’s deep-set eyes were light brown—almost a honey color—but in the darkness of space, they looked like two lone stars being swept away into a black hole. He stared out into the night with iron determination, like a hawk scanning its prey.
An explosion of red light forced its way into the dark confines of his small cockpit, revealing his face for a brief moment. Illuminated by the light, his nose appeared to be slightly broken—probably from some battle long ago.
The man’s name was Griffen Lasher—a devoted servant of the Crown, skilled swordsman, and master of the healing arts. His journey had led him to the third moon of the Centarious paraworld. Unfortunately, all that remained of the moon was crumbling pieces of rock and dust; it had just been destroyed by General Mayham and Captain Drackus. In fact, the debris was now rushing toward Griffen’s small shuttle craft.
Griffen veered his ship away from the river of rock flowing in his direction. Knowing that he’d never make it in time and feeling compelled to die facing his doom rather than fleeing from it, he jerked the ship around and headed towards the onslaught of boulders.
Surprisingly enough, his sharp reflexes allowed him to make it past the first two waves of debris unscathed; however, his luck appeared to be running out. As he flew past a mountainous piece of moon rock, the twin space carriers on the other side started shooting at him. In an attempt to destroy his little vessel, they cleared a path through the asteroid field with their lasers—unwittingly giving Griffen a small window to escape the rushing moon rocks. But as he zipped through the opening, a small rock tore through his outer hull, while another glided off the metal plating of his ship and collided with a boulder, splitting it in two.
Griffen flew between the pieces of fragmented boulder and headed full force towards the space carriers. He was welcomed with a shower of laser fire that rived his craft and sent him spiraling. In a desperate act of valor, he plunged his burning ship downward, as if to ram the carrier commanded by Captain Drackus.
Dodging the barrage of laser fire and rubble, Griffen flung his ship closer and closer to the enormous carrier. He was only meters away when he saw the main cannon erupt in bright color as it fired some sort of explosive in his direction. Instantly, the trained pilot yelled out a magical word and slammed his fist onto the ejection button—just in time to be jettisoned from the ship. A globe of clear liquid engulfed his body, protecting him from the cold void of space.
The shock wave of the explosion sent him hurling towards the space carrier. Griffen’s lungs burned for the want of air as the long seconds ticked by. He grasped at the walls of the bubble—resembling a chicken trying to free itself from an egg—but the transparent shell did not break.
The round ball smashed into the space carrier. Similar to a drop of acid eating its way through metal, the sphere dissolved a section of the thick protective plating and created a sizable hole. Then the magical orb split open, expelling Griffen into the ship with a gush of liquid—like a baby emerging from the womb.
Gasping for air and slipping on the wet floor, the brave warrior drew his glowing sword. In the dim light, he looked to be of average height and build, yet there was something different about him… something mysterious and exciting. Shocked at seeing the intruder’s fantastic entrance, the men and women in the room jumped from their seats and fled out the doors.
Griffen wiped the gooey residue from his arms and face and flicked the strange substance onto the ground. Bubbling and steaming, the curious liquid danced on the metallic floor and then subsided.
He turned briefly to see the thick skin of the magical sphere weld itself to the ship, sealing the breach. Peering out of the makeshift window, Griffen looked past the remnants of his spacecraft and saw the turmoil that the loss of a moon was causing on the parallel world below. The two remaining moons obviously weren’t compensating enough to offset the disproportionate surge of gravity the planet was now experiencing.
Suddenly, all three doors in the room opened, and in rushed a dozen soldiers carrying guns. They surrounded Griffen completely.
With a charming smile on his face, he ran his fingers through his short black hair and said, “Gentleman, can any of you please point me to the nearest bathroom?”
Grunting incoherently, a few of the soldiers took off their helmets and stepped closer, allowing Griffen to see that they were Skydroes—hired mercenaries from an off-limit parallel world. The skilled warrior calml
y lowered his sword and reached into his vest pocket with his free hand, upon which all twelve guns jerked in response. Slowly, Griffen brought out a pair of black sunglasses.
“Hold on, boys. They’re just glasses,” he said coolly.
Griffen put them on and looked around at the werewolf-like men. Saliva ran down their hairy faces, and their dirty clothing smelled of urine.
“Now aren’t you a sorry bunch? Looks like none of you have any idea where the bathroom is either.” Griffen chuckled. “All right then—”
With lightning speed, he threw up his hand and released an explosion that blinded the Skydroes’ sensitive eyes. He sliced his unusual sword through four soldiers before they even knew what had happened. A yellow light enveloped the body of each victim for a brief moment and then dissipated.
Griffen continued to mow down the soldiers, one by one. Some of them began to recover from the initial explosion, so he raised his hand again, but nothing happened. There wasn’t enough E.M. energy in the area to complete the spell.
Still dazed, the Skydroes fired their weapons. Griffen jumped over a desk and crashed into one of the unsuspecting soldiers. He lost his grip as he landed, and his sword slid across the floor.
Before Griffen could react, a muscular hand tightened around his neck and lifted his whole body off the ground. The ugly Skydroe snarled ferociously and bared his sharp, yellowing teeth as he held his captive in the air. Griffen noticed the careless soldiers preparing to fire. He clutched the Skydroe’s shoulders, placed his feet on the creature’s knees, and kicked off into a handstand long enough for a volley of lasers to hit the soldier squarely in the chest.
They both fell. Griffen immediately rolled across the floor, using the dead Skydroe as a shield. Once he reached his sword, he tossed the scorched body to the side and slashed at the remaining soldiers. The mercenaries were crude fighters, despite their unnatural strength, and it didn’t take long before Griffen was the only one standing.
“Computer!” he yelled, striding to the main console.
A chime signaled, which indicated that the computer was listening.
“Show me where the main database is located,” he commanded.
“Access denied,” came the cold reply.
“Oh, come on. Give me a hint.”
“Access denied.”
“Computer, what room is this?”
“Engineering.”
“Excellent. Now show me the layout of the ship.”
A layout of the ship appeared before him, but after scanning the many corridors and rooms, he couldn’t make up his mind where the main computer was hiding. Just then, he noticed sparks coming from a series of wires that had been torn out of the wall during the fight.
“Where do those wires lead to?”
“Access denied.”
“Look! This is engineering, right? I can’t fix the damage to the ship unless I know what it is I’m repairing. Now show me where those wires lead to.”
Within a nanosecond, the computer system processed thousands of possible scenarios and deductive solutions. In the end, its artificial reasoning came up with the conclusion that the wires did, in fact, need to be rerouted or else the engineering department would be seriously crippled.
The naive computer announced, “Limited access granted.”
“Thank you.”
The map of the ship expanded to show more detail. Wires and conduits ran to each room like spaghetti.
“I don’t care about the power lines. Take them out.”
Many of the wires disappeared.
“Get rid of communications,” he added.
Wires used for communications vanished as well. One more quick glance at the map, and Griffen noticed that most of the remaining network cables could be traced back to one central location on the ship.
“What’s in that room?” he asked, pointing to the map.
“Access denied.”
He laughed, quite amused that the computer system was so easy to fool. “Thank you, computer. You’ve been most helpful.”
“You’re welcome.”
A chill of uneasiness ran down his spine when he heard those words. Cracking the system was just too easy. It was as though someone wanted him to find the main computer room. Just then, it occurred to him that no audible alarm had gone off when he entered the space carrier. In fact, other than the first onslaught of soldiers, he couldn’t hear or see anything out of the ordinary—no footsteps of additional soldiers coming to burst into the room, no sirens, no flashing lights… just the faint buzz of severed electrical wires giving off sporadic sparks.
Cautiously, he walked over to the transportation tube. The door was already conveniently open. He stepped inside, and the computer’s soft voice asked, “Destination?”
“Take me to the third floor.”
“Access denied!”
Griffen had no time to respond. The floor beneath him suddenly dropped. Everything became a blur as his body was hurled down several decks. With tremendous speed, the tube sent him racing through the space carrier until it finally spit him out into a dark and spacious room.
In the center of the room stood a white pillar with a single computer console attached to it. A short man with glasses and an ugly brown suit typed busily at the console. He turned and asked, “May I help you?”
“You sure can,” Griffen said in an irritable tone.
He got to his feet and started to rush towards the man, but after a few paces, he felt his body lean so far to the right that he fell over. The warrior stood up and tried to balance himself, but he fell again. The wild tube ride had taken its toll on his body.
Standing up one more time, he brushed off the dizziness and limped over to the console. It was so dark in the room that he kept bumping into the round metallic balls that littered the floor. Without warning, he thrust his sword right into the man’s stomach.
“This is just the lowest setting,” Griffen informed him as he twisted the sword around. “Just imagine how painful this would be if I were to increase the density level.”
The computer technician moaned, “What do you want?”
“How did you destroy that moon?”
“I can’t tell you THAT!”
The density of the sword increased ever so slightly, causing the man to double over. Griffen held him up against the pillar and whispered in his ear, “Tell me, have you ever had the molecules in your body scream out in pain?” Steam rose from the insertion point of the transparent blade. “My patience is wearing thin. Either you tell me how you destroyed that moon or I—”
He stopped in midsentence and stared at the computer screen. A schematic of a holographic robot flashed across the monitor.
“What is that?” Griffen asked, nodding towards the console.
“That’s my own creation,” the man responded with a great deal of pride in his voice. “Fully functioning holodroids. You’re looking at the future of modern warfare.”
A startling voice came from behind. “Excuse me.”
Griffen spun around, tearing the blade from the technician’s body, and sliced his sword into the chest of the person who had just spoken. Without even flinching, the man stepped forward and revealed himself to be Captain Drackus—or at least, the holographic image of Captain Drackus.
“Who are you?” the captain asked calmly.
“Griffen Lasher, ambassador of the Crown. I’ve been sent to keep the peace—”
“An ambassador?” Captain Drackus asked skeptically. “Then tell me, sir, if you really were sent on a mission of peace, why exactly are you killing my men?”
“My blade has never taken a life. I only incapacitated your men.”
“Interesting… a displacement sword,” the captain mused while inspecting the blade that was still embedded in his chest. “I’ve never seen one before. Such a pity that a marvelous weapon such as this is in the hands of a coward.”
Griffen tightened his face, appalled. “Coward?”
“Yes,” he
said. “Only a coward would refuse to use the full potential of the technology in which he possesses.”
“Only a fool would use technology to destroy a helpless planet,” Griffen shot back.
“Oh, you must be referring to that terrible incident that my colleagues were involved in last year.” Any indication of contrition in his voice was merely a facade. “What was that drab world called, anyway? Oh, yes—Marmasuel.”
“That was my parallel world,” Griffen said with clenched teeth. “The Raiders killed millions of people. In fact, I haven’t seen a single person from my race since the incident.”
“Oh. Well, I’m dreadfully sorry for your loss. However, when I instructed my men to destroy your planet, I told them to annihilate every man, woman, and child. I suppose they missed one.”
The captain moved effortlessly away from the sword. That’s when Griffen realized the holographic projection was coming from one of the silvery balls, which now floated a couple inches off the ground.
“You’re the filthy swine who destroyed my planet?” Griffen yelled, his rage starting to consume him. “You sadistic animal!”
“Yes, well, your people were a threat to our advancement.”
“My planet was peaceful! We never even fought amongst ourselves.”
“Oh, we weren’t afraid of ever fighting you—a world full of religious monks,” Captain Drackus explained coldly. “No, it’s what you can do that scared us.”
“I’ll show you what I can do!”
Griffen lashed out with his sword, but the hologram was left unscathed.
“Please—stop—that tickles,” Drackus said in jest.
Griffen slashed at the silver ball and split it in two. As soon as the hologram disappeared, the lights in the room turned on, one section at a time. Griffen’s mouth hung open as he beheld thousands of metallic orbs—all about the size of soccer balls—scattered about the room
“You’re gonna get it now.” The technician chuckled as he tapped furiously at the computer console.
Paraworld Zero Page 12