“Get in, damn it!”
Telly’s frantic tone washed away her doubts and she hopped into the passenger seat, only to be pushed to the center as Dillon squeezed in beside her.
“No-no!” said Telly. “Just Emma and Ryan!”
Dillon slammed the door shut. “You’re gonna need me.”
Telly’s expression showed how much he doubted that, but he said no more as he shoved the car into gear and jammed his foot on the accelerator. Emma expected the squeal of spinning tires as the car took off, but no… a gentle, hissing acceleration as they chugged into motion.
“I guess there’s no such thing as drag racing here,” Ryan quipped from the back seat.
Dillon said, “What’s drag – oh, no!”
Emma saw him too, standing in the gateway, glowering at them in the glow of the headlights. He had his whip in his hand and he was cracking it in the air.
“Ergel!” they cried in unison.
“He’s gonna whip me again!” Ryan wailed.
“‘Again’?” Telly said. “Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
Emma saw Telly’s jaw set, saw his knuckles whiten as his hands tightened their grip on the steering wheel.
“Telly? What are you going to–?”
He yanked the wheel right, causing the car to swerve directly at Ergel. The troll’s fierce expression turned to one of terror as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He made a flying leap to the side, just barely avoiding a direct hit. But the bumper caught his boot and he slammed into the gatepost.
Telly straightened the wheel and they bounced away.
“Damn! Missed him. That troll is going to be trouble.”
“You could have killed him!” As much as she hated Ergel for whipping Ryan, she didn’t want Telly to kill him.
“Nah,” Telly said. “Trolls are built differently from us. At the speed we were going, he’d only be banged up. And besides, he hurt my brother.”
“You’re Emma’s brother?” Dillon said.
Telly grinned. “You’re half right.”
Emma couldn’t help herself. She snaked her arms around Telly and hugged him. “It’s so good to see you safe. I’ve been worried sick about you.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Wish I could say it’s good to see you too, Bubb – ah, Em, but not under these circumstances. I’d rather you were home.”
“But at least we’re all together again.”
Emma couldn’t conceal her smile. Her brother knew how much she hated that nickname, and he’d spared her explaining it to Dillon.
Telly nudged her and glanced at Dillon. “Speaking of ‘all,’ who’s he? Can we trust him?”
Emma straightened, remembering Dillon’s arms around her as he tried to save her from what must have looked like an abduction. And she now realized how tightly she was pressed against his side here in the narrow front seat.
“This is Dillion and we can trust him. He’s already helped us.”
“But we’re not helping him,” Telly said with a look at Dillon. “You’ll be as screwed as the rest of us if we’re caught. I’ll let you out and you can sneak back–”
Dillon shook his head. “You need me.”
“Why?”
“I was born here. I know things you don’t.”
“Well, I’ve learned a few things myself in the months I’ve been here.”
“Months?” Ryan and Emma said in unison.
“Yeah, like two and a half months. Why?”
Emma said, “Telly, we’ve been here, like, four days, and you’d been gone for six when we got pulled through from home. That makes ten days, not two and a half months.”
“Oh, right. I’ve heard Doctor Koertig mention that time moves differently between Nocturnia and Humania. Sometimes Nocturnia is faster and other times Humania is.”
Ryan was hanging over the back of the front seat, just behind Emma. “Doctor Koertig? The one who can change his hand?”
“And his head and his legs and his torso.”
“Really?”
“He’s a pluriban. They’re made of parts of other people. They all can do it.”
Emma said, “He’s the guy who brought us here.”
“Yeah, Ryan told me. But why on Earth–?”
“This ain’t Earth,” Ryan said. “And we were only following your directions.”
“My what?”
Sometimes talking at once, sometimes taking turns, she and Ryan managed to tell the story of their arrival in Nocturnia and their travails since.
Telly looked thunderstruck. “But-but-but I never wrote down any coordinates.”
“Then where did they come from?” Emma said. “Somebody wrote them down.”
“Professor Polonius,” Telly said. “If it wasn’t me, it had to be him.”
Emma could see the logic of that, but she had another question.
“How did you get here?”
“Same answer – but more indirectly.”
“Polonius?”
He nodded. “We were working on this crazy theory he’d been developing before he left the university.”
“Crazy?”
“Yeah. He had this theory that two other worlds existed in synch with ours but in different dimensions.”
Ryan voiced her reaction before she could.
“Two others?” he said. “You mean there’s a third in addition to Earth and Nocturnia?”
“Just a theory. It was cutting-edge physics stuff, and I had free time, so I was helping him. One day, a few months ago–”
“Ten days ago,” Ryan corrected.
“Whatever. We were just starting to get into it. He sat me down at his computer and wanted me to run a few calculations while he did some errands. As I was plugging variables into his equations, this ring of light appeared on the floor beneath me. I was right in the middle of it and, before I could move out, it rose toward the ceiling and suddenly…”
“You weren’t in Kansas anymore,” Ryan said.
“Damn right. I fell into a big chamber–”
“Where we were brought in,” Emma said. “But what do you mean ‘fell’?”
“I was like ten feet in the air. I hit my head when I landed. I don’t remember too much after that. Next thing I knew, I was wandering in some woods. I came across a couple of weird-looking dudes trying to fix a broken-down car. Lucky for me they weren’t too observant.”
“Lucky?” Ryan said.
“They never noticed my bare palms. Most times you don’t notice what you’re not looking for.”
“About those palms…” Emma said.
Telly smiled and held one up. “The hair? Glued on.”
“So you pass for a lycan?” Dillon said.
“Works pretty well – long as no one gets too close a look.”
“What about the full moon?”
Telly seemed to shudder. “The first one took me by surprise. I had no idea they changed – I mean really changed.”
“Into wolves?” Ryan said.
“No – hamsters.” Telly rolled his eyes. “Of course, wolves!”
After all she’d seen since her arrival in Nocturnia, and even after seeing that angry man in town start to growl and sprout hair, Emma didn’t know why she still found it so hard to believe.
“Really?”
Dillon was nodding. “Lycans can ‘trans’ or ‘go lupe,’ as they call it, whenever they want, often without trying when they’re mad or upset. But one night a month, when the moon is full, they have no choice – they must trans. Most lock themselves up, but some lycans love that night. They run free and hunt.”
“Hunt what?” Emma said.
“Anything they can.”
Silence settled over the inside of the car as Telly guided it through the night. Ryan tapped him on the shoulder.
“How do you survive a full-moon night?”
“The first time it happened, I almost didn’t. On that night the Uberalls kick all the lycans out of the compound and into the woods. I pieced
together from the comments of those around me what was about to happen, so I snuck off and–”
“Sneaked,” Ryan said.
Telly laughed. “You’ll never change, Ryan. I almost missed you.”
“‘Almost’?”
Another laugh. “Naw. I did. Both of you. But anyway, I sneaked away and climbed a tree and spent the night listening to them howl. Scariest night of my life.”
Dillon said, “Most lycans are embarrassed by ‘Lupe Night,’ as it’s known. And because they can’t control it, they’re looked down on by the other races.”
“Even the zombies?” Ryan said.
Dillon shrugged. “A necro is always a necro. What you see is what you get. With a lycan – you may be talking to someone calm and rational one minute and the next, he’s all fur and fangs. That’s why Lycanthum has never been admitted to the Central Committee of the UN. Too unreliable – at least that’s what they say.”
This was the second time Emma had heard “UN” mentioned. “You have a United Nations here?”
“United Nocturnia. It’s in Manhat. That’s where all the races work out their differences.” Dillon glanced at Telly. “But how did you infiltrate the Uberalls? They don’t take just anyone.”
Telly shrugged. “I wouldn’t say ‘infiltrate.’ You don’t know me, but I’ve got a way with broken machines. I looked that car motor over and was shocked to realize it ran on steam – like a Stanley Steamer.”
“You mean like a rug cleaner?” Ryan said.
Telly laughed. “No. The Stanley Steamer was a steam-powered car back in the early 1900s. There’s very little oil here in Nocturnia, so gasoline is hellishly expensive.”
“Then what do they burn to boil the water for steam?” Ryan said. “Wood?”
“Kerosene,” Dillon told him.
“But isn’t kerosene made from oil?” Emma said.
Dillon gave her a strange look. “Kerosene comes from coal.”
“Oh. Sorry. I’ve never even seen kerosene.”
“Anyway: I can look at something mechanical and most of the time I can tell what’s wrong. I fixed their car in no time. They told me their group – called Uberalls – could use a guy like me and offered me a ride to their compound. I wasn’t so sure about that – I mean, one guy had hair all over his palms and the other looked, well, kinda dead. But they seemed pleasant enough, so I went along and joined up.”
Ryan’s voice rose. “But they’re led by a… a…”
“A very cranky rakshasa. Yeah, I know that now. But I didn’t know then. All I knew was I’d get three meals and a roof over my head and all I had to do was help keep things running. I grabbed some hair from what passes for their barbershop and stuck it to my palms.”
“But you’re still with them,” Ryan said.
Telly shrugged. “Where else can I go? You don’t quit the Uberalls. Once you’re in, you stay in. And besides, Doctor Koertig is working for them. He’s brilliant and, as you know firsthand, he controls the field generator that opens a portal back to Humania. If you’re ever going to get home, he’s your only chance.”
Emma felt a faint ray of hope. “Will he help us?”
Telly shook his head. “Never. But if I can learn how his generator works, maybe I can sneak you two back.”
Emma noticed something missing there. “Us? What about you?”
“Oh, yeah. Me too, of course.” He frowned and tapped the steering wheel.
“What’s wrong?” Emma said.
“Just thinking about those coordinates Professor Polonius gave you – time and place. You said he even gave you a GPS so you’d be in the exact spot where Doctor Koertig would pull you through. Almost as if he knew Koertig would be there… almost as if…”
Emma had an awful thought. “Nothing ‘almost‘ about it. He wanted us in Nocturnia.”
“You hit the bull’s eye, Em,” Ryan said. “But why?”
“Good question,” Telly said softly. “Damn good question.”
32
Ergel did his best not to cringe as Master Simon raged about his office.
“How could you let them escape?”
“As I was relatin’ you, sir, there be this car–”
“Yes! A car! How did a car get in here?”
“Almost ran Ergel down, it did.” He rubbed his sore shoulder where it had rammed against the gatepost. “Almost did him in. Nearly ampitated a foot off.”
“Should have taken your head off, for all it’s worth! Bad enough we lost two workers, but they just happen to belong to Falzon! I’ve a good mind to have you be the one to tell him!”
Ergel’s heart quailed. “Oh, don’t be doing that, sir. Ergel’s not facilitous with the words.”
Master Simon hurled a teacup across the room, smashing it against the wall. “That crazy rakshasa is going to be furious!”
“Ergel might be able to reappropriate them before Mister Falzon misses them.”
Master Simon stopped his furious pacing and stared at him. “Oh? And how might Ergel – what did you say?”
“‘Reappropriate,’ sir. It means–”
“It means nothing, but I can guess what it’s supposed to mean. How would you do that?”
“Well, as I was tellin’ you, sir: There be this car and–”
Master Simon spoke through his teeth. “Yes. A car. Those two human brats have been in Nocturnia less than a week–”
“Four days, sir.”
“All right. Four days. Four. Days. They know no one. They know nothing. And yet someone roars in here with a car and spirits them away. How could they have arranged that?” He paused. “Or did they? Someone else, perhaps? Doctor Koertig seemed unduly interested in the boy. Do you think…?”
“Dillon accompanicated them, sir.”
Master Simon’s thin lips twisted. “Dillon! I should have known. If troubles not finding him, he’s causing it. And you say he’s been sniffing after the girl. But that doesn’t explain the car. How did it get in here?”
“The driver must’ve unlocked the gate, sir.”
“Did you get a look at him? Was it Doctor Koertig or one of his people?”
“Ergel didn’t spy him, no, but he gotted a look at the tags on the car, he did.”
“Did he, now?”
“Yes, and if you’ll be so kind as to contacticate yer high contacts and learn the owner, Ergel will pay him a visit.”
Master Simon smiled. “I think I’ll do just that.”
“And I’ll put out word to the brotherhood to be keepin’ an eye peelated for a sedan of that prescription with those tags.”
“Good-good. In case their rescuer doesn’t head home. Yes, I do believe we will find them.”
Ergel didn’t know why Master Simon said “we” when Ergel would be doing all the work, but he let it pass. He had another concern.
“Once the finding is completioned, there might be another problem.”
“What?”
“They might not want to cororporate in their reappropriation.”
“You will not give them a choice.”
“Ergel might have to hurtify them.” The thought made him all light and pleasantish inside.
“Do what you must, but be careful not to damage them. No harm that shows.”
“Ergel has rubberish hoses and implementations that doesn’t show no marks.”
“Excellent.”
“But what about Dillon?”
Mr. Simon smiled. “Give him what the others get. Maybe even a little extra. He needs to learn a good lesson. They all need a good lesson.”
Part Seven
On the Run
33
“How did you pass Falzon’s test?” Ryan said. He felt like a little kid, clinging to the back of the front seat like this.
Telly shrugged. “I’ve been wondering about that myself. I have no idea. Maybe someone in the lab was sloppy. Whatever, I got lucky.”
Maybe it wasn’t luck, Ryan thought. The ethereal he’d helped had been in his mind
and knew everything Ryan knew. It must have known Telly was in trouble. Maybe it paid him back again by altering the test results somehow. That made more sense than plain luck.
“Where are we anyway?” he said, peering through the windshield.
“In Nocturnia terms, I’m not sure,” Telly said. “The land masses of the two worlds are identical. The farm and the Uberall compound are in what we’d call eastern Pennsylvania, and I believe we’re entering the equivalent of Delaware.”
“So Lycanthum is where the US is in our world?”
Telly nodded. “Pretty much. Except the West Coast. That belongs to the Nosferatu Federation – which also inhabits equivalent of the western half of what we used to call ‘Russia’. Necrotia, the territory of the zombies – or necros, as they like to be called – is all over the place. It holds all of South America, Australia, the eastern half of Russia, and Japan.”
“That’s an awful lot of territory,” Ryan said. “Do they, um, breed?”
“I don’t know. I never got into it.” Telly looked at Dillon. “I assume you know.”
Dillon shrugged. “They can’t breed, but they add to their numbers at regular intervals.”
Ryan had seen that in movies. “Oh, like they bite you and you become one of them?”
Dillion looked at him as if he’d grown another eye. “Bitten by a necro? Please! That what nosferatu do. It’s complicated with necros.”
“The Pluribans don’t breed either, right?” Telly said, jumping in before Ryan could get his next question out.
“Well, they could, but it’s against their… uh, code. They assemble new individuals from pieces of others.”
“Like Frankenstein?” Ryan said.
Dillon frowned. “Who’s Frankenstein?”
Telly ignored the question. “The Pluribans have Western Europe, the Sasquatch have Canada, the trolls come from Trollheim, which we call Greenland, and–”
“Speaking of trolls,” Dillon said as Telly veered toward a ramp, “don’t go there. It’s a toll road.”
“I’ve got enough money.”
“It’s not tolls I’m worried about – it’s trolls. Ergel will put out the word to his fellow trolls to look for this car.”
“But this isn’t Trollheim.”
Definitely Not Kansas (Nocturnia Book 1) Page 18