by Ramy Vance
Jim’s voice crackled over the comm. “That’s not normal, is it?”
“Nope. That thing is definitely not normal.”
Alex stopped flying. She just floated, watching the meteor above her. It was entrancing. She didn’t know why, but she could keep looking at it forever.
Jim rested next to her. “How long have we been flying?”
Alex looked down at her dragon anchor. “Says here we’ve been flying for twelve hours,” she murmured.
“No freaking way! We just took off. We did just take off, didn’t we?”
Alex sat down on Chine’s back and shrugged. “I have no idea. Nothing up here makes any sense. Like that,” she said, pointing to the little bit of sky that could be seen behind the meteor, or perhaps the place where the meteor was most sky-like. “What the hell is that?”
A sharp pain pulsed through Alex’s head, the same one that had brought her to the ground earlier. There was more pain this time, a hot flash, and then a sledgehammer cracking her skull open. Alex didn’t fall down this time. She stayed conscious as her nose started to bleed.
It knew she was coming. Alex couldn’t tell if whatever the meteor hid was scared or angry.
“You ever think you were going to die young?” Jim asked.
Up above, stars streaked by across the surface of the meteor, flaming balls of fire. “Not really,” Alex answered. “I didn’t really think about dying before. I guess it seemed like it was still pretty far away. My parents are pretty young, so it’s not like it was on their mind or anything.”
“My dad was afraid I was going to die young. You know, I don’t think I ever told you this, but I almost died when I was a kid. Hospital ER and everything.”
Alex glanced at Jim, who was poking his head out of his cockpit. He seemed so far away, as if his face were dragging miles and miles behind him. “No, we don’t talk about a lot of personal stuff,” she said. “What happened?”
Jim was quiet for a little bit, but when he started talking, Alex could hardly understand him. She didn’t have to, though. Up above Jim’s head, something like a movie was playing. She saw a small child waiting at a crosswalk. The child was reading a book, completely absorbed.
The child looked both ways, then stuck one foot out onto the street. Then the other. As the child crossed the street, a car came rocketing around the corner. It struck the child, and then everything was red. Everything was fractured.
Alex caught the last thing Jim said. “That’s why everyone calls me Jaws,” he explained. “Cause of the metal jaw I got.”
“Did you talk to your parents? Before we left?”
Jim looked sad when he answered. “No, I didn’t. And I didn’t leave a message. I know my dad. It would mess him up pretty bad to hear it from me. My voice and stuff. It’d be better if the military told him. He could handle that.”
Something like a projection of waves moving back and forth could be seen across the meteor. They were dancing with each other. Part of Alex wished the rest of the squad could see what she was seeing. It was beautiful.
The waves continued rolling, crashing against a large white wall. A cliff. There was someone standing atop the cliff. Alex. She was watching the waves. They were calling to her.
Alex watched as the waves parted. Her body lay on the ocean floor—broken, her eyes staring at her other self. Then the waves shifted and covered her corpse.
“We’re still here, right?” Alex asked.
Jim was staring at the meteor. “I think so. It’s hard to tell. This isn’t anything like the last time we were up here,” he answered. “This is…really freaky.”
Chine’s voice came through Alex’s head, fuzzy and clear at the same time, like something crawling around in her skull. It’s a psychic projection. Whatever is inside the meteor is boosting the psychic connection of everything around it.
Alex had no idea what any of that meant. Could you say it in English, please?
Our bond is psychic. The meteor is binding everything together. Somewhat. Not as strong as our bond, but there is a connection, and it’s dripping into the air.
Do you think they can see it down below?
Definitely, but it looks different to them. Much like it looks different to each of us.
Is it an attack?
I’m not certain. It could be, but it’s difficult to tell. Be on your guard.
Jim turned to Alex. His face was the only thing that made sense under the sway of the meteor above. At least Jim was constant. “I wouldn’t have thought this would be the result of me playing a video game.” He chuckled.
Alex giggled despite herself, despite where she was, despite the world falling apart around her. “Yeah, I wouldn’t have guessed this would have come from that either,” she admitted. “I’d probably get a refund if I could.”
“You know, if I was ever going to do a heroic, hardcore, one-life playthrough, it would have been with you.” Jim’s face had gone serious, and he clenched and unclenched his fists. “You know, I kinda like you. A lot.”
The lump in Alex’s throat disappeared. “Yeah, I know. I like you too. A lot.”
“Cool. Would it be corny if we kissed? Before we go off and blow ourselves up?”
“Let’s wait until we blow ourselves up. Promise.”
Alex stood, not wanting to ruin the moment but aware she had no choice. Up above, the meteor was changing. It was becoming something else while still increasing in size, spreading across the entire sky of Middang3ard.
A slit opened in the meteor, showing fold upon fold of what looked like flesh. The flesh quivered and gaped, dripping mucus as something with large, spindly legs forced its way through the fold’s membrane.
Alex re-anchored herself to Chine, and the dragon started moving. “Come on. Looks like we’re going to have to fight our way into the meteor.”
Jim slid his cockpit shut and asked over the comm, “Why would I have assumed we wouldn’t?”
Bats and bees burst from the mucous membrane of the meteor and swarmed around the opening, much like before. The only difference was there were thousands more of them. It reminded Alex of the last mission in Middang3ard VR. “Let’s do this!” Alex shouted before taking off.
Jim was right behind Alex as they flew toward the swarming mass of monsters.
The monsters turned to the riders and attacked. Bats rushed them. Alex took evasive action, still trying to force her way to the meteor. There were too many bats, though. She was going to have to thin the flock.
Alex slammed her fist to her chest, unleashing her dragon anchor’s power. Her body and Chine’s burst into flames as they swerved to the outside of the swarm of creatures hellbent on their destruction. Chine let loose a funnel of ether fire, scorching through a handful of bats.
A bee came in high, swooping down and trying to take off Alex’s head with its stinger. Alex pulled out her scythe and sliced through the bee, splitting its body in two.
Jim was having his own problems. He was unable to move as fast as Alex, but he had a huge amount of firepower. He fired a volley of missiles as he doubled back, getting himself into a better position and locking on to as many targets as he could. Conserving his missiles was a must.
The sky filled with the sound of Jim’s guns as he mowed through as many bees and bats as he could.
Alex swung over to where Jim had made his stand. Chine activated his gravity well, causing the creatures closest to Alex to bunch together as if they were magnetized. Then the dragon kicked the cluster of creatures toward the meteor.
Once Alex was positioned beside Jim, Chine unleashed another torrent of ether fire at the swarm of bees and bats heading for him. The scent of scorched flesh filled the air. “We’re doing it,” Jim shouted. “We’re cutting through them!”
It was too soon for Alex to celebrate. She was busy watching the flesh in the center of the meteor. It was quivering again, which meant something else was coming. She knew that whatever it was, it was going to make the bats and bees look
like nothing.
First, two alabaster legs shot out as if something was being birthed. The legs were long and insectoid, and two more quickly followed. Then a head, sharp and elongated, burst through. The thing roared, showing rows of sharp teeth.
The creature’s back was arched as if it had once had wings. Its bones protruded from its back, giving the impression its spine was going to burst free—and then it did. The creature’s back tore open. Two beautiful, angelic, feathered wings sprang from the wound.
The creature flapped its wings as it screamed its bloodlust, then took to the sky. It was followed by another creature, and then another.
Within seconds, the meteor’s fold was ripped open as thousands of the winged angels came pouring out of the rock’s gash.
Jim sighed loudly over the comm. “Guess, I spoke too soon.”
Now wasn’t the time for despair. The moment their hope faltered, this was over. She needed Jim to stay with her. That was the only way they were going to get into the heart of the meteor. “We got this, Jaws,” Alex shouted. “Those things can die just like anything else.”
And Alex proved it. She leaned forward, sending the dragon rocketing toward the angels, spewing fire as she swung her scythe and hacked through anything in her way. The bees and bats fell as she neared the angels.
Most of the angels were still congregated on the meteor. Gravity wasn’t working the usual way on it. The angels clung to the surface, walking upside down, hissing at Alex’s approach.
Alex hit the side of the meteor hard, unleashing a blast of ether fire as her anchor’s power wore off. She leaped off Chine and charged for the closest angel. The creature reared up on its hind legs and slashed at Alex, who dodged out of the way and cut it open.
Behind Alex, the dragon was burning through as many angels as he could while the bees and bats swarmed around them, trying to cut off access to the meteor’s opening. “Come on, Jaws,” Alex shouted. “We’re getting in there!”
Jim hit his thrusters and plowed through the bees and bats in front of him, shooting anything that made the mistake of being in his way. Dozens of bats and bees fell to the ground as Jim forced his way through the wall of bodies.
It only took a few minutes for Jim to land next to Alex. He killed his thrusters and hit his leg stabilization, sinking his mech’s feet into the surface with a heavy whirring of gears. Then he popped out of his cockpit and winked at Alex. “I’m with you, Captain. To the end,” he said.
The angels were still swarming out of the meteor’s opening. There was no sign they would stop anytime soon.
This was where Alex was making her stand. They weren’t far from the opening. All they had to do was keep moving forward. As long as they were moving, they were alive.
Chine was right behind Alex, shooting fireballs as Alex took a step, slicing through an angel in her way. Another angel leaped at Alex. The dragon grabbed the angel, slamming it into the ground.
Six angels leaped onto Chine, sinking their teeth into his scales. The dragon roared as he rolled over, trying to crush the angels under his weight.
Alex saw Chine in pain and ran to his side, sliding across the meteor, hacking through the legs of the angels in her way as she went. She was so close. Then she felt a cold hand clutch the back of her neck, and she was flying through the air before she realized it.
The wind went out of Alex when she hit the meteor. Her vision went blurry for a moment before she was able to pick herself up. She grabbed her scythe and took in the scene before her.
They were being overrun. Angels were pouring over Chine like ants over a dead body. The same with Jim, who was firing every gun he had, his head poking out of the cockpit, his face slathered in blood and viscera.
This was it. This was Alex’s last stand.
Two jets of fire scorched the meteor, burning through the angels attacking Chine and Jim. Alex looked up to see where they had come from.
Brath, Gill, and Jollies were racing toward her, firing everything they had at the angels, bats, and bees overwhelming Jim and Alex. “You thought we were going to let you have all the fun?” Brath shouted as Furi unleashed another torrent of fire.
The rest of Team Boundless burned through the angels blocking the meteor’s opening. There was just enough space for Alex and Jim to storm the meteor.
There was so much Alex wanted to say to the rest of the team. There wasn’t time for it, though. Instead, she smiled and saluted them. Then she climbed back onto Chine and took off, Jim following closely behind.
Chapter Seven
Once Alex and Jim passed into the meteor, everything changed. The temperature rose drastically. Neither of them could hear anything from outside the meteor, despite being only a few feet from the opening.
If Alex’d had more time, she would have stepped in and out of the meteor to see if this was all in her mind, but that didn’t matter right now. Hopefully, the meteor wouldn’t exist for very long anyway.
As Alex and Jim flew through the interior tunnel, Alex weighed their likelihood of success. The plan had been Roy’s and Toppinir’s. She had no idea what their odds of success had been. They must have been fairly high, though. Both men had been willing to bet their lives on it.
But what if something went wrong? The meteor had grown since Roy and Toppinir had initially planned to blow it up. Or was it an illusion?
Alex didn’t know what was real anymore. What she had seen outside as she and Jim were closing in on the meteor had left a lot of questions. Chine had said it was some kind of psychic projection. That meant it wasn’t real, right?
None of those questions were bringing Alex or Jim any closer to what they were looking for—the core of the meteor. There was something powering the object, and they needed to find where it was and destroy it.
Alex pulled up her HUD visor and peered through it. She was looking for a source of energy, anything giving off a power or heat signal. There was nothing. As far as she could tell, the meteor was all one temperature.
The only thing Alex had to go on was the brief glimpse she’d had of the interior when she was looking through Manny’s eyes. For the first time in a while, Alex wished Manny had come along for the ride. He would have hated this, though.
A pang of regret stabbed Alex in the chest. She pushed it down. Thinking about how much she was going to miss that floating mass of eyeballs wasn’t going to help anyone. Still, it hurt to think about it.
Alex and Jim flew out of the tunnel into a vast, empty space. It was difficult to imagine this place was in the meteor, considering how large it was.
The walls were lined with holes. It would be easy enough for Chine and Jim’s mech to fit through them. The problem was that Alex had no idea where they went. Each tunnel was a shot in the dark.
Jim poked his head out of his cockpit before climbing out of his mech and sitting on top of it. “You know what’s really weird?” he asked. “I haven’t seen one monster since we got here. Do you think the meteor sent all its forces out when we attacked it?”
Alex shook her head. That seemed too good to be true, but the other option was terrifying. If all those angels hadn’t been the majority of the meteor’s forces, how many could be hiding and waiting for them?
Jim shrugged before getting back into his mech. “Either way, we should probably be careful. Getting ambushed in this creepy-ass place sounds horrifying. So, which one do you want to start with?”
Alex looked around the room, trying to figure out which tunnel to choose. “You know, maybe they weren’t expecting us to get in,” she mused. “That was a pretty crazy fight out there, and it’s not like there’s any surveillance equipment around. Maybe we’re a surprise.”
“I’d be surprised if the magical meteor floating in the sky and distorting reality had to rely on cameras to know we were present.”
“Good point. We should get moving in case there are more of these creepy things in here. How about that one?” Alex asked, pointing to the largest tunnel near the ground.<
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“Works for me.”
Jim and Alex descended into the room. When they landed, both of them gasped.
The floor was covered in a mix of eggs and plants. The plants had bulbous purple sacs with a stem reaching up to the ceiling. They were roughly three feet tall and gave off a disgustingly sweet smell.
There were thousands of them clustered tightly together.
Alex flipped up her HUD visor and took a picture of the floor, which she sent to Roy and Toppinir. “Whatever the hell these things are, it’s not good. Even if we blow this thing up, I’d like to know Roy and Toppinir will destroy them if any manage to escape the explosion.”
Jim had exited his cockpit again and was staring intently at the egg sacs. “Yeah, these things give me a really bad feeling.” He shuddered. “We should get going. I don’t want to be here when those things crack open.”
They made their way to the tunnel she had pointed out and flew through it. While they were passing through, Alex aimed a light at the wall.
The walls of the tunnel were covered in writing etched deep into the rock. Alex recorded a little bit of the writing and sent it to Gill. “This place keeps getting weirder and weirder,” she muttered to herself. “You ever see anything like this, Jim?”
Jim’s voice crackled a little over the comm. “Yeah, I have,” he answered. “They’re runes, Nordic or something. I used to play a game that had a lot of Norse mythology. Some of the puzzles used runes as a device. I don’t know what they mean, though. I’ve never seen most of them.”
Norse runes? In a meteorite filled with evil monsters that was above Middang3ard? Yeah, things could definitely get stranger.
Alex hardly knew anything about Norse mythology. She’d studied the bare minimum of Norse history for her homeschooling classes. All she knew was that there were warrior gods, and the Vikings were always invading someplace.
Maybe that’s all this was. The meteor was just a ship for an invasion. Wouldn’t that be something?
The tunnel Alex and Jim were taking split into three different paths. The two of them banked right and continued on, heading farther into the maze of tunnels. They began to feel lost. Alex wondered if they were getting any closer to the center or if they were just flying in circles.