by Tom Hoffman
“That was scary. You modified that attack spider on Varmoran so we could ride him, but I don’t think one of these can help us cross the Great Sea. I wonder what happened to all the Anarkkians who were on the ship?”
A blue thought cloud flashed over to Orville. “This ship is a dream creation, remember? It’s not a real Anarkkian ship, somebody dreamed it. I’m starting to think you’re right about it being Brother Solus.”
“There’s no one else it could be.”
“And he knew the code for the transport tube dome.”
“We should definitely keep an eye on him.”
Proto pointed to the far end of the hangar. “That big gray cylinder is a launch tube for scout attack ships. The ladders next to it should go to the lower deck.”
Brother Solus nodded. “You are correct. There are scout ships there which will be more than–“
Before he could finish, the ship shuddered violently, tipping wildly to one side, the adventurers tumbling to the floor, the great attack spiders careening across the hangar, metal squealing and rending as the monstrous eight legged automatons smashed against the outer bulkhead, a section of the upper deck collapsing with a thundering crash.
It was over as quickly as it had begun.
“What happened?”
Brother Solus groaned. “My leg is pinned by this beam. I can’t move.”
Proto dashed over and grasped the Morsennium beam with his great silver hands, raising it enough for Orville and Sophia to pull Brother Solus to safety.
Proto kneeled down, a pale green light from his eyes scanning Brother Solus. “There are no broken bones.”
Orville sensed a change in Brother Solus. This was not the stern rigid monk they had come to know, this was a scared old Mintarian.
“Please, we have to go back to Okeanos. This is wrong, the realm of the Shadow King is a dark and vile place, a land to be avoided, a ghastly world of horrors beyond comprehension.”
“What kind of horrors?”
Sophia’s face hardened.
“Brother Solus, I understand you’re afraid, but we’re going into the realm of the Shadow King with you or without you. We came here to rescue Aislin Mouse, and that is precisely what we’re going to do. You’ll be a lot safer if you come with us instead of trying to return to Okeanos on your own. If we have to use our shaping powers to defend ourselves, we will do the best we can, but I think Proto and Squeaky will provide all the protection we need. You saw what Squeaky did to the blue dome.”
Proto looked up at Orville. “He told me the Shadow King’s realm has the most fearsome creatures imaginable, beasts torn from nightmarish visions, great clawed squirming monstrosities not found in any other universe.”
Orville made a croaking sound. “If the realm of the Shadow King is as bad as he says it is, maybe we should think about–”
“Do you want to be the one to tell Ebenezer Mouse we were too scared to look for Aislin, that we gave up without even trying?”
“I wasn’t saying we should turn around, just that we might want to think about it.”
“Brother Solus, are you with us?”
The old Mintarian rose up, wincing in pain.
“It would appear fate has provided me with limited options. I will travel with you into the realm of the Shadow King. I have no other choice.”
“It won’t be as bad as you think, we’ve faced things like this before, even worse than this. I should tell you about Mendacium the Dark Wizard, he was one scary mouse.”
Brother Solus put his paw on Orville’s shoulder. “I apologize for my unduly harsh and inconsiderate behavior.”
“That’s okay, we all get crabby sometimes. You said something about scout ships below us?”
“Follow me.” Brother Solus limped toward the ladders leading to the lower deck.
A thought cloud flashed out from Sophia to Orville. “Be careful, I think Brother Solus is unconsciously trying to prevent us from reaching the Shadow King.”
“You think he made the deck collapse?”
“I’m sure of it. It happened the moment he told us where the scout ships were. He’s not purposefully doing it, but part of him is trying to stop us, the part of him that is terrified of what he will find there.”
With Proto’s help, Brother Solus gingerly climbed down the ladder.
The adventurers found themselves in a long dark corridor, a set of pale green doors at the far end.
The doors opened as Brother Solus approached them, revealing a cavernous hangar filled with ten foot tall blue spheres.
“Scout ships. These conveyor belts carry them to the launch tubes. In the event of an attack, ships can be launched every two seconds.”
“This might work, they look a lot like blinker ships.” Sophia peered inside one, studying the control panel. “I can fly this. Brother Solus, do you know how to activate the launch system?”
Brother Solus pointed to a ladder reaching up to an elongated window high above the hangar floor.
“The control center is behind that window. Next to the main panel is an orange emergency button used to initiate the launch sequence.”
“Once we push the button, how long until our ship launches?”
“It takes a little over a minute to launch all thirty ships.”
“So one of us has to climb the ladder, open the door, push the button, then get back to the ship in less than a minute, while the conveyor belt is moving? That’s not possible.”
“One of us will have to stay behind.”
“Maybe I could blink back, that might work.”
Brother Solus glared at Orville. “No blinking.”
Proto picked up Squeaky, rubbing the top of his head.
“I believe my old friend Squeaky may provide a more satisfactory solution to this vexing problem.”
Orville looked dubious. “What can he do, bark at it?”
“Our friend Squeaky is full of surprises. First we should locate the last scout ship in line to be launched, maximizing the time Squeaky has to push the button and return to the ship.”
“Squeaky can climb a ladder?”
Sophia strode down the row of scout ships.
“This will be the last ship to launch. It looks good, no external damage.” She peered through the porthole. “Control panel lights are on, the ship has power. How do we get inside?”
Proto scanned the outer hatch, then pressed his hand against the ship.
“That’s it, I have opened a link to the engineered intelligence core. This should do it.”
The hatch whirred open, the interior lights blinking on.
“You’re sure you can fly this?”
“It’s just like a blinker ship.”
“Everyone strap in.”
“Check.”
Proto scratched Squeaky’s head. “Okay, little one, I want you to go up to the command center, open the door, push the orange launch button and return to the ship as fast as you can.”
Squeaky gave a loud bark.
“Go!”
Orville’s jaw dropped when Squeaky lifted off the ground and flashed through the air toward the command center.
“Squeaky can fly? Seriously? A flying puppy?”
“Ha ha ha ha! I told you Squeaky was full of surprises. He has an integrated micro anti-grav displacer unit with enough power to fly continuously for up to an hour.”
Orville watched through the open hatch as Squeaky hovered next to the command center. A blast of purple light shot out and the door vanished. Squeaky disappeared into the command center and seconds later an ear splitting alarm blared. The massive conveyor belt roared, the scout ships lurching toward the launch tube.
“Here he comes!” Orville grinned as Squeaky flew into the ship and landed next to Proto with a loud bark.
Sophia punched a yellow tab and the hatch slammed shut.
“Three more ships, then it’s us! Hold on tight!”
Whenever Orville would tell the story of their launch from the mile long Anarkkian inters
tellar battle cruiser he always used the word ‘flapcake’. Even with the inertia deadeners on, the force of being blasted out of the launch tube at almost a thousand miles an hour felt like a colossal paw pressing him down, trying to turn him into an Orville shaped flapcake. He freely admitted that he had shrieked, but claimed he was not the only one, that Sophia had also screamed, something she emphatically denied.
Sophia yanked back on the silver control lever, bringing the ship to a hover at twenty-three thousand feet.
“I’ve got it, the ship is functioning perfectly, violet lights on all systems.”
Orville was still disoriented from the launch.
“Whoa, I think I left my stomach back in the hangar.”
Proto released his safety harness and stood up, peering out the porthole. “I see no sign of the other scout ships. Most curious.”
“Let’s fly down and buzz Madam Beasley’s bed and breakfast.”
“We don’t have time, and it would probably scare her.”
“I didn’t think about that. Which way do we go?”
Brother Solus pointed toward the rising sun. “Directly east until you see land. Things will change drastically as we near the realm of the Shadow King. Make no attempt to shape anything, pay close attention to your thoughts.”
“What kind of drastic changes?”
Brother Solus did not answer, but the look on his face was not reassuring.
“Heading due east, increasing speed to three hundred miles an hour.”
“Whoa, this is way faster than a Dragonfly. Brother Solus, how long will it take us to reach the eastern shore of the Great Sea?”
“It all depends.”
“Oh, right, it all depends.”
Three hours later there was no land in sight.
“This must be a really big ocean.”
“Increasing speed to five hundred miles an hour.”
Orville watched the waves flashing by beneath them.
Four hours later there was no land in sight.
Orville eyed Brother Solus. Something was wrong. They had traveled over three thousand miles and there was no land in sight.
“Brother Solus, if someone was trying to prevent us from reaching the realm of the Shadow King, could they create an infinitely wide ocean, one we could never cross no matter how fast or far we flew?”
“You are suggesting I am responsible for this? You think I’m the one creating this infernal ocean? It is most certainly not me who–”
“I see land!” Sophia pointed to the ship’s holoscreen.
Orville jumped up and looked out the porthole. “Creekers. the sun is blue. Why would the sun be blue?”
“Slowing to one fifty miles an hour, approaching the coastline.”
“What are those flashes of light? It looks like big explosions.”
Sophia magnified the holoscreen.
“That’s exactly what it is. There’s a huge city on the coast and it’s under attack.”
Brother Solus groaned. “We should not be here.”
“Strap in! Three ships approaching!”
A thunderous explosion jarred their craft, knocking Orville and Brother Solus to the floor.
“Hold on!” Sophia jammed the two sticks forward and the scout ship shot up at over four hundred miles an hour. “Proto, do we have a cloak?”
“Top left panel, green tab.”
Sophia slapped the tab and sent the ship into a screaming dive, shooting past the three attacking vessels. Seconds later they were inches above the waves, streaking toward the flaming city.
“That did it, we lost them. Brother Solus, what is this place?”
Brother Solus was hunched over, arms wrapped around himself. “We should not be here.”
“I’m heading east, this feels like another obstacle placed in our path, just like the ocean.”
Sophia jammed the stick forward and they shot over the coastline, now a thousand feet above the cacophonous explosions and spectacular flashes of red and purple light.
“Spiders! There’s thousands of Anarkkian spiders down there and the attack ships are everywhere! There are creatures running through the streets, but I can’t tell what they are, maybe mice, maybe Mintarians.”
“This is not good, the city goes on as far as I can see, there’s no end to it, no end to the devastation, ships and spiders everywhere. The good news is our cloak is working, I’m taking us up to three thousand feet.”
Brother Solus shrieked, “We should not be here!” He shook his fist at Sophia. “We do not belong in this place!”
Sophia never saw the attacking ship, only a flash of purple light and the gaping hole that suddenly appeared in their hull. She was knocked out of her seat, slammed against the bulkhead by the two hundred mile an hour wind that exploded through the cabin.
Orville was suddenly weightless, the ship plummeting toward the flaming city below.
“We’ve lost power! Emergency canopy!”
He pushed himself to the top of the cabin and grabbed the bright red ring, giving it a sharp tug. He heard the muffled explosion as the canopy deployed, felt the ship jerk sideways, swaying wildly back and forth just before he was slammed to the floor and knocked unconscious.
Chapter 29
Downtown Bellumia
Sophia put her paw over Orville’s mouth, silencing him.
“Shhh! Don’t talk. Spiders are everywhere.”
The last thing Orville remembered was pulling the emergency ring. The orange canopy was draped over the ship, fluttering in a gentle breeze. Outside the ship’s partially opened hatch he saw great piles of stone rubble, the remains of a once colossal building demolished by invading Anarkkian forces. A thought cloud floated out to Sophia.
“How many spiders are out there?”
“There were lots of them when we landed, but we kept hidden in the ship. Most of them left, but a few are still prowling the area. Proto said you saved our lives by pulling the emergency ring.”
Orville grinned. “Any dread pirate would have done the same thing.”
Sophia kissed him on the cheek. “You’re the bravest dread pirate I know.”
Brother Solus hissed, “I told you we didn’t belong here. If the attack ships don’t destroy us, the spiders will.”
“Master Marloh says happiness lies on the other side of every obstacle.”
“Clearly he has never faced an attack spider.”
Proto peered through the wide hole left by the attacker’s vape beam.
“This is a Mintarian city, I recognize the architecture, and I saw three Mintarians being chased by a spider. I’m going to send Squeaky out to survey the area. I have linked his optical transmission system to my holoscreen so we’ll be able to see what he is seeing. He should be able to map a safe route past the spiders.”
“I’m starting to like that little RoboPup. Sorry I said he was a nuisance.”
“We should travel east, get out of the city.”
“It’s called Bellumia. The city is called Bellumia.”
“What?”
Brother Solus looked exhausted. “I don’t know why I said that, I’ve never heard of a city called Bellumia. I just want to go back to Okeanos, I want to be alone. I’m tired, I need sleep.” He curled up on the floor and closed his eyes.
Proto whispered, “I’m sending Squeaky out.”
Squeaky shot through the open hatch, soaring upward. A holoscreen blinked on in front of Proto.
“It’s working. I told him to fly east and keep an eye out for spiders.”
“He’s about two hundred feet up, but I don’t see any spiders. That’s odd, they must have moved on.”
“The explosions have stopped. Do you think the Anarkkians left? Maybe the invasion is over, maybe it’s safe to go out now.”
“Why would the invasion suddenly stop? Let’s think about this. We know this isn’t a real Anarkkian invasion, it’s a dream invasion, an obstacle created by one of us, or maybe even the Shadow King.”
“B
rother Solus is asleep.”
“And the invasion stopped.”
“It’s him, he’s the one creating the city and the invasion.”
Sophia whispered, “Let him sleep, let’s see what happens.”
Proto pointed mutely to the holoscreen. Squeaky was flying over an eerie forest filled with tall black trees.
“What is that? Where’s the city?”
Sophia looked out through the ship’s open hatch.
“Orville, look out there.”
The demolished city was gone, replaced by a dark shadowy forest.
“I don’t like this. That forest looks really spooky.”
Proto’s eyes were bright. “Very spooky indeed, more than likely filled with the terrifying beasts Brother Solus said were roaming the realm of the Shadow King.”
“Stop, I’m already scared enough. Maybe we should wake Brother Solus. I’d rather face attack spiders than some creepy forest full of weird monsters.”
Proto tapped Orville on the shoulder, pointing to the holoscreen. Orville’s heart almost stopped when he saw the gigantic shiny black centipede slithering through the forest.
“What’s that thing on its back? Something is riding on the centipede’s back!”
Proto magnified the image. “It’s a blue translucent figure carrying a big axe and wearing an eye patch.”
“Seriously? It’s wearing an eye patch? A ghost pirate riding a giant centipede in a dark creepy forest? Could anything possibly be scarier than that?”
“Orville, this is good news, not bad. You’re creating the centipede and the ghost pirate, the things you’re most afraid of.
That’s why they’re appearing.”
“Wait, if Brother Solus was creating the Anarkkian invasion, that would mean it was his greatest fear.”
“You’re right, and if he was one of the Mintarians who took refuge in a Metaphonium synthetic world, he would have seen Anarkkian attacks and have been terrified by them. Maybe he lived in Bellumia, maybe he saw it destroyed by the Anarkkians.”
“He never said anything about it.”
“He probably doesn’t remember. It could be something he forgot because it was too painful. Maybe he lost friends or family in the invasion.”
“Like you forgetting about the caterpillars.”
