Pangea Online: The Complete Trilogy

by S. L. Rowland

  “Fire!” I shout. “Kill it with fire!”

  A stream of fire shoots from Dean’s left arm. The ooze recoils, but its massive leg is already weakened, causing it to collapse to one side. The ooze attempts to change form into something more bestial, but we press our attack. Giant sweat beads and blisters form along its outer layer as it melts and evaporates. We continue our assault, and the ooze shrinks by the second, shriveling until there is nothing left.

  “Nicely done!” Dean raises his mech’s hand for a high-five, but I don’t acknowledge it.

  “Did you forget that we are a team?” He can’t see my face, so I do my best to show my disapproval in my tone. “You could have let me know what you were thinking. This isn’t the first time you’ve rushed into battle without telling me. If you want to make it through this, then we have to work as a team at all times. Playing catchup means I’m always one step behind, and that might get us both killed.”

  His mech stands like a silent sentry before he eventually speaks. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. That could have ended very badly.”

  “Don’t sweat it.” I soften my voice. “Just keep me informed the next time you think about diving in head-first.”

  We make our way down the tunnel and take a freight elevator up several floors, exiting into another insect-infested corridor. Our flamethrowers have no problem burning through webbing and setting the entire tunnel ablaze. Crispy carapaces crunch under our feet as we walk through.

  My mech’s AI notices something crawling through the vents and locks on to its location, but it’s unable to identify the creature without a clear visual. I could blast it with a missile, but it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie.

  We enter another hangar filled with fighter spacecraft. None of it is practical for what we’re doing here, so we hurry past and into the next transport tunnel. Our guide leads us to an elevator that’s too small for our mechs.

  “What do we do now?” asks Dean.

  “Looks like it’s the end of the line. We’re near the control room, but I think we’ll have to finish on foot.”

  “Aww man, I was hoping we might get more use out of these.” His mech opens, revealing a disappointed teenager inside.

  “They got us this far, so I’d say that’s a win.” I disengage my own mech and climb down. Then I realize our mistake. “Dammit!”

  “What is it?” Dean’s head swivels as he looks for the source of danger.

  “Our weapons. We had to leave them when we took the mechs.”

  He pats his chest plate and reaches around at the piece covering his back, grasping for weapons and grenades that are no longer there. “Are we screwed?”

  “No way. We’ve gotten out of stickier situations than this, we just need a little ingenuity. The control room is only a few floors up.”

  We enter the elevator. Nothing looks out of order, which is all the more reason we should keep our guard up. After an agonizingly slow climb, we exit onto the level where the control room is located.

  The hallways are very businesslike and our steps clack as we walk. Occasionally, something moves in the ducts overhead. Pictures of men in military garb hang along the walls. Two navy stripes run along the outer edges of the light gray floors.

  Our level-ten badge gets us through two gated entries, but when we arrive at the control room, our access is denied.

  The octagonal control room is surrounded by massive panes of tinted glass on all sides. I can make out several monitors, and a ring of consoles with glowing buttons and switches. There’s a hologram of the ship in the center, flashing red in numerous spots. Could that be all the areas that have been taken over by alien lifeforms?

  Next to the hologram is a podium topped with a cube that hovers in mid-air. Some sort of alien runes or letters are engraved in each of its sides. They shine with a brilliant internal energy. I have no doubt that that is the powerful artifact we were sent to retrieve.

  The bodies are so still that I almost don’t notice them lying on the floor. They don’t appear to show any signs of trauma. A skeletal figure leans forward in the captain’s seat, head nestled between its knees.

  “This is creepy.” Dean’s lip curls up in disgust. “What do you think happened to them?”

  “No idea. Maybe it has something to do with that cube. Or the reason why so many different types of aliens are on the ship. Maybe they locked themselves in the control room when the ship was overrun. Who knows?” I kick hard at the glass door blocking our way, but it doesn’t budge. It’s clearly made of something stronger than pure glass. “We need to find a way in.”

  We circle the perimeter of the control room, searching for any signs of weakness, until Dean and I reconvene on the other side.

  Dean presses his hands to the glass and looks into the control room. “Gah, we’re so close! Maybe we have to go back. Either find a badge with higher clearance or a weapon capable of getting us inside.”

  I ask the helmet AI to search for a higher clearance badge but receive an error notice. It can only route us to things labeled as part of the ship’s layout or inventory. I place my hands to the glass and join Dean. Maybe there’s something inside that will give us a clue.

  I scour the room but come up with nothing. “We can work our way back and check any rooms we have access to until we find something useful.”

  I don’t like the idea one bit, but there’s little else we can do under the circumstances. We’ve made it so far to have to start backtracking now, but I don’t let my frustration get to me. I need to stay positive for Dean.

  We step into the hallway and something scurries through the duct overhead.

  “Wait! That’s it.” I grab Dean by the shoulder. “If we can find a way into the air ducts, there has to be one that empties into the control room!”

  He grins, but it slowly fades into a frown. “But what about whatever is...” He points up at the ducts. “Up there.”

  I hadn’t thought of that. We’ve heard something moving through the ducts since we first started. There’s no telling what it could be, but it’s not like we have any better options. “We’ll just have to deal with it.”

  I instruct the AI to route us to the nearest maintenance closet, where we find a toolbox that will hopefully get us into the air ducts. We have to backtrack to one of the main hallways before we find an accessible entrance into the ventilation system.

  The vent comes off easy enough, revealing a square duct that goes in for a few feet before angling straight up. There’s enough space to crawl on our hands and knees, but once we reach the vertical area, it’s too high to reach from a standing position.

  “Climb on my shoulders and I’ll boost you up. Then you can pull me up.” I press my body against the metal duct and brace myself.

  Dean grabs my shoulders and places his feet on my thighs. It’s a tight fit, but he’s able to leverage his back against the other side of the duct and weasel his way upward. Once I feel his feet pressing against my shoulders, I step back, giving him a better angle to climb to the next level. The metal creaks and groans as he climbs, but eventually, his weight vanishes and his feet disappear over the ledge.

  There’s more groaning as he contorts himself in the tight space before his head pops out and he extends a hand to me.

  Dean leans down as far as he can without losing his balance, but he’s still about two feet out of my reach. “You’re going to have to jump.”

  And hope that I don’t pull him down when I grab hold.

  A loud groan echoes through the ducts, and Dean whips his head around.

  “Was that you?” I ask, but I already know the answer.

  He’s wide-eyed as he shakes his head.

  “Hold on a second. I’ll be right back.”

  I drop to my knees and crawl back into the hallway. Inside the toolbox, I grab a hammer and a screwdriver. They’re not great weapons, but they’re better than nothing.

  Dean wears an anxious expression when I return, but h
e keeps quiet.

  “Here, I’m going to toss these up to you first.”

  He catches the tools and places them next to him before extending his hand once again.

  I take a deep breath and jump as high as I can. My hand clasps around his and I press both legs against the walls of the duct. Dean’s face goes red as he tries to pull me up, but I’m not moving. This is our best chance, so I can’t let go.

  I dig my feet into the metal and try to shimmy by back up a few inches at a time. Once my legs are extended as far as they can go without losing my grip, I put all my weight onto Dean and lift my legs as fast as I can. Dean grunts as my weight pulls his body to its limits.

  I shimmy up the wall again and repeat the process until I can see the open duct in front of me.

  “Alright, I’m going to make a move and I need you to pull with everything you’ve got. On three. One. Two. Three.”

  I launch myself toward the open duct and my chest slams against the ledge. For a moment, the only thing keeping me from falling back down is Dean’s strength. My feet slip against the metal as they try to find grip before I’m able to press them against the back wall and push myself forward.

  I lean against the cool metal of the duct, gasping for air. “We did it,” I manage to say between breaths.

  Dean crawls backward through the duct until we come to a section where four ducts converge. I pull up the hologram of the ship and find the route that will take us to the control room.

  “Do you want to lead or me?” I ask.

  Dean backs into one of the other ducts and motions me forward. “Just don’t fart in my face, please.”

  The metal thunders around us with every movement we make. I try to crawl faster in the hopes of making it to the control room before anything notices our presence.

  We’re not so lucky.

  The metal ducts wobble around us as some monstrosity approaches. It’s impossible to know where the creature is because the ventilation shaft in front of us splits into a T about twenty yards ahead. I imagine some deformed snake slithering through the vents.

  I grip my screwdriver and wait for the creature to reveal itself.

  Dean taps me on my calf. “Slide over. I want to see.”

  I scoot to the left, giving Dean a view as we wait anxiously. Whatever we’re waiting on, it moves slowly. The metal pops and echoes, growing louder by the second. The duct at the intersection sags slightly, revealing the monster’s location.

  I take a deep breath, wishing I had anything better than a screwdriver to fight with.

  The metal pops again and a small pink bunny hops into view. Its head turns in our direction, revealing a gray horn protruding from its head and dark red eyes looking at us with curiosity.

  Something is off. The duct sinks around the bunny like it weighs hundreds of pounds.

  It hops toward us and the entire structure feels like it could collapse at any moment. The helmet AI analyzes the bunny, but it only leaves me more confused.

  Foreign Lifeform. Nimbus Dragon. The nimbus dragon travels through space and time, feeding off of energy-rich planets. Nimbus dragons are incredibly dense and often polymorph into local fauna to avoid suspicion as they drain planets of their vital aura.

  You’ve got to be kidding me. We’re trapped in a ventilation shaft with a dragon capable of destroying planets that just so happens to be in the shape of a pink bunny.

  “Back up,” I whisper.

  Maybe if we can get out of sight, then the dragon-bunny will go on its merry way.

  Dean squirms backward and I do the same. The ruby red eyes of the nimbus dragon stare at us as we go. It sits back on its haunches and wiggles its nose before rubbing one tiny paw against its eyes.

  The bunny raises its nose into the air, as if sniffing our scent, and I swear it licks its lips before taking a step forward. The metal sinks and the pop echoes all around us.

  “What’s going on? Is it chasing us?” Dean’s voice is high-pitched once again.

  The bunny takes another step, sending another resounding echo.

  “No, it’s just slowly walking toward us,” I lie. It could have been my imagination, but I’m pretty sure this cute little dragon wants to eat us.

  “Well, do something. We’re sitting ducks here.”

  I could be wrong and the dragon isn’t dangerous at all, but I’d rather not take any chances. Dean’s right, and there’s no way we’re escaping while trapped in these vents. If only there was some way to weaken the ducts so that the dragon’s weight could dislodge it.

  The dragon takes another step and I know that if I don’t act, we’re going to be screwed. I scan the inside of the ducts for anything I can unscrew, but there’s nothing. It must all be fixed from the exterior.

  “Dean, hand me the hammer.” I extend my hand behind me and he places it in my hand.

  The dragon continues its slow prowl toward us. I take the screwdriver in one hand and smash the hammer into the butt of the handle. A dent forms in the metal and a second hit punctures through. The bunny cocks its head before taking another step.

  I move the screwdriver and smash it with the hammer again, this time harder. It pierces the thin metal of the duct in one hit this time. Quickly, I form an X pattern with holes and continue to slide backward.

  The bunny hops again, causing the entire shaft to shake. We continue to back up until we’re almost back to the intersection. The bunny stops and shifts its head from side to side. It looks like it’s about to turn and walk away when I take the hammer and throw it.

  The bunny turns and screeches, and for a moment, the shadowy silhouette of a dragon shrouds the bunny, revealing a spectral image of its true form. The dragon lowers its head, teeth bared as it roars in our direction. Shadowy flames brush against me, surprisingly cool against my skin.

  The shadow disappears and the bunny hops toward us quickly, the metal creaking with each jump. It hits the hole-marked X and loud snaps echo as the metal rips from hole to hole. The bunny sinks through the ventilation and falls to the floor below.

  The hole in the duct is only about a foot wide, so I creep back over and peek through.

  Down below, a black dragon speckled with spots of purple, blue, and white thrashes back and forth. As it moves, the scales give off the appearance of a galaxy. Black flames pour from its mouth, setting aflame everything in sight.

  “We need to go!” I shout, scurrying like a cornered rodent down the shaft.

  Our movement echoes around me as we make our way to the end and take a right. With the apex predator out of the way, I don’t dally. I follow the guide until we’re over the control room.

  I have to kick several times before the screws give way and the vent opens.

  We lower ourselves from the vent and drop into the control room. “Complete” flashes across my vision and suddenly I’m looking at the scene in third person—as if hovering above the room watching myself and Dean as we remove the skeletons from their stations and take control of the ship.

  Dean presses a few buttons, and I slide a lever. The ship jumps into hyperspace, and all I see are stars.

  Chapter Sixteen

  We materialize back in the whiteness of The Vacuum.

  Dean wraps his arms around me, squeezing tightly. “We did it! We made it through the first stage.”

  He smiles broadly before releasing me and taking a step back, as if suddenly realizing what he’s done. He looks around to see if anyone saw him, but the other contestants are focused on the massive feeds displayed in the sky.

  I place my arm around him and pull him in. “And quicker than most of our competitors, it seems.”

  A few dozen challengers stand around watching the video feeds. Far less than were here this morning. We’re all back in our normal outfits again. A leaderboard in the sky tells us that we were the sixtieth team to finish.

  A slender elf and a burly dwarf materialize out of thin air.

  The dwarf pushes the elf in the thigh. “Stupid! I told you no
t to run in like that. I knew I should have taken your sister instead.” He turns to the rest of us. “Screw you! All of you.”

  A portal opens and both the dwarf and elf step through. I guess we won’t be seeing them in the next round.

  Ryken and Dawn stand by themselves at the far end, huddled together and whispering. I should have known they would be one of the first ones through. I search the leaderboard for their position. Tenth.

  Nancy hovers in the air on her pegasus. A camera with miniature thrusters floats in front of her as she comments on the main Pangea Online feed as it cycles through various players’ streams. The camera is more for appearance than anything, or possibly to let her know when she’s being recorded.

  I focus on the feed, but it’s hard to tell who it’s following with everyone wearing the same gray unitards and their faces covered with helmets. The current feed follows a pair as they maneuver a large tank down a tunnel.

  “That’s the one I wanted to drive!” Dean rocks on his feet excitedly. “I knew it would have fit in the tunnel.”

  Nancy offers commentary as the tank spits out a stream of fire from the mounted flamethrower. “—and look at it go. Paul Campbell is putting those flamethrowers to use, completely incinerating the ooze beasts before him.”

  The feed shifts to a team ducking behind a corner as a door explodes. “It looks like we have our next set of victors. That satchel of plasma grenades came in useful for Talia and Chadwick Tate. With fifty of them, they just blew the door to the control room clean off its hinges!”

  “Oh! That’s not good.” It cycles to the next feed and Nancy places a hand over her eyes as a group of lizard people pry off the helmet of some unlucky soul and devour him. “It looks like we’ve lost another competitor. They’re dropping like houseflies. How many remain? How many will survive until the next stage? Stay tuned to the official Pangea Online stream to find out. Now back to headquarters for more in-depth coverage.”