by R.E. Rowe
Chapter 20
Jayden gazed around the hub level in awe. He estimated it had to be at least twice the size of the mason's outpost hangar, rivaling the dimensions of at least twenty superdome football stadiums. In the center, a large, open square with massive steel beams and cables passed through all the levels. It was hard to imagine fifty-seven similar levels built on top of each other.
“Follow me . . . hurry,” Rhea2 said as she jogged off.
Parker grabbed Jayden by the arm and pulled him forward, and quickly followed her.
When they reached a corner in front of the open space near the hangar’s center, Rhea2 pressed a large button on a waist-high metal rail that ran along the edge of the center open space. A small section of the rail near them lit up.
Then they waited.
Jayden noticed the Space Command kids and shimmering Zepar went about their business. No one even notices us.
“Each corner of open space has an elevator,” Rhea2 informed them.
What was taking so long? Jayden wondered, tapping his foot impatiently. “Good to know.”
Jayden leaned over the railing and peered upward. Unfreaking believable! The huge center space went up as far as he could see. He glanced down and instantly felt dizzy. The drop seemed to go on forever.
Rhea2 yanked Jayden back from the rail. Just in time too. An empty elevator on the other side of the rail appeared in a flash and jerked to a stop in front of them. The elevator was nearly the size of Jayden’s bedroom back home, but completely round with a see-through glass frame.
Two doors slid apart with a burst of air, while at the same time the lit-up portion of the rail retracted in front of them. It was the wildest elevator he had seen.
When they stepped in, Jayden’s head began to spin. The only thing that wasn’t see-through was the thin, metal-frame skeleton and the mirrored ceiling.
“To prevent sickness, it is best to breathe in deeply,” Rhea2 said.
They all sucked in a breath at the same time. Apparently Jayden wasn’t the only one freaking out.
Rhea2 pressed a large, square panel inside of the elevator. The doors closed and the clear bubble took off in a flash. Jayden couldn't feel any movement at all, but he could tell by looking outside the elevator that they were moving super-fast.
Jayden gazed upward and saw his reflection on the elevator’s mirrored ceiling. He took off his hat and rubbed his shaved head. Not cool. The buzz cut wasn’t a good look for him. He missed his Surfer Boy hair.
Numbers on a digital display inside the elevator continued to change. When the elevator reached three floors away from their level, the lights inside the elevator began flashing bright red.
“Intruder alert!” the speaker over their heads blared. “Intruder alert! Decks sixteen, six, and four! Commence lockdown procedures immediately! Shoot to kill! Repeat! Shoot to kill!”
Jayden’s stomach instantly dropped to his toes. Guess we didn’t fit in as well as I thought.
“Silence,” Rhea2 whispered. “Act normal if door opens. Act as if you belong.”
They shuffled to the back of the elevator.
When the floor number flashed “2,” the doors opened.
Jayden’s eyes went wide. He held his breath as Leader Nuk’ana and four Zepar fighters boarded, and then turned their backs in front of them to face the open doors. He noticed each Zepar held a small device resembling an automobile key clicker.
The doors shut, and the elevator continued to level 1.
Jayden tried to remain calm, but it was next to impossible. Please don’t turn around, Leader Dude, he said to himself. Sweat beads accumulated on his forehead. For a moment, he thought they were going to go unnoticed until Leader Nuk’ana peered upward into the mirror. Nuk’ana’s eyes focused on Rhea2.
“It’s so nice to see you again, Rhea2. How is your father these days?”
Father? Jayden wondered.
She turned away and said nothing.
Nuk’ana sneered at Jayden’s reflection in the mirror. His jawline stretched long, retracted, and then sharpened.
Jayden totally wanted to puke. Being stuck in an elevator was one thing, but being cornered by a mass murderer was something entirely different. If he did toss his food cubes, he’d aim for Nuk’ana.
Leader Nuk’ana shifted his eyes to Parker. One by one, Nuk’ana stared each of them down through the mirror. “I see you have friends with you, Rhea2. Might you introduce me?”
Rhea2 continued to ignore him.
“Too bad,” Nuk’ana said with an evil grin on his face. “It does not matter. The end is near for all of you, I’m afraid.”
End . . . as in death? Jayden swallowed hard.
The elevator reached deck one, a chime sounded, and the doors opened again. Rhea2 didn't hesitate. She shoved past the Zepar on the right, grabbed the alien’s clicker, and dove out of the elevator. Nora lunged to the left, snatching a clicker from a second Zepar alien before hurtling from the elevator. Without thinking about it, Jayden followed behind them, and so did Parker.
Rhea2 and Nora hit the deck a little before Jayden and Parker. They all managed to roll away from the open elevator doors and jump to their feet.
“Get down!” Rhea2 shouted at Cleo and BBgun.
The two of them fell to the elevator floor.
Outside the doors, Rhea2 took aim, lit up one of the Zepar fighters with a laser, and pressed the second button on the clicker. A laser beam shot down from the ceiling into the elevator and turned a Zepar into a BBQ-scented dust cloud.
Nuk’ana flickered, buzzed, and disappeared.
“Hologram!” shouted Rhea2.
In a blur, Nora tried the same move, but the three remaining Zepar fighters shape-shifted before the laser beam fired.
Jayden pointed a fist at one of the shimmering ribbons, then thrust his wearable forward with his fingers spread wide. A bolt of electricity hit the ribbon, prompting it to transform back to a Zepar. The fighter collapsed.
Nuk’ana’s two other Zepar fighters bolted out of the elevator, and then took off into the hanger like glistening streamers.
Another group of Zepar down the hall moved like a SWAT team toward them.
Rhea2 and Nora lit two of them up with lasers and blasted them before they could shape-shift. Jayden and Parker managed to zap two others with bolts of electricity from their wearables.
Jayden peered down a long hallway to the right. More Zepar were coming. To his left, transport spacecraft lined the wide-open hangar into the distance. He wanted to bolt, but couldn't move with the Zepar firing lasers at them.
A laser spot appeared on Parker’s chest. Jayden shoved Parker out of the way just in time as the laser zapped the wall instead.
Zepar shape-shifted into glistening ribbons. Rhea2 and Nora tried to lock lasers on the Zepar shape-shifters coming their way, but weren’t having much luck. Still more Zepar joined the battle.
Finally, Cleo jumped to her feet, but a laser grazed her. She shrieked and crumpled back to the ground.
“Cleo!” Parker yelled.
BBgun ran to join Jayden and Parker. The three crouched and fired lightning bolts from their hands, knees, and elbows. The Zepar continued to shoot at them.
"We need to help Cleo," Parker said.
Jayden looked around for an escape route, but the Zepar still had them pinned down. "I know—"
A blinding bright flash nearly hit Jayden as he dove out of the way. The laser hit the wall next to BBgun, sending him to the floor. “BBgun!” Jayden yelled.
Nora and Rhea2 held their positions, firing lasers back at the reptile-eyed Zepar as they shifted from ribbons into full bodies.
“It's time to move or we're toast!” Nora yelled. “Killgeek. Let's go!” She heaved a disrupter at the Zepar. Rhea2 threw another in the opposite direction. Both disrupters delivered electromagnetic pulses in metallic-sounding explosions.
Smoke wafted from the Zepars’ clickers and the laser pulses sto
pped.
Jayden peered to his left. He spotted the office-building-sized intergalactic transport they wanted to jack. Bingo!
“We need to move out,” Parker said. “You help BBgun. I’ll get Cleo.”
“Can you move, BBgun?” Jayden asked.
He nodded.
Jayden managed to get BBgun on his feet. The kid was disoriented, but he wasn’t wounded. Jayden looked over at Cleo, who was lying outside the elevator with Parker leaning over her. Her eyes opened.
“What happened, Snickerdoodle?” she asked Parker.
Parker sighed and shook his head. “Let’s go. You must have fainted.”
Cleo managed to stand with Parker’s help.
Jayden moved forward with his friends in a crouching position toward the transports, but the shape-shifting aliens from the hallway were getting closer. He quickly realized that the Zepar could only fire at them when they weren’t shape-shifting. It gave them a chance to move.
“Give me your water canisters, quick!” Jayden shouted to Cleo and Parker then pulled the bottle off his waist snap.
Parker and Nora twisted their heads and tossed him their canisters.
Jayden retrieved the three batteries from the empty disrupter case on his waist snap. He shoved a battery into each water container and sealed them again with the trust of his palm. Then he heaved one as far as he could to the right, another to the left, and the third one behind them. Jayden was counting on a chemical reaction from the shorted batteries, but he wasn’t sure it would work or how long it would take.
When Nora and Rhea2 lasers erupted again, they zapped more approaching Zepar using their clickers.
The air filled with the sickening aroma of a Zepar BBQ flavor profile: hickory with a touch of gunpowder.
Another group of Zepar neared as the batteries exploded. The blast threw the Zepar hard against a wall.
“Nice, Jayden,” Nora said.
“The EMP disrupters are only working once,” Jayden said, glaring at Rhea2. “How come?”
“It takes five minutes to recharge each time it’s used,” Rhea2 replied.
A Zepar fired a laser from the opposite direction. The beam grazed Rhea2 and knocked her off her feet. She slammed hard to the ground.
“Eat this!” Nora yelled. She painted an approaching Zepar with a laser, and then pressed the clicker. A blast fired from the ceiling overhead and vaporized the alien into a dust cloud.
Jayden zapped Zepar with lightning bolts from his wearables, and then helped Parker drag along BBgun and Cleo. He spun around, searching for his next target as they moved toward the intergalactic transport, but there were no more Zepar.
The intruder alert continued to blare.
“I’m hit,” Rhea2 whispered from the floor, holding her left side. “Here, take the voice cube. Go on without me.”
Nora grabbed the voice cube and glared at Jayden. He could tell by her expression that she wanted to leave Rhea2. It was tempting, but he shook his head. “No one gets left behind.” After all, that was his and Parker’s rule when they played online games. The strategy always felt right.
Nora made a face and sighed. “Fine. Hurry. We need to make a run for the transport.”
“We’re not leaving you,” said Jayden to Rhea2. “Can you stand?”
She nodded and Jayden helped her.
Nora took position in front of them.
“We’ll follow you!” Jayden yelled at Nora. “ZapperGirl, help Parker. I have an idea.” He retrieved the gold thread and handed BBgun one end, and then pointed to a heavy beam on their right that extended from the floor to the ceiling overhead. “You okay now?” he asked BBgun, who nodded. “Good. Tie this around the beam over there.” Jayden indicated a heavy beam to their left. “I’ll tie the other end around that one.”
Running in opposite directions, Jayden and BBgun tied the unbreakable gold thread to the beams, making a waist-high clothesline that was nearly impossible to see.
“Zeekmo,” Jayden said. “Paint and fire at that gold thread when the shape-shifted Zepar run into it.”
Nora nodded. Then they were on the move again.
A few seconds later, a large group of Zepar screamed as they ran into the wire.
Nora wasted no time. She painted one end of the wire with the clicker, and fired a laser at it. The entire wire lit up like a florescent light fixture, instantly zapping ten Zepar into dust.
Cleo was helping Parker toss out disrupters. He used his wearable glove devices to zap a few Zepar as they moved toward the transport.
The open doors of the targeted intergalactic transport came into view thirty yards away. Jayden knew if they could make it inside and seal the door, the Zepar wouldn’t be able to get to them. But with no cover and Rhea2 struggling to walk, there was no way they were going to make it in time.
Twenty more Zepar fighters shifted into solid form and sprinted toward the same transport entrance.
“You guys go, I’ll hold them off!” shouted Parker.
“No way, Parker. I’ll do it,” Nora said.
“Not a chance, let me,” Jayden said.
Before anyone could move, Parker sprinted toward the approaching Zepar, firing his wearables in a wide pattern.
With the bolts of electric shock Parker was delivering, the Zepar fighters reversed course to get out of range. Some dove to the ground, then shape-shifted and disappeared, while others ran for cover. Parker was kicking butt while Jayden, Nora, BBgun, and Cleo kept moving with Rhea2 as fast as they could. He was buying them time to get to the transport.
Finally, they made it, and ran through the transport ship’s open hatch door. Parker’s diversion had worked brilliantly.
Cleo helped Rhea2 up the spiral stairway inside the transport leading to the pilot cockpit. On the inside metallic wall of the transport, Jayden and BBgun waited with Nora in the open hatch. Jayden held his hand over the button that closed and locked all of the transport entrances.
“Hurry!” Jayden screamed at Parker.
Parker jogged backward toward the transport door, continuing to fire bolts of electricity from his hands, knees, and elbows. The kid was relentless as bolts of electricity continued to zap Zepar.
But he still had fifty feet to go.
“Watch out!” screamed Nora. “On your right!”
Five Zepar surprised Parker from the side with laser fire, and fired at the transport door.
Jayden and Nora dove to the floor to avoid being vaporized. Damn it, Jayden thought. Parker wasn’t going to make it! Jayden’s hand shook as he held it over the button that would shut the transport door and lock out the Zepar.
Jayden and BBgun both took a step forward, but Nora screamed at them. “Stay here. It’s too late.”
They froze, and an instant later, the Zepar surrounded Parker. His chest lit up with laser splashes.
Nora pulled Jayden and BBgun away from the doorway, a look of horror on her face.
“Parker!” Jayden screamed.
“Get out of here,” Parker yelled back as he fell to the floor, then slowly rose to his knees with both hands behind his head.
“No!” screamed Nora. “We’re not leaving you!”
Not Parker!
More Zepar appeared, firing lasers at the transport.
“This can’t be happening!” Nora shouted to Jayden. “We don’t leave anyone behind, right?”
But it was happening. They had no choice. Jayden knew they needed to get out of there or they’d be captured or killed too. He groaned. “Sorry Nora . . . There’s nothing we can do. I, I—We’ll come back for him.”
She yelled again, only louder. “Parker!”
Parker screamed back. “Get out of here now—”
A large Zepar back-handed Parker. He collapsed to the floor.
Nora slammed the last button with her open hand. The transport door closed and locked. She fell to her knees crying.
