Ghorj turned around. He couldn’t even look at Ev. “You really are insane. Do you really think those prisoners will help you? There’s no telling what kind of state they’re in, either physically or emotionally. After eons of captivity, they could all be broken-down wrecks by this point.”
Ev said resolutely, “That’s a chance I have to take.”
Realizing he was defeated, Ghorj said, “Fine. If you’re that determined to get in there, I guess I have no choice but to help you.”
“No choice!” Sumi said, bouncing up and down.
Ev nodded happily. Now he was finally getting somewhere. Still, he hoped beyond hope his friends were all right.
Especially Maya. If he lost her, he might as well give up.
* * *
Maya awoke with a start. She had just had the most terrifying dream of her life, that she had been sucked out into space and was on the verge of death.
Her head hurt. As she diverted energy to heal, she remembered it wasn’t a dream; that had actually happened. Zero Grade’s insane weapon had scattered them across the surface of the moon.
Someone moaned beside her. Priscilia lie on her back, her face a pale mask. Exposure to the vacuum of space must have been harder on her than on Maya.
Maya applied healing. Within moments, the color returned to Priscilia’s face and she opened her eyes. When she saw Maya, her expression turned wild. “T-Traitor! What’s going on?” She sat up and pushed Maya away from her.
“Take it easy,” Maya said. “Don’t you remember what happened?”
“I…” Priscilia furrowed her brows, struggling to remember. “It’s coming back to me. I joined you on your ship. Then… everything exploded. We were suddenly on the other side of the moon. You found a strange door. We entered it, and then everything went black. I must have passed out from lack of oxygen. Where’s everyone else?”
Maya shook her head sadly. “I don’t know. If I had to guess, I’d say they got sent to different areas of the moon’s surface.”
“Then… we’re the only ones left?” Her tone had a restrained sadness to it. Was she concerned for the others, or for her own survival?
But Maya said, “We can’t be thinking like that. The others are tough; they won’t die so easily. Maybe they found other doors like the one we went through.”
“Speaking of which…” Priscilia looked around. “Where did that door take us?”
They were in some sort of forest. But it wasn’t any forest Maya had ever seen. Everything from the trees to the ground seemed to be made of glass. It was then that she noticed broken glass branches underneath them; they must have fallen through the trees on their way down. “I have no idea.”
“Are we… inside the moon?” It was a fantastic possibility.
Maya replied, “We must be. But why would there be a forest made of glass?” She picked up the broken branch. It shattered easily under her touch.
Priscilia peered up through the trees. “What time is it?” A fine mist hung in the air, and very little light made it through.
“On the moon? I have no idea. Zero Grade’s timekeeping system is probably very different from ours up here.”
“Can you imagine how old this place must be?” Priscilia said with sudden excitement. “The stories it could tell!”
Not wanting to get any further off-track, Maya said, “Let’s focus on getting our bearings. There will be time to uncover this area’s history later.” In truth, she didn’t care about the history. She just wanted to find their friends.”
Especially Ev. She wasn’t going to lose him. She’d die first.
* * *
Daryn came to. The first thing he noticed was Jaysin lying on top of him. “Get off me!” He shoved the future god of money aside.
They both stood up. “Sorry, mate. That was a wicked fall, wasn’t it?”
Daryn groaned. “The fall was nothing. I thought we were really going to die before that. I could feel my eyes about to burst from my head.”
“Won’t argue with you on that. The blood boiling part—that was my least favorite. Good thing we’re gods—or gods in training, at least—otherwise, we’d never have been able to survive that.”
“It’s an even better thing we found that airlock, or we would’ve been dead anyway. Where are we, anyway?”
In fact, they were in a massive cavern A river of magma flowed for several miles to their left, and stalactites hung from the ceiling.
“No place good, that’s for sure. But never mind that. Where’s everyone else?”
Daryn shugged. “Who knows. But we need to find them, or our chances of surviving this place will be nil.”
“And make sure they’re OK.”
“Right. Of course.” The son of a military officer in the Tru Republic, Daryn was currently focused on the mission. For the time being, everything else would come second.
A voice behind them suddenly said, “Uh, guys? Don’t forget about me.” They whirled around to find a familiar face standing there.
Jaysin was shocked. “CiCi!”
“In the flesh.
“How long have you been standing there?” Daryn asked.
“A few moments. I just regained consciousness.”
A relieved Daryn said, “Thank Bethos you’re all right. I don’t suppose you know what happened to everyone else?”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I got teleported out here with you two, and I followed you into the airlock before passing out.”
“Well, we’re just glad you’re all right,” Daryn said.
Jaysin nodded happily. “Yep. It’ll make getting through this volcano a bit more pleasant.”
“Yeah,” Daryn said. “We need to get out of here.”
Lacking any sort of guide, they began walking in a random direction. They had no idea where they were going, but a strange realization soon came over them.
“Why isn’t it hot in here?” CiCi asked.
“Yeah,” Daryn said. “There’s a magma flow not a hundred feet from here, but this place is room temperature.”
Intrigued, they cautiously made their way over to where the boiling substance bubbled up from its underground river bed. Jaysin bent down to have a closer look, inching a finger towards to orange substance.
“Jaysin! Be careful!” CiCi said.
He replied, “I’ll be fine. A burnt finger won’t kill me.”
Nevertheless, he took it slow. He gradually dipped his index finger into the magma and…
…it flickered. As if it were static.
“What the hell…?” Dayn said.
“Dunno what this is,” Jaysin said, “but it’s not magma.”
Throwing caution to the wind, Daryn shoved his foot into it, and it flickered even harder before returning to normal.
Suddenly, a familiar voice politely called out from somewhere, “Please do not use force on the projections.”
CiCi’s eyes went wide. “Is that Ragnarok?”
“It is!” Daryn said. “Ragnarok, where are you? We thought you were destroyed.”
They listened for a reply, an explanation, but none came.
“Guess she isn’t in a talking mood,” Jaysin mused.
CiCi furrowed her brow. “What did she say? Something about projections?”
Daryn’s face lit up. “That’s it! The magma is a hologram.”
“You mean, like the crew of the Midgard?”
“Exactly. We’re in an artificial environment. This isn’t real.”
Looking around, Jaysin said what they were all thinking.
“But then… what is this place?”
Chapter V
She lounged on the plush sofa in her opulent quarters within the great prison. She truly had the greatest job in the world.
In fact, her quarters were furnished better than many of Zero Grade’s higher-ups. Animal skin rugs adorned the floors, window after window lined the walls—letting in abundant sunlight, fancy paintings of her favorite subject filled with walls,
and there was even a fireplace (though she seldom used it). She was the warden of Eden, and she loved her job more than anything. Well, just about anything.
Her name was Jane. Jane Hill. And she was the highest-ranking Second Gen in all of Zero Grade. That only served to prove how valuable she was to them. After all, most Second Gens were treated as garbage. Sure, most of them served Zero Grade out of fear, and, sure, Jane knew most of them would rebel if given the chance, but she hardly considered herself one of them. She didn’t get this far by being considerate of others. Everyone else could suck it!
She wore a form-fitting black bodice with a purple cape and dainty white gloves. Her brown-rimmed glasses fit snuggly upon her head, and her short black hair was combed neatly to the left. Her legs were only partially covered by the shortest of skirts.
Her servant Detwiler entered her quarters bearing a decanter of diet soda. Devastatingly handsome (like all her manservants), he had a well-groomed head of short black hair. And per Jane’s strictly-enforced dress code, he wore no shirt in order to show of his perfectly-sculpted body, but he did wear tight blue jeans. In fact, all of her boy toys wore the same thing. “Here you are, Miss.”
“Thank you, Detwiler.” She took the decanter and proceeded to chug it down.
Having emptied the decanter, she put it back on the silver plate upon which it had been resting in Detwiler’s beautiful hands.
“Was it to your satisfaction, Miss?”
“Indeed it was. Very refreshing!” She turned her attention to the many paintings that lined the walls. Each and every one showcased her greatest passion in life. “Detwiler, what is the greatest thing in the world?” She asked this question all the time, and he knew the answer without even thinking about it.
“Why, guys with glasses, of course.” Like all of her manservants, he was bespectacled.
She stood up and extended her arms toward Detwiler before sweeping them around the paintings. “Guys with glasses! There is nothing so drop-dead sexy as a stud with four eyes. They’re so sophisticated, so intelligent, so cultured! Oh, I could just drown in them.” She swooned. “I won’t allow any male subordinate to come into contact with me unless he has a pair.” In fact, there was a simple rule within Eden: any man approaching the warden without glasses was to be killed on the spot. The rule didn’t apply to anyone who outranked her, sadly, nor did it apply to her elite guards (nothing could make them look good), but it had worked out well for her thus far. Not so well for those who had violated the rule, but that wasn’t her problem.
“Are you ready for today’s status report?” Detwiler asked.
She groaned. This was her least favorite part of the job, but a necessary one. “Very well.”
He began reading a list of today’s occurrences, each one of them more inconsequential than the last, mostly minor infractions by prisoners. Damn, it was boring. Her attention drifted in and out as she tried to listen.
When he was finished, he said, “Fortunately, there is nothing major to report. The prison is operating at peak efficiency. Today promises to be uneventful.”
“I wish something would happen.” She loved her job, but centuries of doing the same thing got boring after a while. That was why she turned to different means of being entertained.
“The Flawless Few won’t tolerate any disruptions,” Detwiler reminded her.
She waved off his concerns. “Not that anyone would attack Eden. Zero Grade has the entire moon locked down after those Academy brats came calling earlier.”
“I’m told they have been dealt with,” he said, adjusting his glasses.
“But still…” she said. “Wouldn’t it be something if they survived and attacked us here?”
He rolled his eyes almost imperceptibly. “We would be punished for sure if any prisoners escaped.”
“Yes. Speaking of which, how are our VIPs doing?” She was referring to the most dangerous prisoners housed on Level Z.
“They continue to grumble, but have made no attempt to escape in over a century. The big man, in particular, has been very docile as of late. Were this a normal prison, he might be released early for good behavior.” This was far from a normal prison, however; Zero Grade’s prisoners were never released. Occasionally executed, but never released.
“Well, that’s good. Perhaps he’s finally accepted his fate,” she said.
“Indeed.”
She leapt to her feet. “But enough about that. Bring me my harem.”
Smiling, he replied, “Yes, Miss.”
* * *
In Ghorj and Sumi’s tiny shack, the three of them were huddled around a dilapidated wooden table near the bed, on which Ghorj had unrolled a map. “All right,” he said. “This is Eden.”
Ev looked at it. It was labled “Ground Level” and showed a small structure surrounded by a dark circle. “This is it? Where’s the rest of it?”
“Like the map says, this is only what’s on the surface. The top part of the ship sticks out above the ground so Warden Jane can have a decent view from her quarters. But for the most part, the prison is belowground.”
“Funny that you just happen to have a map of the place,” Ev said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been planning a visit to this place.”
Ghorj’s steely gaze never left the map. “You may have noticed Sumi’s mother isn’t around. That’s because she’s being held at the prison. I wanted to break her out. Her name’s Minerva.”
“But then… why were you so set against me going if you wanted to get in there?”
“This is my fight; I didn’t want to drag anyone else into it.”
“His fight!” Sumi said.
“So why didn’t you go yourself?” Ev asked.
Ghorj sighed. “I wasn’t exaggerating when I said how dangerous it is. If something happened to me, my daughter would be left all alone. I just couldn’t bring myself to risk it, not even for my wife. Despise me if you want, but that’s the reality of the situation. At this point, I’ll take whatever help I can get.”
Ev shook his head. “I don’t despise you. I sympathize with your struggle. Don’t worry; I’ll rescue your wife along with all the other prisoners. Now, what’s the plan?”
“It’s a plan… of sorts. I can get you into the prison, but I don’t have any schematics of the inside. Once you’re in, you’re on your own.”
“Fair enough, I guess.” Ev wasn’t crazy about this, but it was the best they could do under the circumstances. “How do I get in?”
“You can’t force your way in. You need to maintain the element of surprise. Nor can you sneak in; security’s too tight.”
This just kept getting better and better. “So, what do I do?”
Ghorj reached under the table and produced some sort of golden collar which he handed to Ev. “With this.”
“What is it?”
“Every prisoner wears one. Have you heard of the God Dampener?”
Ev nodded. “Zero Grade used it on Narska to win some battles in this war. It strips you of your god powers. I’ve had some first-hand experience with it.”
Ghorj replied, “Good. I don’t have to explain how it works. But what you probably don’t know is the God Dampener on the planet is actually just the latest generation of the technology. What you hold in your hand is a replica of the original, developed countless centuries ago. It has to be in physical contact with your body—around your neck, to be precise—to have any effect, unlike the latest generation which can be deployed in a wave to disable multiple targets at range.”
“A replica?” Ev said.
“Yeah. I built this one myself. It doesn’t actually work, but it’s indistinguishable from the real thing. Also, it has my wife’s cell block number on it. Every collar has a number that designates the area the prisoner is assigned to. This should get you to where she is.”
“OK…” Ev said. “So what do I do with it?”
Ghorj grinned. “You’re going to put it on and act like an idiot.”
/> * * *
Maya and Priscilia continued to walk through the glass forest. Brittle leaves crunched under their feet as they moved.
“Aren’t we ever going to get out of here?” Priscilia asked.
“There has to be an end,” Maya said.
“What if this forest covers the entire interior of the moon? We could be wandering through here forever.”
Where Gods Dare (Divine Protector Book 4) Page 5
