The Hunt for Dark Infinity (The 13th Reality #2) (38 page)

As the ripple disappeared into the darkness, the building shook again, but this time constant and steady, rocking back and forth, an earthquake. Tick scooted back against the wall, looking around, not knowing what to do.

Jane got up on her hands and knees, shaking her head as she bounced up and down with the moving floor.

“What’s happening?” Tick yelled.

Jane didn’t answer, crawling toward him as best she could, getting back up each time she fell. A huge lurch sent her rocketing forward. She crashed into Tick and grabbed his arms to steady herself.

“What’s happening?” Tick repeated.

Jane shifted until she was side by side with him, her back against the wall. She put her left arm around his shoulder and grabbed his hand with her right. She tilted his head toward her and started whispering in his ear, caressing his hair like a mother trying to console her child.

“Listen to me, Atticus, listen to me. Take a deep breath. Calm yourself. I promise you I won’t let anything hurt you. Calm yourself,
breathe.
” She pulled his head down onto her shoulder. “Everything’s okay, everything’s okay. Close your eyes, breathe—everything’s going to be okay.”

Everything was a blur to Tick, shaking and rattling. He did as Jane told him, closing his eyes, sucking in deep breaths, surprised at the calm warmth that spread through him despite the chaos. Jane continued to stroke his hair, whispering words of safety in his ears.

As quickly as it had begun, the shaking stopped and all was silent except a creak or two as the building settled. Tick heard himself breathing, felt his chest rising and falling, felt the comforting touch of Jane. The thought repulsed him, but he didn’t move.

“Open your eyes,” Jane said, gently pushing his head off her shoulder.

Tick did, and gasped at what he saw in front of him.

A misty mass of bright orange sparkles floated in the air, a condensed cloud several feet wide, hovering and pulsating slightly as if it breathed. His eyes hurt, but he couldn’t look away. It seemed as if he’d been transported to deep space, viewing a nebula or a swirling galaxy.

“What . . . what is that?” he whispered.

Jane’s voice was soft. “It’s your Chi’karda, Atticus. I told you I could channel it if you would only unleash it for me. I can’t say I understand what’s happening, but it seems that when you get angered or afraid, power bursts from you, completely out of control and dangerous. If I hadn’t been able to calm you, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to harness it and form it before us. Now, don’t worry, I’m about to do something. Trust me.”

The cloud moved toward Tick, the shining particles dancing in the air, darting back and forth as they surrounded him, dissipating into the darkness. He felt a surge of warmth, like walking out of a freezer into the hot desert sunshine. For a few seconds, all he could see was light, a million bright stars, swirling around him. And then it was gone.

“It’s flowed back into you,” Jane whispered, her voice loud in the silence. “You may never see it in that form again, but now you know what sleeps inside you. I don’t want to be your enemy the day you figure out how to control it.”

Tick’s mind spun in countless directions, too confused and overwhelmed to grasp what had just happened or even formulate a question. “I don’t get it,” he said.

Jane stood up. “Neither do I, and I suspect Master George is clueless as well.” She held out a hand. “Come on.”

Tick took it and let her pull him up. “I’m a freak.”

Jane shook her head. “No, you’re not. If you’re a freak, then so am I.”

Tick thought of all the things he could’ve said to that, but he stopped himself. Jane had probably just saved his life. “What now? Looks like we’re not gonna try to kill each other, I guess.”

Jane looked down the hallway in the direction they’d been ordered to go once things were settled. “No, we’re not. And we’re not waiting until noon, either. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she started walking.

“Wait!” Tick called out, snapping his hand back. He searched around until he spotted the leather satchel holding the antidote. He ran over and picked it up, then joined Jane again, still marching down the hallway. “Okay, what are we going to do?”

Jane paused before answering. “You and I are going to stop Chu. Right now.”

~

Sofia’s Task

S
ofia stood by the small cave leading to the elevator shaft, leaning back against the warm stone of the dusty canyon wall. Master George had asked her to wait there until he could speak to her; at the moment, he was explaining to Paul how to use the Sonic Hurricaner, the Shurric. Sofia had picked it up easily and destroyed three huge boulders in quick succession.

The Static Ragers fascinated her, though. She watched as a Realitant woman threw one along the ground with a quick jerk of her arm. A sharp crack filled the air, then a low rumble of thunder as the Rager rolled forward, gaining speed and size with every passing second. Everything in its path—dirt, mud, rocks, bushes—compacted together in a huge chunky sphere, snowballing as it rolled. When the Rager finally smashed into a test boulder, both objects exploded in a spectacular display of earthy fireworks.

Awesome,
Sofia thought. She couldn’t wait to hurl one at Chu himself.

Master George was walking toward her, shouting at the Realitants scattered around the riverside. “Everyone! Back up we go. We can’t spare another second!”

As the two dozen or so people gathered their weapons and headed for the elevator, Master George touched Sofia lightly on the arm, leading her out of earshot of the others.

“We must talk before you go,” he said in a low voice.

“Rutger told me you had something special you wanted me to do.”

Master George nodded, his mouth pursed with worry. “Indeed, my good Sofia, indeed.”

When he didn’t say anything more, Sofia said, “Well?”

“Ah, yes, sorry.” He pulled a tiny silver pen out of his pocket and held it up for her to see. It had no distinguishing features other than a clicker at the top and a small black clasp on the side for attaching it to a shirt pocket or notebook. “I felt I must trust
you
with this. Please take it—but don’t push the button.”

Sofia took it from his hand and held it with only the tips of two fingers, as if its surface might contain some poison. “What is it?”

“Well, it’s most certainly not a pen. Won’t write a single letter, I assure you.”

“I figured that much.”

Master George looked troubled, his mouth opening and closing several times before he finally explained. “We expect things to be quite . . . chaotic once you get to Chu’s industrial palace. Though you must do your part to fight whatever forces Chu might throw at you, I must ask you to consider that your second priority.”

“And the first?”

“Yes, yes, it’s difficult to say. Sofia, I need you to run through the chaos, get past Chu’s forces, and enter the main complex at all costs. Our spies will do their best to ensure the locking mechanisms and sealants are sabotaged when I give the signal. I need you to get in, locate Chu’s research and development laboratories, which is where I expect Master Atticus to be, and
find
our troubled friend.”

“Why? What am I supposed to do?”

“I’m afraid Tick may lose control of his powers when he confronts whatever Chu has planned for him. I fear it will be worse, far worse than anything that has happened during your adventures these past days. He may do irreparable damage—damage that could grow and trigger chain reactions, doing very nasty things to matter both there and in the other Realities if it seeps through the borders.”

Sofia felt a knot tighten in her stomach even before Master George said the next part.

“You need to find him, Sofia. You need to place the tip of that pen against his neck and push the button. It will traumatize his system terribly, sending him into a coma, but it will also block his body from his mind, his emotions, his anger and fear. That should cut him off from the massive surge of Chi’karda that I expect. But I promise you, Sofia, it will not kill him.”

Sofia felt a cyclone of emotions storm inside her—pride at being chosen for a special mission, fear of doing it, concern for Tick and his out-of-control powers, sadness that she’d have to inject him with something horrible. Though she felt it in her nature to argue, to push back, she didn’t. Master George was right. He
had
to be right.

“Okay,” she said, feeling like she should say more but unable to find the words.

Master George nodded with a satisfied look, then reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “I debated this within my heart for many hours, Sofia, as well as with Rutger and Mothball. But in the end, I knew it had to be you. It must be you. I know you will succeed, as surely as I know Muffintops is up there”—he pointed to the complex above—“hissing at every Realitant who steps off the elevator who isn’t me.”

Sofia smiled, then looked at the dangerous pen. Finally, she slid it into her pocket.

“Let’s go up now,” Master George said. “It’s time to send you off.”

~

It made Tick’s stomach turn to see the warped and twisted walls of the hallway. Some of the panels had melted completely into globs of metallic goo on the floor.
I did that,
he thought.
How is that possible?
He tried as best he could to quit looking and stared straight ahead at the never-ending corridor stretching before them.

He gripped the strap of his satchel.
I have to tell her. I have to.

“Um, Mistress Jane?”

She’d been quiet while they’d been walking; she looked over at him. “Yes? Sorry, just planning things out in my mind.”

“I need to tell you something.”

Her eyebrows shot up, appearing above the rim of her glasses. “Oh?”

“There’s something in this bag. Something I’m supposed to use against the Dark Infinity thing. An . . . antidote.”

Jane stopped, turned toward him. “An
antidote?
How did . . .” She trailed off, as if not sure what to ask.

“Master George got a sample from one of the infected people. Then he and Rutger figured out what to do. He said if I smash it against the device that’s sending out the nanowaves or whatever you call the stuff that’s controlling people’s minds, it’ll work its magic and destroy it. Somehow send the cure out to everyone. No clue how it works, but that’s what I was told.”

“Hmm.” Jane started walking again. Tick fell in line beside her. “Well, I guess that will make our task easier. But only a little—the hard part will be getting to Dark Infinity in the first place. There’s no telling how Chu’s going to react when he sees us both still alive, or what weapons he’ll use against us. Prepare yourself—I’m going to need every ounce of your . . .
abilities.
”

~

Sofia stood next to Paul, both of them in the long, single-file line of Realitants about to be sent to the Fourth Reality. Mothball was with them; she said she wouldn’t miss it if she had only one arm and leg. Rutger stood still and silent by the podium, looking somberly at the floor, while Master George paced back and forth, doing his best to give a pep talk.

“I needn’t say much,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back. “I know that all of you know the dire nature of the task ahead of you. Not only do we have a nanoplague running rampant through the Realities, but one of our own is on the verge of a catastrophic breakdown that could shatter the very substance of the Realities. Not to mention our dear friend, Sato, who is suffering so much in our own home. For them, for your families, for the people of your world and others, I ask you to do this thing.”

He quit pacing and turned to face the group. “I do not ask it lightly. But I also ask that you do not
take
it lightly. I send you with my utmost confidence in your abilities and in your strengths. I send you in the good graces of Chi’karda itself. May it be strong within you on this terrible, terrible day.”

He paused for a long moment, the room completely still. Then he turned and pulled his Barrier Wand off a shelf under the podium, its golden, cylindrical surface shining, the seven dials and switches preset and ready to go.

Rutger spoke. “Though it would be easier if you were all touching it, we have too many people for that, so it’s been programmed accordingly. We’ve checked and rechecked all of your nanolocators, and replaced the hijacked ones inside Paul and Sofia. We’ll be watching you closely.”

Sofia closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to quell the sickening swarm of butterflies in her stomach. The tranquilizer pen in her pocket bulged, feeling twenty times bigger than it should be and weighing a hundred pounds. She fingered the strap of her bag holding the Ragers, tightened her grip on the handle of the Shurric, its straps slung over both shoulders.

I’m ready,
she thought.
I can do this.

“Are you scared?” Paul whispered.