D. MacHale - The Reality Bug

The whole event took about a minute. With a final rush of air that sounded like the brakes on an eighteen-wheeler, times about a thousand, the base of the building settled onto the square on the ground. The ground shook with the deep rumble of an earthquake as the base touched down. We then looked up to see an eighty-story-tall skyscraper reaching vertically toward the sky. Its black skin sparkled with rainwater. There didn’t seem to be a single window in the whole structure. But at the base, looking like a flea on a dog, was a single doorway.

“Man,” I said. “This guy really makes it tough to pay a visit.”

“That must be the way in,” Loor said, pointing to the door. “Follow me.”

“Wait,” Aja said. “I should go back.” “Why?” I asked.

“It’s the Reality Bug,” she explained. “I have to keep putting up firewalls to keep it out of this jump. I need to be focused in the Alpha Core to do that.”

“What if we need you?” I asked.

“Believe me, Pendragon, you need me in the Alpha Core a lot more than you do here. If the Reality Bug gets into the alpha grid-“

“I get it,” I interrupted.

Aja looked to the ground. Something was troubling her. “What’s the matter?” I asked.

“I… I’m sorry, Pendragon,” she said softly. “I hate that I’ve put you and Loor in this position.”

“We’re here because we’re Travelers, Aja,” I said. “Don’t be sorry. Just keep that freakin’ Reality Bug away from us, okay?”

Aja nodded. She then reached out toward me. I think she wanted me to take her hand. I looked into her eyes and actually thought I saw compassion. Did Aja really care about me? A little while ago she hated that I had ever set foot on Veelox because she feared I would steal her thunder. What a difference a few death-defying escapes can make.

“I believe,” Aja said, “this is truly the way it was meant to be.”

I reached out toward her, but my hand passed right through hers. After all, she was only an image of herself.

“Good luck to you both,” she said sincerely. “I’ll be watching.”

She then disappeared in a ripple of light.

I stood there with my hand in the air, looking stupid.

“I believe she likes you,” Loor said.

I quickly put my hand in my pocket. How embarrassing was that? I really didn’t want Loor to think Aja and I had a “thing,” because we didn’t.

“Will you include that in your journal to Courtney Chetwynde?” she asked.

I couldn’t believe it. Loor was teasing me. “There’s nothing going on,” I assured her, though I think I said it with such force that she didn’t believe me.

“Very well,” Loor said. “You do not need to convince me.”

“Let it go, all right?” I said.

Loor looked up at the looming skyscraper. “He is in there somewhere,” she said.

“Right,” I added. “Let’s go find him.”

The two of us then walked together toward the small door that would lead us inside the strange, fantasy world of Dr. Zetlin, genius.

The creator of Lifelight.

(CONTINUED)

We stepped into a jungle.

I’m not kidding. It was a tropical rain forest full of palm trees, dense foliage, and mosquitoes. The ground beneath us was soft, dark dirt. The temperature had to be at least ninety degrees. It was so humid, my jumpsuit was already sticking to me. I swear I even heard the sound of a distant waterfall.

“How can this be, Pendragon?” Loor asked.

I turned back and saw the black door we had just entered through. We were definitely inside the strange building called the Barbican, but it sure as heck didn’t feel like we were indoors. I looked up expecting to see a ceiling, but all I saw was blackness. I half expected to see stars, but that would have been impossible. Then again, when you were inside the fantasy of a genius inventor, maybe nothing was impossible.

“This is Zetlin’s world,” I answered. “I think we have to be ready for anything.”

A narrow path cut through the thick foliage. It was the only way to go. Loor took the lead, pushing past me and walking boldly down the path to somewhere. It reminded me of the way she took the lead down in the dark mine tunnels of

Denduron. Only this time, neither of us had any idea where we were going.

Loor walked quickly, pushing away the leafy branches that hung over the trail. I had to hang back a few feet or I would have gotten whacked by the branches as they swung back after she passed.

“What was that?” she asked, stopping short.

I heard it too. It sounded as if something were scurrying around in the underbrush, but it was so dense, it was impossible to see anything. Whatever was in there, I sure hoped it was just as hard for it to see us, too. We stood there for a second, listening, but the only sound we heard was the drip of moisture falling from the large, leafy plants.

“Keep going,” I suggested.

Loor continued on. “What are we looking for?” she asked over her shoulder.

“I don’t know, but I bet we’ll know it when we see it.”

A minute later the path led us to a clearing in the jungle. It was a wide open, circular space that looked as if it had been cleared for a jungle campground. All the plant life had been neatly cut away in a circle. I could see the sliced-off ends of branches all around, as if somebody had come through with a monster weed whacker. We walked to the center of the clearing, and stopped when we both heard more rustling in the bushes. We shot each other a look. Something was definitely out there.

“Dr. Zetlin?” I called out.

No answer. No more rustling, either.

“What kind of place is this, Pendragon?” Loor asked.

“There are jungles like this on Second Earth,” I answered. “But Zetlin isn’t from Second Earth so I have no clue what to expect.”

At that exact instant, something shot out of the bushes. It was a long vine. But it was like it had been shot from a gun, because the vine flew right for us. Loor and I ducked back and the vine barely missed us. The end flew into the bushes on the far side and attached to something so that it stretched across the clearing like a rope.

Before we had the chance to react, another vine shot out the same way. Only this one flew behind us before attaching to a tree on the far side. Loor and I now stood between the two ropelike vines.

“Does this happen on Second Earth?” Loor asked.

“No, and I don’t like it. C’mon,” I said.

We ducked under the vine and ran for the far end of the clearing, where the path continued. As we ran, more vines shot from the bushes. They were coming fast now, shooting every which way-in front of us, over our heads, behind us. In seconds Loor and I were surrounded by a tangle of taut vines. They built up quickly in front of the trail, blocking our passage. There was only one way to describe what it looked like.

“Spiderweb,” I said.

As if on cue, we heard more rustling in the bushes. The sound was much louder now. Whatever was making it was coming our way. Loor and I both looked back to see movement at the far edge of the clearing. There were a bunch of places where the foliage moved, making way for whatever was coming.

I was dying to know what it was. On the other hand, I didn’t really want to die just to know what it was. If we were about to get attacked by a giant spider, I’d just as soon be someplace else. Loor didn’t waste time thinking. She lunged for the side of the clearing and grabbed a five-foot-long branch. It looked strong enough that in the right hands, it could do some damage.

Loor had the right hands.

“Whatever it is,” she announced, “if it charges, stay behind me.”

I think we were both expecting to see a wild animal come out of the underbrush. Instead, what pushed its way out, slithering along the ground, looked more like a big cactus. Seriously. It was some kind of plant. It actually looked kind of pretty. It had a tubular body that was green and covered with thorns. The head was actually a violet-colored flower. The bud was pretty big too, about the size of a beach ball. It had large petals that opened and closed, like it was breathing.