As they flew around the next corner Shane announced, “I know where we are now. If we keep going this way I have a customer who lives here. If he’s at home maybe we can borrow his car.” They all followed Shane to a nice looking semi-detached house. There were no vehicles visible on the driveway, but he ran to the front door and rang the bell, which proceeded to play the funeral march.
“Morbid.” Belinda looked at Shane.
“I like to see him as a unique client.” Shane shrugged.
The door opened and out came a fifty-year-old man with very little hair up top, but a huge caterpillar of a moustache on his lip. “Shane, what’s going on? How come you’re in my neck of the woods?” He greeted Shane with an American slap down of a handshake.
“Listen Brian, I need to borrow Bessie. I wouldn’t ask but it’s a life and death situation.”
“Sure, she’s out back. I was just giving her a bath. Come and get her and tell me about your lady friend?” Brian winked at Belinda as he and Shane walked into the house together.
Within a flash the garage door started to open and there was Bessie, with Shane in the driving seat.
“That has to be the most hideous thing I’ve ever seen,” Belinda said her mouth gaping open.
“It’s an imported Dodge Nitro. It’s cool, Belinda, honest.” Jason pulled her along. “Sorry, I’m with Belinda on this one, and what colour is that?” Fran followed.
“Canary yellow,” Val said, joining the others as they climbed into the truck.
“Everyone got their belts on?”
They all chorused ‘yes’ and Shane pulled away, leaving Brian in the empty garage doorway waving.
Daniel’s arrival went completely undetected; Eva’s cloaking spell had worked. He was scared, but knew what was expected of him and now Wendy was dead he had no reason to care if he got caught or not. He watched for a moment as very short people scurried around him, oblivious to his presence, then he headed towards a wall. It only took him a few minutes to work out how people were accessing the next level. He swiped his bracelet and the door opened.
“So, what will they do with him now he’s been captured?” one guard said to another as they passed. Daniel froze against the wall.
“Don’t know. I’m just amazed that a girl caught him; after twenty-three eleven failed his daughter captured the elusive twenty-three twelve. That’s one for the books,” he laughed.
“What have they done with him?”
“Well, it seems that her hunter, the nutty one, has him waiting to go and meet with the Warden. I’ve heard they are going to extract him tonight without a trial. Someone is going to have to be very careful if that happens.” They both nodded, then parted going in their separate directions.
Daniel pulled out the map Eva had given him. Two more corridors and he would be there. He heard more voices coming towards him.
“So she’s real. Well, I’m shocked they have brought her here so soon. You know what happened the last time someone like that got all the way to Judge too early.”
Daniel waited for them to pass before he stepped out towards the next wall. It was full of wispy lights and he recognised the prisoners from Flo’s descriptions. She had also explained to him that as soon as he had Lailah, alarms would sound and he would be in serious danger. He had also been told it would be worth it. He made it to the end of the wall, glanced at the map and realised that the box he wanted was being guarded. He crept up as close as he could get.
“So, they want us to guard Lailah for our whole shift.” The guard standing in front of her box seemed most unimpressed. “I was supposed to go and visit the Monahan planet today. That means that my arrests will be put on hold and those slimy creatures give me a terrible rash.” The guard next to him gave his agreement just for a little peace.
Daniel would need to get them out of the way. He didn’t enjoy hurting people. He pulled a ten pence coin out of his pocket and threw it towards the corner. One guard turned and started to make his way over to investigate. Daniel sneaked up on the stationary guard. He grabbed his arm, and as the volts ran through him, Daniel gently lowered him to the ground.
“Sixty-five, what’s wrong?” asked the first guard, returning to find his partner on the floor. He crouched to take his pulse, but before he had time to sound an alarm he suffered the same fate.
Daniel knew from practise that this type of attack would give him on average ten minutes head start. He fumbled through the guard’s pockets and pulled out a circular disk. He held in front of Lailah’s cell. “Hi, my name’s Daniel, and I’m here to set you free. You need to come with me. Delta, Eva and Flo are waiting for you on Earth.” He flashed the disc and listened to the sound of oxygen rushing into a space that had been void. The wisp of light flickered in his face. He knew Lailah wouldn’t take him; she needed him to escape, plus she was a female. “We need to leave now. Flo gave me this.” Daniel pulled out the small glass vial; she said you could travel inside it.” He pulled the top off and Lailah’s spirit willingly entered.
He put her into his pocket as the alarms started to sound. Warning cries seemed to come from all over the building and all of a sudden it dawned on him, that he was on another planet, in another galaxy. He held the wall for a second, trying to get his bearings. Now wasn’t the time to feel sick. “Ok, let’s get out of here.” He tapped his pocket making sure she was still there.
The alarms seemed to be getting louder. “Get the viewer, now. Someone is hidden!” a guard only a few feet from Daniel bellowed his orders. As he crept along the wall he wondered if this viewer was like night vision goggles. How wrong could one person be? Out of one of the doors came a guard with what looked like a large hairless dog. The difference was it had no eyes, not even holes for eyes. Daniel felt his breath catching in his throat. It was an ugly looking beast. No one had warned him about this! If he had to fight, he would, but these looked seriously vicious.
The guard bent down to the creature. “Find me something that I can’t see. Now go.” The animal snapped and growled with impatience. He let it off his lead and it began its search. Daniel knew this was extremely dangerous and ran, throwing himself at the nearest wall waving his bracelet frantically. A door opened and he fell through it, shoving it closed with his foot. He needed to get back to the portal and fast.
Delta was pacing the flat. “Please stop. Walking up and down like that isn’t going to make him arrive any quicker,” Eva said raking through the few clothes Val had in her room. “This girl has no taste. No wonder she’s such a flake. You should have seen her with Excariot. They were all:
I’m the most powerful
and
no you’re not
. It was pathetic. I have to say I’ll miss him; it was fun while it lasted.”
“Shut up!” Delta shouted. “You know nothing about Excariot or Val. You were taken as a child and shoved into some crazy mumbo jumbo so that you could learn to use your inner powers for evil. You know nothing of what Daniel and I had to endure, what we had to do just to get back here, and when Lailah arrives you will see what real power is.”
“I’ve missed her,” Flo said from the bed where she was plaiting the unconscious Yassmin’s hair.
“What’s she like?” Eva asked.
“She’s magical, more than that bunch of losers. She’s a warrior and God help anyone who stands in her way.” Flo laughed from her gut.
“Enough!” Delta wanted them to shut up. “Just be quiet. I can’t concentrate. That spell had better have worked.” She shot Eva a threatening glance.
“It will. I’ve been working on it for Excariot for over five years; it’s perfect.”
“Pray it does.” She started pacing again.
Daniel found himself in a room filled with bodies. He jumped to his feet. He’d seen someone dead before, when they lived in the past, but this was different. They were piled high, stacked in clear boxes. It was like one of those toyshops Delta had shown him on their return. ‘Very large dolls’ he thought. They didn’t look decomposed; they looked perfect. He walked around the room; it was endless. The boxes were mounted in rows almost to the ceiling. He headed towards the voices in the distance, if there was an exit he needed to find it. He knew his time was running out.
“So, which one do you think they’ll give him.” A large dirty-looking individual asked another equally dirty-looking man.
“I would go for a forty-three,” he laughed, holding his belly.
“That’s cruel. I think it would have to be a seventy-eight, he deserves at least that.” They were now both almost on their knees.
“Whatever they do, we will have the pleasure of sticking Excariot the guard into a clone’s body.” They both nodded.
Daniel now understood what he was looking at. Flo had told him all about the prisoners and how they were removed from their bodies and placed into clones, but he could never have imagined the enormity of it until now. He pressed on, walking past the men and keeping as close to the wall as he could. A doorway opened and in walked a very small woman and the men instantly stood to attention.
“The Warden will need a number seventeen for tonight. This is confidential information and I will deal with you severely if this gets out.” She said her piece, turned and walked out. Daniel was hot on her heels, just making it though the gap. He was back! He recognised the guards. “Just one more level, mate,” he said to himself.
The sirens now started here. They weren’t as loud as Daniel had feared, but the reaction of the guards was extreme. They all moved in an orderly fashion to the walls as the man who had released the Viewer came in, his eyeless companion on his heels sniffing everything. Daniel’s heart was pounding. He had to make it out; that thing looked like it was ready to tear him apart.
“The viewer has made it here, so we know the person we’re looking for is in this area. Does anyone have a clue how this has happened?” He walked up and down the rows, looking the guards directly in the eyes as the doglike thing sniffed at their legs and feet.
“You!” he poked a guard in the chest.
“Yes sir,” he answered quickly.
“Have you seen anything suspicious, heard any rumours about anything you want to tell me and my friend here?” He patted the creature on the head.
“I know nothing, Sir.”
“Well, you had better find this thing because it has the princess of the Ranswar, and you know what will happen if she escapes!” His voice had risen to a scream.
Daniel wasn’t sure if he had heard correctly, but he thought he had said
princess
. Delta had never mentioned that fact that she was a princess. He must be wrong. Then he spotted his break. One of the small people was going through a doorway, pushing with no obvious effort an extremely large odd-looking thing. It had what looked like a small head on top of an enlarged body. It was shocking, but he saw an opportunity and took it, sliding through the door.
The trail of stench the alien had left made his stomach churn. He heard the screams of the man with the Viewer to: “Shut the door, no portals in or out should be allowed to work until this hidden one has been found, by orders of the Warden himself.”
Daniel needed to find his portal and fast. If they shut them down he would be Viewer meat for sure. He looked at them all, his height now an advantage. “All portals are to be closed. Please send messages to your designated guards and hunters; all portals are closing.” A woman walked around shouting the message.
“Which one?” Now he was really worried. He pulled out his map. It had nothing to show which one it was.
“What about your precious, Val?” one of the small people said to a woman who was standing near a portal.
“She’ll be fine. Zac’s here with Excariot, so he can take the message to her on his return.” She smiled and pressed a button to close her portal.
Daniel leapt for it. If there was more than one Val he would deal with it on the other side.
“You made it!” Delta grabbed him as he arrived.
“Yes, but only just.” Daniel took a breath.
“Shut the door!” Flo hollered from the bed.
“Alright, keep your body on.” Delta closed the door. “Wake up the girl.”
Flo tapped Yassmin on the face. “Hello. Wake up now; it’s time.”
Yassmin slowly started to come round to find a little blonde girl smiling at her. “Who are you? Am I still in the bookshop?” She sat up.
“I’m Flo and yes you are. And now, after four hundred years of being a prisoner you’re the one we have chosen to be a vessel for our beloved Lailah.”
“I don’t think so.” Yassmin tried to stand up but Eva pushed her back down.
“This won’t hurt.”
Daniel came toward her with the bottle. Yassmin backed up the bed toward the wall. He pulled off the top and the wisp escaped. It closed in on Yassmin.
“Please don’t do this.” She looked at Daniel who for a second seemed to have a flicker of doubt, but then it was gone. The light danced in front of Yassmin’s eyes. She pulled away, but after a few spins it was as if she had been hypnotised. Yassmin’s body slumped forward onto the bed and the light gently landed on her like a feather falling from the sky.
Daniel had been expected something more violent and was pleased that it seemed so gentle. That was until Yassmin’s body started to vibrate.
“What’s happening?” he asked Delta.
“Don’t worry, this is normal. Everyone, surround the bed. I don’t want this body to be damaged in any way. Her arrival must be perfect,” she ordered as they all moved to surround the bed containing the shaking Yassmin.
It seemed to last forever, but Daniel was glad when it stopped. The body lay lifeless on the bed. “Is she ok?” Daniel leant forwards.
“I’m fine.” Yassmin’s body replied. She pulled herself up onto all fours then slowly she lowered herself onto her heels. Surveying the room, she took each person in. “Delta, I have missed you so much.” She pulled herself up, placing her feet firmly onto the floor.
“And I have missed you,” Delta replied. “It’s been too long.”
Yassmin’s body then turned to Flo. “Still stuck hiding in the little girl’s body. Shame on you, Sliyig,” she laughed.
“I like this body; it keeps me safe, and my name is Flo.” She put her hands on her hips.