Cassia looked skeptically at Grit as he undid his belt in order to bind the new Thorn’s hands behind his back.
“Do you really think that’s necessary?” she asked. Grit paused to look over at her and nod his head.
“We don’t know if this Thorn is a friend or foe,” he stated. Cassia waited for more, but that seemed to be all he was willing to say. She sighed. She could, unfortunately, see the logic in what he was saying. Grit finished his task, then moved to the sink. Cassia walked to the doorway and peered out at the sand, and the ocean in the distance. It turned out that Thorn’s house had been the structure she’d seen. Though, it couldn’t really be called a house. It was more like a lean to with running water. There was a splash, and then a loud gasp from behind her.
“Who the hell are you people?” Thorn sputtered through the water Grit had poured on him. “You don’t look like IPF.” He was looking at Grit when he spoke, but the big army vet simply looked over at her and didn’t reply. Cassia stepped forward into Thorn’s line of sight.
“We’re not with the IPF,” she said, and Thorn visibly relaxed, though he continued to occasionally struggle against the belt.
“That’s good news,” he said, in his high pitched voice. “I always thought the IPF would be the ones to come through that stupid chair jumper.” He paused and narrowed his eyes at Cassia.
“If you’re not IPF,” he said, “then I ask again. Who the hell are you people?”
“Your saviors,” Cassia replied, perhaps a bit melodramatically. Thorn frowned in confusion as Grit rolled his eyes.
“The Singularity is tracking down Thorn copies,” she said, and Thorn blinked in surprise and stopped fidgeting.
“The Singularity?” he repeated, and Cassia nodded. The large man frowned in thought, then shook his head.
“You must be confused,” he said, to which Grit snorted a laugh. Thorn was undeterred and continued as if Grit hadn’t made any noise.
“The last time I checked on The Singularity, they were a small group. Only barely beginning to creep across universe’s. The Thorn’s agreed it was something to keep an eye on, but nothing to worry about yet.”
“Well, you should’ve worried,” Grit growled, and Thorn looked scared again.
“Have they…gotten bigger?” he asked, somewhat lamely. This time Cassia laughed.
“Big enough to have removed Thorn-41, and caused Thorn-53 to disappear into hiding. Does that count?” she asked. Still sitting awkwardly on the ground, the large Thorn turned pale, and slowly nodded.
“It has been…some time since I checked in with the Thorns,” he admitted. He was about to say more before a loud pounding on the door of the shack interrupted him.
“Open up, IPF!” came a muffled shout. Thorn looked up at Cassia, eyes wild, and seemed to make a decision.
“Untie me and I’ll talk to them,” he said, in a surprisingly calm voice. “The beach chair won’t do. You can take the chute to the garage, it’s in the closet. All of the vehicles are jumpers.” Cassia blinked in confusion, then decided to ignore Thorn’s insane sentence for the moment. The pounding on the door increased.
“You can come with us,” she said, but Thorn shook his head.
“Better the IPF than The Singularity,” he said. “At least this way I don’t have to fight myself to the death.” Cassia nodded to Grit, who removed his belt from around Thorn’s wrists and then helped him to his feet. Thorn took a deep breath.
“Good luck,” Grit said somberly, and Thorn gave him a curt nod. Cassia moved quickly to the back of the house, Grit right behind her. Just as she entered the tiny bedroom in the back, she heard Thorn open the door.
“Goodness fellas, can’t a guy use the toilet in peace these days?”
The bedroom closet was barely big enough to hold the rack of Hawaiian shirts hanging in it, and there were no doors. Cassia looked for any indication of the chute that Thorn had mentioned, but could find no visible buttons or levers.
“These shirts are huge,” she said, stepping fully into the tiny closet. As she did, the bottom of the closet slid open and she plunged into the dark void. She fell for what seemed like minutes, as the chute twisted and turned like a demented slide. Suddenly light appeared in the distance, growing rapidly bigger and brighter, and then she shot out of the shoot and into a pit of foam blocks. She could hear noise from the chute behind her, which meant Grit was probably on his way. Cursing under her breath at the difficulty, Cassia clambered her way out of the pit and then stood in stunned silence.
In front of her was an enormous garage, with several different vehicles. Also in front of her was a tall athletic woman in uniform. She had a weapon trained unwaveringly at Cassia’s chest, but Cassia was mostly distracted by the indigo shade of the woman’s skin. Behind her, she heard Grit fall into the foam pit. The woman cocked an eyebrow and stepped strategically so she could see Grit around Cassia. Her eyes widened, and she pulled a second weapon from her waistband to cover Grit.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Grit finally extricated himself from the pit, and groaned at the sight of the woman. She grinned back at him.
“Well, Chark save me, if it isn’t Robert Patterson,” she said, her voice strangely melodic. Grit did not reply. The woman’s uniform was short sleeved, and Cassia was staring at the exposed skin on her arms. What she had initially assumed were tattoos looked more like tiny cracks in her skin, yet there was definitely a pattern there. Cassia would’ve sworn that they were glowing, almost like a bioluminescent ocean creature.
“Miss Moreng,” the woman said, turning to Cassia. “My name is Detective Tek K’Nani of the Interversal Police Force, and you are under arrest for illegal universe hopping and grand scale theft.” Grit seemed like he might protest, but K’nani arched an eyebrow at him and he remained silent. She looked at Cassia.
“Will you surrender peacefully?” she asked, studying Cassia’s face. Cassia’s brain was examining the angles of escape. They had superior numbers, but it was almost certain that one of them would be shot in the process.
“Cassia, don’t.” Grit’s voice broke her train of thought. “Detective K’Nani is one of the IPF’s best. She will shoot both of us.” He spoke with his eyes focused on K’Nani, who smiled at him again.
“You know her?” Cassia whispered to Grit. He nodded once, but declined to give her any other response.
“Thank you for that glowing review, Mr. Patterson,” K’Nani said, in her musical voice. “Now, Miss Moreng, if you would please turn around.” Cassia turned and allowed the woman to put some sort of metallic binding on her hands, which were behind her back. She did the same to Grit, and then stepped back and spoke quietly into a device on her wrist. Then she looked at Cassia.
“Where is the Pathfinder?” she asked. Cassia was surprised. So far the other woman had seemed mysterious, and almost all knowing. She shrugged.
“What Pathfinder?” she replied, and K’Nani chuckled.
“It will greatly benefit you, Miss Moreng, to cooperate,” said the detective, leaning forward to be inches from Cassia’s face. “We know you stole the Pathfinder. Now where is it?” Cassia held her gaze for a moment, and then gave it up.
“We left that behind a jump or two ago,” she said vaguely, but also mostly truthfully. “It’s not here.” K’Nani’s lips tightened, but she seemed to believe the answer. She stepped back and appraised her captives.
“I assume your answer is the same for the whereabouts of Melissa Alfaro?” she asked. Cassia nodded, and the detective sighed heavily before speaking quietly into her wrist device again. Then she turned to Grit.
“And what is your part in all this?” she asked him. Grit stared silently at her for a moment.
“I helped them steal the Pathfinder,” he finally replied, and K’Nani almost immediately started shaking her head.
“You know I did, Tek,” Grit said in his growly voice. K’Nani leaned in close, and Cassia had to strain to hear.
“Don’t do this, Grit. You shouldn’t be here, this goes beyond -” the woman cut off as she realized Cassia was listening in. She straightened up.
“You will both be transported to Earth One for questioning,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact. “Unless either of you can provide information on the Pathfinder or Melissa Alfaro.” As she spoke, she punched a button on her wrist device, and the shiny black vehicle at the other end of the room roared to life.
“Wait,” Cassia said, and K’Nani turned to face her. She clearly hadn’t been expecting anything from either of them.
“I can provide you with Melissa Alfaro,” Cassia continued. She saw Grit frown in her peripherals.
“Ok, where is she?” Detective K’Nani asked, but Cassia shook her head.
“I don’t know exactly where she is, but I can find her. In exchange, you let Grit and I walk away.” K’Nani pursed her lips in thought.
“And the Pathfinder?” she asked. Cassia nodded.
“I use the Pathfinder to track down and deliver Mel, then return it to you,” she offered. The detective considered this for a moment. Then, abruptly, she nodded.
“Deal,” she said, “But I’m not just going to let you walk out of here, free to go back on your word and disappear into the multiverse.” In one quick motion, she holstered one of her weapons, and then reached out and spun the barrel on the remaining one. It clicked into place and then she shot Cassia without warning.
Instinctively, Cassia ducked, but the small projectile hit her in the arm. Immediately, she could feel her body start to heal the tiny pinprick, and the projectile clattered to the floor. K’Nani raised her eyebrows, seeming almost impressed. Then she smoothly turned and fired at Grit. The silver projective hit him in the arm as well, but this time it rapidly burrowed into his skin and disappeared.
“That little silver bug will track you across the multiverse,” explained K’Nani. “Don’t think I won’t be watching for any funny business. If I don’t see progress soon, you’re both going back to Earth One.” She pushed another button on the wrist device, and the bonds around their wrists fell to the floor.
“Better get started right away,” she said, then turned on her heel and paced back to her vehicle. Cassia and Grit watched her until the vehicle sped away with a loud roar. Eventually, Cassia looked at Grit.
“What the hell just happened?” she said. Grit shrugged.
“Tek - Detective K’Nani is the best hunter of illegal hoppers that the IPF has,” he replied. “Apparently they really don’t want Mel out there, and they also must be pretty attached to that ship.”
“Speaking of ships,” Cassia said, sweeping an arm to the open garage. “Which one should we take?” She wandered through the vehicles. There were a handful of sports cars, and a truck. There was even a bright pink ice cream truck that she rejected as being too noticeable. Grit was standing next to a dark green SUV, which seemed subtle enough. Cassia joined him and climbed into the driver’s seat. She checked the glove compartment for keys as Grit settled in next to her. The compartment was empty, but then she pulled down the sun visor and the keys fell in her lap. She looked over at Grit.
“Guess he’s not too concerned about security,” she said with a grin. “Shall we?” Cassia could feel the car vibrating slightly beneath her, ready tlo jump universes. Grit looked worried.
“Cassia, you shouldn’t have made that deal with her,” he said. “She’s not going to let you out of it.”
“Who says I’m going to try and get out of it?” Cassia said, and Grit’s eyes narrowed.
“You mean, you’re just going to hand Mel back over to the IPF?” he asked, his voice a dangerous grumble. “You only needed her to get the ship and now she’s expendable?” Cassia sighed.
“Calm down, big guy,” she said. “I did what I had to. Being taken back to Earth One would’ve been a disaster. We have to find the Weft and Warp.” Grit nodded slowly, but he still looked unconvinced.
“Just…be careful with Tek,” he said, not realizing he again used the detective’s first name. “She’s good at what she does.”
“So am I,” Cassia replied determinedly. She couldn’t help but notice that, while Grit had furrowed his brow when talking about the detective, he’d also sounded somewhat proud. Cassia shrugged. It was a problem for another time. She flipped the sun visor back up and jumped.