Derrick kept his expression calm as he walked along the sidewalk back through Dallas. His pace was nonchalant, his steps even, but Derrick’s mind was firing rapidly in a panic. He had immediately changed his appearance and his mind was working overtime to keep shaggy black hair, dark brown eyes, and several heavy wrinkles in place. He tried to think through what he’d seen. The shootout was an all too familiar experience but the appearance of what seemed to be an IPF agent was jarring. Not just because she appeared to be a species of human he’d never encountered but she knew Grit. What the hell was going on?
Derrick slowed, realizing he’d picked up pace and feeling his hold on his hair slip. He took a deep, centering breath. Then he looked down at Tango. He sighed shallowly and continued walking for another three blocks. With distance came some clear-headedness and he could tell his control of his features was much stronger. Derrick felt the relief throughout his body and his jaw untensed.
He took in his surroundings carefully then walked purposefully across a parking lot and along a small access road between a sporting goods store and a movie theater. Feeling foolish, he bent down and spoke to the pangolin.
“I need to go inside, so I need you to wait right here for me.” Derrick searched the creature's unusual face for a hint of understanding. Tango sat down and a tongue nearly as long as his body slithered out and hung to the ground between them. Derrick rubbed his eyes slowly, then turned back to head through the front doors of the sports store.
The blast of air conditioning as he entered was welcome. He wiped a streak of sweat from his forehead, realizing for the first time just how hot it was outside and made a mental note to buy a water bottle for Tango. Derrick ran through what he thought he would need quickly then set off around the store and was back out in ten minutes, now with a duffle bag slung over one shoulder. Inside, Derrick had stored several protein bars, a few water bottles, a pair of gloves, a hunting knife, a flashlight, and the sport coat he had finally removed.
Back in the alley, Derrick found Tango eating the remains of a cup of noodles from a nearby dumpster. Derrick’s nose scrunched slightly in disgust and then he pulled out the notebook that he usually kept tucked into his breast pocket. Flipping through, he found his notes on Earth-6.
“Hm, Thorn here is in Venezuela. Don’t think we can get there easily.” He muttered to nobody in particular while Tango rolled on a folded up cardboard box. “Then again, if Mel and Kevin are back anything is possible. Let’s go Tango.”
Derrick took up a more brisk pace. Having a plan was good, it kept the mind focused. Derrick, more than anyone, needed to keep his mind sharp. He liked the face he’d chosen after escaping from his Earth but it was still exhausting to keep it up at all times. Mental distractions like emotions or panic or dark, terrible memories didn’t help. Within the hour he found his way back to the abandoned industrial lot where they had landed the Pathfinder and was filled with relief to see the familiar black hull. He poked his head through the open hatch with a slight smile before the near empty interior decimated his optimism.
“Where…” He trailed off looking at Elaine’s tear stained cheeks.
“They didn’t get on in time!” Her eyes were large wet pools as she sat curled up in the middle of the floor. Derrick watched silently as Tango hopped into her lap and began licking at her cheeks.
Derrick plopped into the captain seat nearby and exhaled. Turning to the front of the Pathfinder, he ran his hand along the console’s surface hoping for some reaction. When nothing happened, he took a steadying breath and turned to Elaine.
“Right now, it’s you, me, and this creature. I’m not sure if any of the others will be able to meet us here. I’ve got some supplies that will last a night, we can wait till morning and see if anyone shows up but then we need to move. This little crew seems to have pissed off a few entities in the last few days and I’d rather not be here when they find the ship.”
Elaine nodded quietly and wiped at the streaks on her face. Even this vague plan seemed to jostle her out of despair and she stood to move to one of the ship’s cushioned benches.
“A little more comfortable?”
Elaine nodded in response and lifted Tango to her lap.
“Alright then, one night.”
----------------------------------------
“Here, you should eat a little.” Derrick passed Elaine a protein bar and took a long drink of water. The evening had been uneventful and they’d both slept fitfully. At the very least, it seemed the Pathfinder was climate controlled and it had kept the interior at a nice even temperature. Now that morning had come with none of their companions showing up, Derrick was even more sure of himself. “When you’re done we should get moving. Cassia and Grit had a run in with the IPF, I’m not sure what the deal was there but I know where we should go for information. I think the Switchboard on this Earth is in Atlanta.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“What’s a switchboard?” Elaine asked around a mouthful of granola.
“The Switchboard is a communication network. Some people use it to send messages between Earths but more importantly, they track any interversal news. They keep all the IPF records they can get on file. If Cassia and Grit were arrested, that’s our best bet to find out.” Derrick gestured outside. “If we can find a ride to Atlanta anyways.”
Elaine nodded and stood to exit the Pathfinder and Derrick followed. Outside, they watched as the vehicle’s entry sealed itself shut and the whole thing rippled into its now familiar camouflage. With a sigh, Elaine turned and walked towards the main road. As the pair reached the sidewalk they abruptly stopped as a gray sedan squealed to a halt across the street from them.
Derrick’s carefully kept expression broke slightly into concern as a nearly exact copy of the woman standing next to him stepped out of the vehicle. He looked from Elaine to her Pinnacle and frowned. Elaine’s eyes were wide with fear and Derrick was concerned she might collapse on the spot. At his feet Tango made a snorting sound and seemed to rear back. As Pinnacle Elaine took a step towards them, a wicked smile grew across her face and she pulled a pair of sharp stiletto knives from somewhere within the folds of her black vest.
Derrick risked a glance over his shoulder, the Pathfinder was safely tucked around the corner of an abandoned factory and even its near invisible shimmering was well out of sight. He thought they might be able to run for it, Pinnacle Elaine was certainly taking her time crossing to them. She seemed the type that would want to play with her food. He grabbed Elaine by the wrist and tugged her into a run towards the ship and heard a sharp laugh over his shoulder.
“Nowhere to hide, little rabbits!” Pinnacle Elaine’s voice sounded the same, but there was an eerie sharpness, a clinical calm that was unsettling. As they rounded the corner, Derrick chanced a glance back at her. Pinnacle Elaine was still walking but at a faster pace. Her twisted smile curled at the edges and she twirled her daggers as she approached.
“Please open. Please!” Elaine reached the Pathfinder and felt around the hull frantically but it remained shut and partially camouflaged, the spaces under her hands rippling into a cold steel briefly at her touch.
“Stay spread out, keep her having to look in two directions.” Derrick issued the command to Elaine calmly and pulled a rolled up leather case from his duffle bag before sliding it towards the Pathfinder. His hands moved quickly, unrolling the leather case and producing a syringe which he filled from a separate vial. Turning quickly in a fighting stance, the syringe held in a fist, Derrick was barely ready in time as Pinnacle Elaine came around the corner and jabbed forward swiftly. Derrick skipped back a step and the stiletto knife caught nothing but air. Tango snapped towards her heels and she kicked the pangolin hard enough to send him rolling across the lot. Elaine, despite being clearly terrified, at least took his instruction and fanned out to the right looking around desperately for anything to use as a weapon.
While Elaine grabbed for a chunk of broken concrete, Pinnacle Elaine continued to press towards Derrick as he feinted and dodged away from her flurry of jabs. Derrick was quick and had trained for hand to hand combat but Pinnacle Elaine was clearly a killing machine. Derrick tried to create space by swiping with his syringe but it was clear she could tell the strikes were aimless. And despite the sound strategy of surrounding her, Pinnacle Elaine spared no attention for her counterpart. She obviously didn’t have a shred of respect for this “lesser” version of herself.
“Elaine, now!” Derrick shouted through gritted teeth as he dodged around the backside of the Pathfinder trying to get some space from the stabbing blades. He could feel searing pain from a number of cuts along his arms where he’d been just fast enough to avoid severe injury. Fighting back the pain and surging with adrenaline, Derrick could feel his hold on his physical features slipping. A lock of red hair streaked across his head before returning to blonde, he felt stubble bloom on his chin and blinked hard to retain control. They’d looped around the ship and were fighting back towards Elaine who was now standing with a hunk of concrete in front of her. Shaking her head, she flung it awkwardly and Pinnacle Elaine laughed as it went wide of her head and clanged off the hull of the Pathfinder.
A charge ran through the air, a strange wave of current emanating off the Pathfinder where the concrete had hit it. A small shock of electricity, some kind of defensive measure, fizzled in the air directly around the ship. Pinnacle Elaine turned curiously towards the disturbance, unaffected, but the distraction was just enough. Derrick dove forward, thrusting the needle into her thigh. She ripped away from him quickly, only half the syringe emptied but the movement caused her shoulder to bump the Pathfinder and there was a horrific sizzling as the voltage building around the ship was directed into her body.
Before she could even cry out, she dropped to the ground, writhed for a moment, then was still. Blackened charring centered on her shoulder spread down her arm and up her neck. Her eyes were rolled back and trickles of blood were running out of her nose and ears. Derrick exhaled slowly, crouched a few feet away from the corpse. He glanced up at Elaine who stood shocked, with one hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide.
Derrick gathered up the two knives that Pinnacle Elaine had dropped, but without sheaths he couldn’t figure out a proper way to store them and let them clatter back to the pavement. He watched Elaine warily, unsure of exactly how she’d take watching herself die. Tango limped back to the pair and licked at Elaine’s ankle and to Derrick’s surprise a laugh erupted from her mouth. She turned to him with a widening smile and tears in her eyes.
“She’s dead. I can’t believe that bitch is finally dead.” She continued her laugh crying and slowly sat on the pavement scritching Tango under the neck. Derrick let himself crack a slight smile and patted her on the shoulder gently.
“Not out of the woods yet, but at least she brought us a car.”