‎Chapter 23: Nothing can go wrong

The students jumped from one poor cover to the next in the sparsely grassed clearing with the boxes that had just been unloaded and were mostly already open. But that didn't stop some of them from complaining loudly: "Three meters long! Three-meter-long bugs with the energy signature of aircraft carriers simply walked through our sensor perimeter unnoticed!"

Leonardo flinched guiltily under the angry gaze of his buddy Archeron: "They didn't meet the specifications."

"Didn't meet the specifications?"

"I had programmed it to match the appearance of our opponents to minimize false alarms."

The two ducked deeper into the ground behind the overturned folding table as a tree just a dozen meters away suddenly burst into flames. An answer of fireballs, ice lances and machine-gun fire thundered back into the forest from several directions. Leo peered cautiously over his meagre cover and saw a van-sized shape break sideways into the undergrowth, visible only through outlines in the fire and sparkling flashes of weapon fire.

"There's one..." he glanced at the screen of his cell phone. With just one thumb, he quickly typed a few changes into the monitoring system. After he had typed the first ten letters, the AI completed the rest of the changes and the small screen showed a sketch of his location and two flashing dots. One of which was moving away into the forest.

"There are three of them. Damn. We've got to get rid of the critters before Norman and the others arrive. Luckily we still have time."

One of the devices lying on the floor began to beep rhythmically.

Archeron grinned broadly at him: "That means they're here, right?"

"Something whose Warshok constant corresponds to this dimension here is definitely on the other side of this portal access. So yes, it's them. I hope they're not in a hurry, two of the energy projectors and the generator aren't set up yet. Perfect timing, actually. If the giant beetles hadn't shown up, we would have been ready right now. Let the others know to drive the bugs back."

"I think they're already doing that anyway..." He threw himself full face into the grass as a torn off car door flew by ten feet in the air. ".. At least they're trying."

*

Norman had become accustomed to the weightlessness by now and was almost relaxed as he hurtled through the cosmic maintenance tunnels. The watch gave another command and he and the two others turned elegantly into another turn-off, flying in formation. By now, he hardly had to consciously concentrate to maintain speed. He was already thinking about whether he should invite Jane back to the university first. Or perhaps now, while they were still on the road? It was actually too embarrassing for him with Horst next to him, but on the other hand Horst was currently completely absent and switched off, so to speak. Well, WATCH saw and heard everything. But he shouldn't have any inhibitions about a watch. It was damn intelligent, but it was just a machine. Nevertheless...

Somewhat confused, he saw a flat wall appear in front of him in the distance and... approaching very quickly. It took him a while to readjust his brain to the current situation. And then a few more seconds to remember how to brake. Horst lagged behind him, closely followed by Jane, who was obviously less distracted. Did she like him?

With an extreme effort of will, he braked and came to a halt just a few meters from a smooth wall. A dead end! He turned excitedly to Horst: "Are we there?"

"Positive. There is maximum agreement between the environmental signature and the Warshok constant of the university. Our mere presence should already be generating a resonant vibration that can be perceived on the other side."

"We're saved!" Jane decided to hug Horst in her excitement, which made Norman a little envious.

"Now we just have to wait for the others to open a portal..." Norman could guess what Jane would say now and resisted the impulse to put a hand over her mouth, to stop her somehow. He knew it wouldn't change anything. She wasn't conjuring up disaster. But instinctively he knew that they were far from safe. He looked around, somewhat paranoid, as she continued to speak without noticing his reaction: "... Nothing can go wrong now."

Perhaps it was superstition, but when he heard the words, he knew it wouldn't be that easy. Then, quietly, almost hesitantly, the emotionless voice of the watch rang out: "The energy signatures of the beings from earlier... I'm locating them again at maximum detection range."

Norman nodded resignedly, "How long until they get here?"

"Assuming their speed hasn't changed and they're following us on a direct path... About seven minutes."

Norman laughed with relief: "Phew... I was really worried for a moment. But Leonardo said he'd only need three minutes at most to open the portal when we got there. Then we just have to wait and see."

*

"So, what does he say?" Piri struggled to stop himself from jumping up and down with nervousness. But in doing so, he would have jumped from his cover, almost directly behind the invisible thing that was plowing through the undergrowth and whose outline was clearly visible through the numerous branches and creepers clinging to it.

Asleif tapped annoyed against the communicator on his helmet: "I can't get a connection. The damn thing is emitting heavy interference signals across all radio frequencies. We have to retreat."

"Why is that? We have the perfect chance to stab this thing in the back!"

"Without backup? And without anyone even knowing we're here? If something happens to us, we'll end up bleeding to death in the bushes. Without anyone even suspecting that we left our sector to follow this thing."

"It disappeared from the sensors right in front of us. That means it's figured out how to jam them. They are invisible. And while the two or three others stumble through the forest like beacons, the giant beetle here will overrun them without warning. There are dozens of students who will die if we don't warn them. And since we can't do that, we have to stop it."

"Suicide. Lasers are more than ineffective, the critter is probably strong enough to send them right back at us. I've long since used up the last explosive grenade. And the field blade grenade only works in confined spaces. So what are we supposed to do anyway?"

"Don't you have a knife or something? Damn! You're well over two meters tall and built like a bulldozer. Just rip the beast's legs off!"

"I can't even see if it has legs! Besides, that would be far too dangerous!"

"I'll see if I can see his life energy: Aura vision!" He moved his hands over his eyes in a choppy gesture.

"So?"

"Wow. Definitely a living being. Almost glowing with vitae. Seems to be composed of a bunch of bright dots, but I can't see exactly why. Six legs. No, seven... six again... The thing changes shape as it pleases. It doesn't matter. It's alive, then you can kill it. I can kill it."

Asleif looked down over half a meter to his small and lanky battle companion: "You?"

"When I bite open its astral body, the life energy flows out and it dies."

"What are you talking about?"

Piri concentrated for a moment, then jerked his mouth open. The previously harmless canines snapped a good three centimetres out of the gums. The veins on his arms puffed out and suddenly stood out clearly under his pale skin. The spell he now muttered was a little indistinct due to the change in his teeth, but the effect was still unmistakable. Cat-like claws extended from his twisted fingers. He nodded to Asleif one last time, then ran off.

Increasing in speed, it raced skillfully towards a relatively bare, sloping tree that the beetle had just overrun. It then leapt onto it, scurrying along between the remains of the broken branches. The end of the tree had wedged itself into the undergrowth and was a good three meters above the ground when Piri jumped off, sailed through the air and then crashed into his opponent like an angry cat in mid-air. The claws rammed into the rounded back of the invisible man in a wide embracing gesture as he rammed his teeth into his body with full force.

With the spell still in effect, Piri saw exactly how it shredded the creature's aura and poured out life energy. Then the wound, which would otherwise be fatal to any creature, closed again. He blinked in irritation. That was impossible. Once a creature's aura was destroyed, it inevitably died. Depending on the severity of the injury, it sometimes took minutes, sometimes days, but ultimately the victim withered away from the constant loss. Unless they had inflicted the injury themselves with magic in a controlled manner and learned the appropriate techniques to channel life energy into healing magic.

He took another bite and took a close look at the result. What had previously appeared to be a single aura disintegrated around the wound into individual creatures that made up the beetle. Around the deadly opening in the aura, the connections separated, so that although some of the partial beings died in small spark explosions, the whole was left with an intact aura. Distracted by this sight, he noticed too late that the two rearmost legs bent upwards, changed shape and cut into his back as scorpion stings.

Asleif saw the little vampire hanging in the air among the leaves and ivy and could see exactly how two holes suddenly opened up under both of his shoulder blades, spraying blood in all directions. But only a single gush, then the bleeding stopped again. Another two holes opened up. Piri pulled back his teeth briefly to let out a bloodcurdling roar, then he bit down again. And again.

When the third pair of wounds appeared in Piri's back, everything in Asleif screamed to come to the little student's aid. But the monster was still invisible, huge and completely unimpressed by the puny student's attack. What was he anyway? A human who could extend his teeth and claws? Such a thing had never been mentioned at the Imperial Naval Academy. The way he had done it, it was probably magic. It wasn't taught in his training either, but he had seen enough of it to at least understand the basics. If the little boy had been able to hurl lightning bolts, fireballs or the like, he would certainly have done so by now. This looked like a kitten attacking an elephant. Why didn't the fool give up? He couldn't help him. Maybe he could pick him up if he finally let go. But as stubbornly as he was clinging to the giant beetle, he would probably be dead by then.

*

"Not yet... Not yet..." Soran held his hand out to the side, flat side down, where the others could see it from their hiding places. Tensely, he watched the movements in the undergrowth through a small, camouflaged periscope. The thing was invisible, but if it crossed the net of ivy that had been magically placed there with rapid growth by the plantsingers at his suggestion, its outline would emerge clearly. And right... now!

He threw up his hand and shouted: "Fire!"

Two students stepped out from behind trees with whirring Gatlin guns and opened fire. Right next to Soran, another stood up and raised a heavy pipe to his shoulder, took a quick aim, then pressed a button on the side. As sparks and smoke billowed out the back of the pipe, the rocket zoomed straight out to the front, trailing a trail of glittering sparks. After barely ten meters, it made a slight turn to the left and hit the ground a good distance from where the plants had just been pushed aside. Soran smacked the shooter in the side: "That thing is self-guiding, how can you miss with that, you plum!"

"Excuse me! I saved the heat signature and fired it. That should have hit!"

Soran nodded thoughtfully: "She should have... Unless... Unless the heat signature has changed!"

Soran wheeled around in a flash and dragged the two surprised students next to him deeper behind cover. Then the undergrowth above them burst into flames. One of the two lifted his now dirty face from the forest floor and looked at Soran in confusion: "How did you know?"

"They changed the heat signature because they started collecting heat for an attack. Seems to take more time than with visible light."

At the touch of a button on his remote control, lamps with diffuse cold light flashed all around him. A light that dimly illuminated the surroundings, but was too low in energy to allow an attack. Soran pulled out the handle of his power blade and charged. After two quick steps, the blade's force field extended. He deftly held it out of the way to the side and continued to accelerate. His telekinetic abilities were weak, but they gave him a little push and made him lighter. He sped towards the invisible opponent in increasingly long leaps.

*

Asleif sprinted from cover to cover after the giant scarab. On his back, the doggedly clinging Piri was hit again and again. Blood sprayed in all directions and decorated the foliage of the trees with ruby-red stains. These glowed in the light of his cybernetic infrared eyes until they quickly cooled and disappeared from his sight. Another blow finally managed to sweep the little guy off the monster. Asleif breathed a sigh of relief. Watching Piri get beaten up had almost caused him physical pain. If he had survived, he could take him to safety now. And if not, those strange mages at the university would get him back. He had a lot of faith in the guys at the medical faculty. If the guys in the technical departments had been half as capable of performing miracles, he could have slept better.

He cautiously stepped out from behind the tree and, despite his size, moved very skillfully through the undergrowth towards Piri.

He had almost reached the still lifeless body when the sound of the scarab stomping through the undergrowth suddenly changed. Asleif immediately stopped and listened. He observed some branches being moved aside, ferns on the ground now leaning in his direction. The invisible monster was coming back! There could only be one reason for this, it wanted to finish Piri off.

He took a step back and looked for cover. Then he hesitated. If that thing came at Piri again, even magic probably couldn't help. Poor guy, but he'd had to put himself in danger. It was his own fault.

He was still hesitating with one foot half in the air. The sound of breaking branches and crushed leaves came much closer. Piri's body twitched slightly. He was alive!

Asleif put his foot back down and straightened up to his full height. If the beast caught him just once, he would have to carry the damage around with him for the rest of his life. Or until the students at the university had caught up on about 300 years of technology. Which probably came to the same thing.

He took a cautious step forward towards the danger. A small tree broke off sharply at a height of three meters, half severed by an invisible claw. He took another look at the body lying in the undergrowth and made his decision.

With quick, practiced grips, he pulled his last grenade from his belt, took the safety off and selected one of the firing options. Then he stuck it on top of the barrel of his laser rifle and ran off.

Tactical programs booted up and projected data and diagrams into his field of vision, giving him a better idea of where his opponent's body was located. His bionic heart accelerated the pulse and released artificial adrenaline. The bionic arm and leg motors boosted the systems to combat level. Safety devices that prevented him from injuring anyone in everyday life or tearing doors off their hinges instead of just opening them were deactivated. He raced forward in ever greater and faster leaps. The battle computer in his brain marked the places where his opponent's legs must be. He raced between them, one hand raised to feel. He realized that he was under the enemy and ran two more steps, then, making a double furrow in the forest floor, he braked abruptly and rammed his rifle into the enemy with the grenade pointing upwards. The blow, delivered with the full force of his legs, drove the weapon all the way into the invisible mass of his opponent. Pressing a sensor button released the grenade and activated the countdown. He could have taken the weapon with him, but his shape-shifting opponent might have been able to get the grenade out of his body again, so he rammed the weapons into the body again with full force, turned around and jumped back again. On the way, he threw himself full onto the ground with his arms outstretched forward, skidding a meter flat across the moss and scooping up Piri's small, battered body in the process. He bent his legs past his body in a curve made possible only by the high mobility of the bionic joints and practically went from lying down to sprinting. A few of his pounding heartbeats later, he threw himself behind a freshly fallen tree trunk.

He covered his little friend with his body facing upwards as he carefully peered over the cover. The counting down digital display that was superimposed on his field of vision reached zero. Where his tactical computer still showed the enemy's position, glowing energy blades appeared in the air and whirled in all directions at lightning speed. Wood chips and leaves flew in all directions and on the ground, moss and earth were thrown up in shreds. If he had simply thrown the grenade, it would have been flung away by the first energy blades. Field grenades were only good in confined spaces and corridors of spaceships, where they could cause devastating damage.

The giant scarab flashed and became visible as a fluorescent glowing shape, only to disintegrate into a thousand pieces as it was fragmented by the field grenade. Smaller pieces tried to stabilize, but disintegrated into glittering golden-orange sparks. Asleif waited until the field grenade's energy cell was depleted and the blender of energy blades fell silent. Then he stood up and walked over to the devastated area. He pulled a short white plastic stick from his belt, activated it with a practiced push of a button and rammed it as high as he could reach with the pointed end into the tree next to him. With a soft "ping", the glow stick flared up and illuminated the surroundings. A small symbol appeared on the virtual control screen projected into his field of vision. A mental command would be enough to switch it off again immediately. He scanned the surroundings suspiciously. At one point, a fern frond moved for no apparent reason. Asleif jumped the three meters from a standing position and rammed his fist against the ground with full force. Thirty centimetres above the ground, he encountered resistance, but not enough to slow down the blow, which was delivered with the full weight of the giant and his cyber armor. Golden-orange sparks flew up around him and several warning signals appeared on his display, warning of contact with an active energy source. However, the warning symbols went out just as quickly as the sparks around him. A brief maintenance analysis found no damage, but recommended a full system check by a certified cyber workshop to be on the safe side.

Asleif searched the surroundings briefly but thoroughly, then hurried back to Piri. The student's eyes were open, staring upwards without recognizing anything.

"Are you okay, Piri?" The student's gaze tried to focus on him. The corners of his mouth twisted slightly in disdain. Asleif hurried to continue talking: "I mean, are you still alive... ok ok... of course you're still alive... Don't worry. I'll carry you to a doctor. I don't think I'll do any harm now if I can move you.

Piri's lips barely moved as he whispered with obvious difficulty: "No."

"No, you don't want me to take you to a doctor? You've got holes the size of billiard balls all over your back and you've stopped bleeding. You should have bled to death by now..."

"No... I'm no longer alive anyway. I'm a vampire...."

"A what? Is that some kind of religious sect that denies medical care?"

"I need blood..."

"Sure. I can see that. You urgently need an infusion. But that would drool out immediately. First the wounds have to be dressed, you need a pressure bandage... Or rather a whole lot of pressure bandages. Several wounds need to be stitched and..."

"Blood! Let me bite you! I'll suck the blood right out." The student's eyes were bloodshot, seemed to glow from within and looked greedy and manic.

"Are you crazy? That's not how it works!"

"Please..."

Asleif looked into the little student's desperate face. He was visibly getting weaker and weaker. The wounds had not been bleeding for a long time, which was a very bad sign. His sensors no longer detected a pulse and his body temperature was barely above the ambient temperature. He should have been dead. For a long time.

He concentrated briefly on his maintenance programs and activated the armor drop on his left cyberarm. With a soft hiss of hydraulic locks, the whole thing fell to the ground like an arm-length steel glove, where it lay unnoticed. The bio-organic artificial skin, which had been perfused with a red liquid for camouflage purposes, had no maintenance flaps. He made a small cut and then used the maintenance functions to extend a connection to his cardiovascular system. He looked somewhat nervously at the red fluid flowing from the incision. He hoped the wound would close again later. The regeneration capabilities of the artificial skin were limited. And without a maintenance technician trained in bio-organic technology...

He pulled his thoughts back to the problem at hand and held his maintenance orifice to the wounded man's mouth. Piri's mouth closed greedily around the small valve and Asleif opened it with a mental command. Blood flowed from his system in a controlled stream. Asleif watched the status displays carefully. His arms and legs were cybernetic and contained no blood. However, his cybernetic heart was equipped with a small reserve to quickly heal any blood loss due to injury. The limit up to which he did not have to fear any serious damage to his health was therefore almost two liters. Medication and iron were pumped into the bloodstream to stimulate blood production in the bone marrow. Thanks to the reserve and the conscious control of his artificial heartbeat, he was able to keep his blood pressure relatively stable. He was all the more surprised when he was overcome with weakness almost as soon as Piri began to drink. He had to sit down. The wounds in Piri's body began to bleed briefly, then they closed and healed before his eyes. A completely impossible sight.

Asleif ran through all his diagnostic routines, but could find no reason for his sudden weakness. He also thought his perception was disturbed. Even artificially accelerated cell regeneration in a biotank never happened as fast as what he was seeing here. His indicators warned him that his blood reserve was depleted and his blood pressure was about to drop. He closed the valve on his arm. Piri, who had just been drinking with relish, suddenly grabbed his arm frantically. His canines dug deep into the arm and Asleif could hear the shuffling sucking sound as he tried to draw more blood from the artificial arm. In vain, of course.

He broke free and flashed a fierce glare at Asleif. His arms shot up and locked around his neck. The warning indicators showed quite impressive pressure for such a petite human, but even without the ruff of his battle suit, he was confident he could survive this attack without any problems. The student was just a puny linnet, no matter how crazy he was. After a few seconds, Piri loosened his grip and his expression cleared. Then his face contorted again, this time in horror. He tore his hands from Asleif's neck, stumbled backwards a few steps and fell backwards onto the forest floor: "What have I done? Your aura... I... You're going to die and it's my fault!"

"Don't worry. The blood loss is less than for normal people. I have a cybernetic blood reserve and medication to stimulate my hematopoiesis is already active. A good dinner and a good night's sleep, then I'll be..."

Piri spoke so quickly that he almost choked on the words and Asleif could only just follow him: "I am a vampire! Blood is only a transmission medium for Élan Vital, your life force. To transmit this life force, your aura must be broken through. Your aura... Think of it as a force field that holds the Vitae in your body. All living beings have one. Once destroyed, the life force flows out like a balloon with a hole in it. Healing mages can pass on their own vitae in a controlled manner and someone in the university canteen can even store it in blood for a short time. Of course, they don't tell anyone who it is, the vampiric students would catch them and... Never mind. In any case, you'll get weaker and die!"

He looked at the huge space soldier standing calmly in front of him.

"Piri, calm down. I'm doing very well. My blood pressure is slightly below standard, but everything else is fine."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"You... You should be starting to feel weaker... Normally it takes a few minutes at most. For victims who have some kind of magical ability to influence their aura, maybe even up to half an hour. But never longer!"

"Can this aura injury be healed?"

"No. No one has ever managed that."

"Then let's just wait and see. Your wounds have all closed, but only on the surface. The internal injuries will probably take a while yet... At least that would be the case with normal people."

"I'm not fit enough for a fight at the moment, if that's what you're getting at."

"I've used up my last grenade and my rifle. I'll wait here with you until the fight is over. As soon as you feel fit enough, we'll walk carefully to the camp."

Piri was still staring at him in disbelief. The minutes passed. In the distance, they heard the sound of fighting. Darkness fell over the forest. Then a bright light flashed, brighter than anything the creatures' attacks had managed so far.

Piri blinked a few times before he could see again to some extent. He hadn't even looked in the direction of the flash of light.

"Was that one of our weapons?"

The space soldier shook his head: "If so, no one has told me anything about it yet. And flashes of light look more like our opponents to me. According to my strategy software, that was right in the main camp."

The two of them stared in that direction for a while, but couldn't see anything through the dense forest. No movement.

Piri gave him a sideways glance: "You're still alive."

"I still don't get this aura stuff, but does it make a difference that my arms are cybernetic? So you drained the blood outside of my actual body."

"What?!? Oh, that's why your skin tastes so disgusting. No offense. I thought it was some really nasty skin cream. It could be. The blood was outside your aura, but provided a connection to your life force. It's not something I'd risk again. It could have turned out differently."

"Do you think it's safe to come out now?"

"That depends on who won." They looked at each other, embarrassed.

"We'll wait a while."

*

Norman wasn't sure if he was imagining that the WATCH computer voice sounded worried: "Two minutes and twenty-seven seconds until expected visual contact with the energy beings. Still no discernible energetic activity that would indicate portal opening."

Jane slumped her shoulders: "I guess that's it. I don't have anything that could help us now."

A few things from her handbag floated in a tight orbit around her. A can of dog repellent spray, some Bundeswehr one-man packs of emergency rations, toilet paper rolls, two make-up kits and a small pistol with several single-shot barrels, but no ammunition. In her hectic rush, she had rummaged around wildly in her handbag and simply thrown some things out before she had given up trying to find anything useful for her plight.

Norman's mind had been racing for minutes. Ever since they hadn't crashed through the portal as expected. He had already considered whether he should distract the enemies from the others by flying towards them and luring them into another fork behind him. But why should they follow him? They could just split up and then there would probably still be enough enemies to eat both groups. He wasn't keen on sacrificing himself. After all, he didn't want to die. He still had a lot to do in life. And of course he was damn scared by now.

He concentrated: Voice?

Yes, Norman?

The speed here in these interdimensional tunnels is determined by the concentration and willpower of the person moving, isn't it?

At least that seems to be the case. I don't have a better explanation.

Can you speed me up? By concentrating or amplifying my thoughts or connecting them with yours?

I could try to speed up and concentrate your mental processes. But this could lead to unpredictable brain damage after a very short time. I can't guarantee anything.

Do you have any other ideas? If so, now would be a good time to mention it.

I'm sorry. This is also outside my world of experience. If you want to try the distraction thing, then you should make up your mind quickly.

"Jane, Horst, I'll distract them. Wait here. And as soon as a portal opens, go straight through." Then he dashed off in the direction they had come from, out of the dead end. Speed was barely perceptible in the strangely uniform surroundings. Then glittering dots of light came into view, almost immediately spreading evenly across the diameter of the glowing tube, denying him any chance of simply flying through the swarm. They moved with perfect coordination. He noticed a distinct pressure in the back of his head that was steadily increasing. Then pain exploded in his forehead and he felt dizzy, so that he barely noticed how he shot forward and swept sideways into another branch right in front of the swarm of speeding energy beings.

They are slower than us. Look at the back.

Norman turned around without slowing down. The entire swarm, which had just flown in perfect formation, now followed them in a confused heap. Not a single one stayed behind or followed the path to the dead end where his two friends were waiting.

You know how I imagined it here?

Of course. Back along the route, turn off. Then continue until we come to a place where we were flying in circles. One lap with the pursuers, then back the old way. Unlike you, I also memorized the route.

My skull feels like it's about to implode. How is my brain?

Well, you used to love playing chess. I'm afraid I just had to burn out the synapses with the rules of chess. When I destroy thematically related memories and skills, it does the least damage overall. Over there to the left. Now to the right. Again. Again. Now left.

The voice not only gave him instructions, it also guided his thoughts in the right direction. Otherwise he would have thundered into the wall at every second intersection or stood still, undecided. He did a somersault without slowing down and made sure that the points of light were still following him. They did not lag any further behind, but as far as he could see in the brief snapshot, they had not caught up noticeably.

Okay. We're on our way back now. The energy bugs are all behind us. I'll navigate us back to the portal point as quickly as possible. I hope the portal is open when we arrive. I won't get another round in, even if I risk having you arrive as a drooling idiot. All the board game rules, the poems you memorized in elementary school and the contents of the Jules Verne and Karl May novels are gone. I didn't realize there were so many of them. Have fun reading them again.

Norman wanted to say something repartee, but he couldn't think of anything. His entire perception was taken up by the monotonous pattern of the tunnel that shot past him. Then two small, darker dots came into view. And behind them, the still-closed tunnel wall. Before he could decide whether he wanted to risk flying back again to lure his pursuers away once more, he had already passed the last junction. Now there was nowhere else to go. No way out.

It was an honor to travel and fight with you, Norman.

*

Soran timed his assault so that he met the invisible creature in an open area. No roots, undergrowth or other obstacles. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his weak telepathic abilities. He couldn't perceive any specific thoughts of his opponent, but a faint hissing sound that allowed him to target him more precisely. A sweeping blow with the power blade whizzed through the air and struck the invisible creature's leg. Soran was used to the blade cutting through even steel without much resistance and had adjusted his swing accordingly. Confident of victory, he put all his strength into it and prepared to dive down and move away before aiming at his opponent again. The power blade collided with an invisible obstacle... and stopped. Soran felt tendons and muscles twist and stretch in unexpected directions. His outstretched leg waved uncertainly in the air as the rest of his body failed to follow. He spun inelegantly on his axis and hit the ground at full length without braking. The power sword whirled out of his hand and the blade automatically extinguished when the sensors detected that the hilt was no longer held. Before he could straighten up, something hit him in the back and pressed his face into the grass. The monster stomped carelessly over him, and then the giant scarab was gone. It took Soran precious seconds to realize what had happened.

*

Leonardo connected two more cables and plugged one of them into the generator lying on the ground behind the tree trunk. Then he raised his head and briefly peered over the boulder he was using as cover to get his bearings. Parts of a dismantled Fiat Panda lay scattered across the site, still smoking in places. Firebreaks criss-crossed the grass in the clearing and the stumps of several trees were still smoking. The forest smoked in some places from the students' backfire. The smell of ionized air, burnt wood and plastic was almost unbearable. Leo was glad that it was still so damp from the last rain that he at least didn't have to worry about a forest fire. The cables criss-crossed the site. The equipment was set up behind rocks and in hollows. However, this was not the spatial arrangement for which he had prepared the cables. This required a lot of improvisation. Jumper cables from all the surrounding cars, several network cables from the supplies that one of the students still had in the car for LAN parties, and several meters of cable that he had conjured up himself as stable illusions. He made sure that one of them was tied tightly around his foot over his shoes and then walked on carefully. If he broke physical contact, the illusion would dissolve.

A glance at his PDA showed him a graphic created by Zunylamien17 with a stylized view of the planned system. The green parts were already connected correctly, the few red parts were still missing.

Further back, Herbert from the Faculty of Transdimensional Transport was busy making some fine adjustments to the equipment. Leo was faster and better at making the relevant calculations, but Herbert had far more experience with handling the actual technology.

Archeron had mounted the wing mirror of the car door, which had been flung past some time ago, on a branch and was peering intently behind a rock for signs of attackers: "Watch out! A tree has just been blown over back there. There must be one of the really big ones on the move." He turned to the students, who were hiding behind a few fallen trees: "Do you still have enough ammunition for one of those?"

"Are you crazy?" The student, who was nailing a rifle mount to the tree trunk for better aim, flipped him the bird: "We only have ammunition left for the sniper rifles and a few dozen rounds for the small caliber. Majere did say that we should equip ourselves for a fight, but nobody said anything about a full-blown skirmish against invisible energy bugs! If another one of those giant beetles shows up, we'd better make land fast."

The students from the Faculty of Applied Magic had chosen a shallow pit as cover. All that came from there was a weary wave: "You can forget about us. We've all got severe headaches from casting too many spells. The darkness spells were already cast a few minutes ago. But you noticed that. We'd best make our way to the forest parking lot and get out of here."

Herbert looked up from his wiring work: "I can't wait to see how you explain this to Majere. I'm sure he'll fully understand."

No one had anything useful to say in response. Grumbling, the students began to load the last magazines and took up their positions.

Leonardo whispered quietly into the microphone of his PDA: "Do you have any more ideas? I've been at the end of my tether for an hour."

"The cost-benefit analysis and ethical evaluation of the concept of friendship has been completed. Result: Advantages on a social-emotional level as well as far-reaching possibilities of future unspecifiable advantages outweigh the not inconsiderable necessary investments. The dosed use of critical non-replaceable resources appears appropriate and is approved."

"I thought we were friends by now?"

"This unfounded assumption, based on hasty and erroneous conclusions, was not contradicted for the duration of the cost-benefit analysis."

"Wait a minute... How can I talk to you all the time? The mobile networks are down! Can you call Majere for help? And why haven't you done that already?"

"The radio waves in the frequency band used for human technology are neutralized over a wide radius. No communication is possible around Nexus University and the entire city. Interference affects the entire country to a lesser extent. The data transmission to my main computer was established via a direct connection, which is only possible because the receiver is located directly above this position in geostationary orbit."

"I got my own satellite? Wow. Good work. And how did you forward the signal to your computing core at the university?"

"It is not a satellite. An intermediate station is also not necessary. My main computer is not on the university campus. There's just a radio relay there."

"And how does that help us now?"

"My main reactors work on the basis of ununoctium. In my home dimension, this noble gas from the transactinoid group is relatively stable and can be stored in stasis fields. In this dimension, it has a half-life of less than 0.9 milliseconds and can be used for absolutely nothing. I am therefore currently only working with the reserve energy stored in my energy storage cells. The auxiliary nuclear reactor is working at full capacity to stabilize the trajectory and keep the anti-location shields active. As part of the sacrifice that is customary in a friendship and necessary to preserve the existence of a friend, I will use a not inconsiderable part of this reserve energy."

"Main reactors? Where exactly are you? I can't keep up right now. What exactly are you up to?"

An aerial view of the surrounding area was visible on the PDA. However, the optical image was extremely blurred due to the light cloud cover and some visibly unnatural light distortions over the entire forest. The image went through different color schemes, each labeled by a caption as "infrared" and "ultraviolet". Both were also clearly distorted.

"Activate active sensors: Multispectral scanner activated. Multifunction radar activated."

The image came into focus in one fell swoop. The enemy scarab was now clearly visible as a color-highlighted outline and would come into view of the clearing at any moment.

"Analysis shows that all enemy units that have not yet been eliminated have merged into this energy creature. Activate target acquisition."

"What do you mean by target acquisition?"

"Target detected. Containment shields activated."

Two small maple trees were pushed aside as a giant scarab, clearly recognizable by the numerous branches hanging from it, pushed its way into the clearing. Leg-thick holes formed in the mossy ground where the creature's legs hit. The creature completely ignored two puny fireballs and the sparse hail of bullets from the few small-caliber weapons as it trudged on. Then it suddenly stopped as a cylindrical shimmer appeared in the air around it. As soon as the energy creature bumped into the obstacle, the shimmer became more visible. It was a cylinder pointing vertically upwards and, as far as the eye could follow, stretched upwards into the sky.

"Containment shield stable to avoid collateral damage. Activate secondary tactical gun battery. Select single fire with 39% firepower. Fire."

A bright white beam filled the space in the energy cylinder. The creature inside literally evaporated, as did the stones and earth in the confined space. A column of gas and dust suddenly filled the cylinder.

"Controlled pressure equalization in the aisle... Pressure equalization is in progress. Deactivate containment shield."

The cylindrical shimmer in the air disappeared and a columnar cloud remained, which slowly frayed in all directions and was quickly dispersed by the wind.

"Sensor reconnaissance confirms destruction of the target. No other hostile or unknown objects in the target area. Deactivate active sensors. Reserve power down to 17%. Energy conservation protocols activated. A gesture of appreciation for this material contribution in the form of hard-to-renew energy resources would be appropriate."

"Gesture of... Thank you?"

"You're welcome. Friend."

*

Norman mentally prepared himself to put on the brakes at the end of the corridor. Maybe the bugs didn't want anything from them and would just give them a friendly nudge, shout "You are!" and fly away again. He just didn't really believe it. Just as he was slowing down, a loud signal sounded from Horst's wristwatch. Jane, who was digging her arm deep into her bottomless magical purse for something, looked up in surprise. The wall behind his two companions flickered and disappeared, giving way to a view of a forest clearing covered in equipment and cables. For a moment he was annoyed by this pollution, then his overworked mind clicked back into place. The portal! They were saved! He accelerated again, spread his arms and pulled Horst and Jane, who were still hesitating, through the portal with him as he flew past. As soon as he had crossed it, the almost forgotten gravity returned. He fell and plowed a short furrow in the grass-covered ground with his face. Spitting dirt, he braced himself to warn the students of the approaching enemies: "Mmm... Kffrrrr... B...!!"

While the voice was still shutting down his overclocked brain, he couldn't get a clear sound out. He tried again, but his arm muscles failed, so he hit his face on the floor again.

Jane had skillfully freed herself from Norman's arm while still in flight and elegantly rolled off. Her handbag flew through the air unnoticed, scattering an astonishing amount of odds and ends across the forest floor. Jane couldn't have cared less at the moment. She stood there, flipped her curls to the side with a casual gesture and was about to shout a warning about the approaching scarabs when she too fell over like a wet sack. She gazed uncomprehendingly at a grasshopper frozen in panic from close range, her eyes growing cloudy.

The sturdy Horst hit the ground like a plank and lay there for a second in surprise. With trembling arms, he turned on his side and tried in vain to say something. With a final effort, he raised his arm, pointed to the portal and then collapsed lifelessly.

Leonardo was the only one who could see from his perspective that the wristwatch was flashing frantically. However, he wasn't paying any attention to the phenomenon. He groped wildly for a pulse on Horst's arm, but couldn't find it: "Get a doctor! A healer! Someone!"

As he looked around for help in incipient panic, his gaze briefly fell through the portal. Only a few hundred meters away from the portal, a swarm of glittering transparent creatures was racing towards him, filling the tunnel tightly. Without taking his eyes off the energy scarabs he was now more than familiar with, he lifted the PDA, which he still held almost forgotten in his hand, and tapped a symbol.

Relays clicked loudly. The humming of the portal generator stopped. The signal lights went out.

He looked expectantly at the opening, but it was still gaping in space. The scarabs were getting closer and closer. Leo pressed the symbol again. But even before his finger had released from the touchscreen, he realized that this would do nothing. The portal generator had clearly already shut down.

Perhaps there were some residual charges that were still producing an effect in the system? He bent down to his foot and tore the cables attached there from his skin. With an audible pop, several meters of cable, some plug connections and entire switch boxes that he had created as material illusions and maintained through physical contact disappeared. There were short circuits in some places. Sparks flew out of expensive devices, but that didn't interest him in the slightest at the moment.

The portal stubbornly remained open.

Archeron had noticed his horrified expression and followed his gaze: "Leo! Close the portal!"

"What do you think I'm doing right now? The generator is already off!"

"Do something! Reverse the polarity!"

"The portal projector runs on alternating current. You can't reverse the polarity! Besides, it only works in science fiction movies with a poor scientific basis..."

Leonardo tapped frantically on the PDA, but it deactivated the touch-sensitive interface and displayed a graph with an exponentially decreasing curve instead. It took him another second to understand the labels in his hectic rush. As Zunylamien thought it was taking him too long to understand the display, he displayed another countdown: "Four... Three... Two... One... Zero."

The edges of the portal, which, like a hole in the middle of reality, allowed a view into the tunnel filled with blue-white light, frayed a little. Then it flickered and disappeared with a soft crackle of static. Archeron wanted to give his friend a triumphant pat on the back, but he had already turned away again.

Having mastered a crisis, Leo hurriedly turned back to his three unconscious friends. Of course, they hadn't taken a single healer or emergency doctor or anything like that with them. After all, he had planned a harmless trip to the forest, not something like this! Most of the students in the Faculty of Tactical Overkill were very well trained in first aid, but here they were completely out of their depth. Well, standing around idly wasn't going to solve the problem. Leo pressed his cell phone into Archeron's hand: "See if we have a network again now. If so, call an ambulance."

Then he turned to the students, who were fiddling a little helplessly with the unconscious patients: "Start with cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Hopefully that will keep them alive until we can think of something better." He pointed to the only female student standing by: "You take care of Jane. And you Max, you better hope Majere never finds out that you thought you could feel a woman's pulse from her breasts. If you're lucky, you'll get extra lessons in anatomy, if you're unlucky, he'll use you as illustrative material... Who the heck is that?"

The red Ford Fiesta speeding towards the clearing from the parking lot howled as if someone was pressing the accelerator pedal to the floor the whole time. And judging by the speed, which was completely incongruous with the condition of the forest path, that's exactly what the driver was doing. The only reason there wasn't an accident was the translucent man-sized hand hovering in front of the car, carelessly sweeping aside any vehicles, tree stumps or rocks parked in the way. The Ford came to a halt with a loud screech right in front of the students.

Jannes, the student at the wheel, was sweating like an unshorn sheep that had been left out in the summer sun without shade. The impression was reinforced by his sweaty, short curls. His face was ashen and his hands clutched the steering wheel trembling. Sitting next to him was someone in a colorful tie-dyed shirt with gold sunglasses, who until a moment ago had been waving his right hand as if he were about to slap someone. Unmistakably Professor Majere. As he lowered his hand to open the car door, her counterpart, hovering in front of the car, disappeared.

Majere got out and looked around carefully. Then, stone-faced, he approached the group of six students who were busy administering first aid in pairs. One of each pair was pressing on the chest to the rhythm of the old Beatle song "Yellow Submarine", the other was operating a bellows attached to a mask over the unconscious man's mouth. Leo, along with most of the others present, held his breath, but when no one was struck by lightning, he assumed that the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Magic was satisfied so far. Just as Majere was about to ask questions, Horst suddenly began to cough and straighten up. He was closely followed by Norman and Jane.

Jane was the first to manage to speak intelligibly again: "Hello father."