“A Vortex Road Eater,” Badger said. “There are only, what, 43 of these left in the world.”
“44,” Galligan said, beaming with pride as he patted the classic car, with its gleaming chrome and the hood piece shaped like an avenging angel brandishing a great sword.
“Prentiss Steel,” Clancy ran her hand along with rounded wheel hubs.
“Hemminger Engine,” Badger continued.
“You know your cars.”
“Yeah.”
Galligan opened the door. Badger and Clancy hesitated. “Mothren stew,” Galligan said. “They were going to cook you, eat you and then in about a day or so use you to fertilize their garden.” Clancy crinkled her nose as she thought about it. ‘I shot them to pieces and saved you even though I didn’t even know you. You can trust me.”
“Why are you helping us?” Clancy said. “Why go into the freaking Gigantus for people you never met?”
“Because I like you,” Galligan said. “You’ve got Moxy.”
“What’s Moxy?”
Galligan laughed. “I was being sarcastic. The map had a note to me from my father. A prophecy, really. It read, The bringers of the map are fated. Upon them, the future resides.”
Badger and Clancy laughed. “Enough with the sarcasm,” Clancy said.
“I wasn’t being sarcastic.”
“The future?” Badger and Clancy shrugged it off, for now. It was too big to take seriously. They were just a couple of kids from Dust Town.
The group piled into The Vortex and took the vehicle elevator to the surface. Soon, they found themselves heading out of the city. The day had turned dark and stormy, with rain pelting down and turning the road to mud. Clancy and Badger sat in the bench style back seat. “Do you mind if I look you up?” Clancy said.
“Not at all.”
Clancy did a search and Galligan’s image popped up, but his antennas were all grey and sagging, and it looked like his face had melted. “Oh, my God,” Clancy whispered.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, Galligan chuckled. That’s GG2. I’m GG3.”
“Oh.” Clancy modified the search. A new, younger image popped up. They skimmed. “You went to Rexeter? Gross.”
“It’s true. I’m a rich kid. I mostly spend all day playing croquette and eating roe.”
“You’re only 19?”
“In stick bug years.”
“Not much social media,” Clancy said. In fact, there were just a series of re- posts of different memes. “You’re kinda boring, aren’t you?”
“That’s what I want people to think, Uh, oh. Seat belts.”
A group of raptorians burst from the tree line.
Galligan gunned the engines, the car leaping forward as the engine roared. The raptorians kept pace, closer, closer. “Take ‘em out,” Galligan said, tossing one of his pistols to Clancy. One of the raptorians leapt and locked its jaws onto the side of the rear fender, its tail whipsawing as Galligan swerved side to side, sending waves of mud splashing into the air.
Badger and Clancy lowered their windows and leaned out into the rain. The raptorian that had latched onto the fender was on Clancy’s side, and she fired off two shots, both of which splatted into the mud.
Badger took aim at one of the lizards chasing behind the car with his blaster and shot, the raptorian leaping to the side to avoid the shot.
“Take them out,” Galligan repeated as he yanked the wheel to the side, the car fishtailing, lifting on two wheels and for one perilous second seeming like it might flip over. Clancy and Badger used their free hands to grab the window frames. The car slammed back down, crushing one of the raptorians beneath its wheels.
“Hold it steady,” Clancy shouted. “It’s hard to shoot when you’re swerving all over the road.”
“Doing my best,” Galligan said.
Clancy realized she’d been rushing her shots, letting the excitement of the moment throw off her aim. She’d spend hours and hours practicing gun play in VR, and she knew the power of calm. She cleared her mind, took aim, fired and this time the raptorian splattered. “Got him!”
“Coming your way, Badge” Galligan said. He tanked the wheel and the car ground into the beginning of a 360 degree turn.
Like Clancy, Badger had remembered the necessity of calm. As the car spun around and gave him a clear shot, he took out two of the raptorians. There was only one left.
The car straightened out, Galligan gunned it.
Behind them, the last of the raptors ran past the remains of the decimated pack– claws and fangs in muddy piles. It slowed down, shook its head, turned and ran back down the road.
“Good shooting!” Galligan shouted.
Badger and Clancy high-gived. Rolled up their windows. Cheeks flush and dappled with rain drops, their wet hair dripping, their eyes met. Their pupils were wide and deep and their mouths slightly open as they breathed hard, so hard, minds and bodies jacked.
Neither one thought or had the ability to think. They leaned toward each other. Clancy put her hand to Bagder’s cheek, felt the bristles of his morning shadow. They came closer and closer and…
Boom! Boom!
The sound of thunderous explosions up ahead snapped them out of it. “What now?” Badger said, leaning forward, seeing a great cloud of smoke rising from ahead, beyond the trees. Then a flash that lit up the sky.
“The Free Port,” Galligan said. “It’s under attack.”
Clancy checked her gun. “Deets.”
As the Vortex burst from the trees, it came upon of scene of devastation. Huge smoldering craters scarred the field. One of the stored ships blazed. Deets manned the anti-aircraft gun mounted to the roof of his hut, his face grim as he blasted away, trying to take out what looked like a teen-age girl who leapt and spun out of danger.
“It’s her.” Badger said. “Killer robot girl.”
Tayzy unleashed force bolts at Deets. His shield flickered and absorbed them, but there was a electronic howl that suggested imminent system failure.
“What am I looking at?” Galligan brought the car to a halt.
“She’s killer robot,” Clancy said. “Wanted the map.”
“Killer robot. Great. Great. Make for the ship. We need to get out of here. “
“What about Deets?”
“Make for the ship.” Galligan repeated, scooping up Otto. “We can help him from the sky.”
They poured out of the car.
TAYZY spun, her sensors having spotted the car and the lifeforms. She instantly identified Clancy and Badger. “I require the contents of The Box,” she said.
Badger and Clancy responded with a hail of blaster fire. They backed toward Clalttersall.
Tayzy dodged the blasts. When she started to move toward them a red energy bolt exploded in front of her, sending her tumbling backwards. The blast had brought up a huge cloud of smoke and dirt.
“Hey, kids,” Deets shouted. “Get the hell out of here!”
Clancy and Badger ran to the ship. Galligan let Otto run into the ship and took up position on the edge of the lift, firing into the cloud of smoke.
Consumed with the imperative to complete her mission, XTZ charged her legs and leapt into the air, meaning to reach the ship in one mighty bound.
Deets grinned. “Yahtzee.” He blasted her, sending her spinning through the air, crashing to the ground, bouncing and rolling until she slammed into a huge, ancient oak.
In the cockpit, Badger pulled the wheel and the ship rose. “Which way to Gigantus?”
“Just go go go,” Clancy shouted. “Get us out of here.”
Tayzy looked up, her body smoking, one arm twisted back at an impossible angle. She bounced as another force bolt slammed into her and crashed back to the ground, mud rained down. She managed to crawl into the forest, vanishing into the trees.
Deets cursed. He wanted to finish her off, but there was no way he was going to kill off his trees. “What the hell have those kids gotten themselves into?” He wondered, and then added, “was that a stick bug?”
As Clattersall rose into the sky, Galligan crowded into the cockpit, craning his neck. “Thank you, thank you.”
“What is it?”
“My car’s okay,” he said.
“Whew,” Badger and Clancy both said in unison.
What sounded like a little girl spoke from somewhere at their feet. “You’re car people. You get it,"
Looking down, Clancy gawked at Otto. “You can talk?”
“Didn’t you just hear me?”
Badger circled back around, looking down at the smoking, smoldering landing field. Sprinklers popped up and drones began to swarm, dousing the fires. The radio crackled. “This is Deets calling to inform you that Murder Death Girl has crawled off into the forest.”
“You sure?”
“Yup. I'm bugging out. Gonna lay low in case she decides to come looking for me as a way to get to you.”
“Ten Four,” Badger said.
“Watch yourselves. That’s some serious tech you have hunting you.”
Badger banked and took the ship back out over the ocean, then pulled back on the yoke, lifting the ship up above the clouds.
“Where you going?” Galligan said.
“Evasive maneuvers in case Murder Death Girl is watching us.”
“And my parents always said playing video games was a waste of time,” Galligan said.
“Old stick bugs, too?” Badger nodded. “Sounds about right.”
“The preferred nomenclature is phantasmolodian elders. Be respectful.”
Badger shook his head. “Old sticks,” he said.
“Kindling,” Clancy said.
All three laughed.
“I think we’re going to be good friends. Assuming we don’t die.” Galligan stretched and looked around. “A Corsair, right? Vintage. I’ve never been in one of these.”
“Want a tour?” Clancy turned to Badger. “You okay?”
“Yeah You?”
“Yeah.”
“Go. I have some questions for Otto.”
“Oh, good,” Otto jumped into the co-pilot’s seat as Clancy got up. “I have some questions for you, as well.”
“Whatever you do, do not give Otto any intoxicants. She gets crazy.”
“Like you can handle your booze.” Otto growled.
Clancy led Galligan back to the common room. “So, this is the common room,” she said, putting on the manner of a real estate agent. “ Cozy,” She gestured toward the torn up couches. “With a certain lived in vibe.” The interior of the ship was a stormy gray brushed steel, with struts and supports in flat black. Blinking switches. Flat screens with swirling screen savers.
Galligan peered down one of the short hallways that led off from the common room. “Galley,” he said. “Food?”
“Everything but food,” Clancy said. “What do you guys eat, anyway?”
“We are herbivores,” he said. “There will be an abundance of food for me when we get to the jungle.” Then, he looked at a panel next to the door. “Speaking of which.” He noticed a patch of moss on the frame the kids had missed when cleaning. He used his finger to scoop it off and then popped it into his mouth, closing his eyes and sighing with pleasure. “Mmmm,” he said. “Purple space moss.
Do you have more?”
“We kinda scrubbed it all off."
“Heathens.” They headed back down the hall to the common room. Galligan examined one of the panels full of blinking buttons and switches. “What do all these buttons do?”
“Who knows?” Clancy said. “Sometimes I think they may just be decorations.”
They looked down the other hallways and saw living quarters plus a small medical room.
“I love this ship.” Galligan looked around. “Classic craft have so much character.” He put his hand on the wall. “Real simulated steel. Those were the days. Design mattered.” He patted the hull . “Speakung of quality builds.” He looked at Clancy and raised an eyebrow. “You handle yourself well.” He stepped closer. “You’re very fit.”
Clancy tilted her head to the side. Is he hitting on me? She wondered, but then shook off the idea. He was a stick bug. Stick bugs weren’t into human, were they? “I was, um, impressed with you as well.”
Galligan moved closer, so close they were almost touching. He reached out and brushed a strand of Clancy’s hair away from her face, letting his finger tip glide against her cheek. Clancy looked up at him, totally confused and yet pretty sure she was getting hit on by a bug. She didn’t want to be rude, so she just gently moved Galligan’s hand away from her face.
“Are you seeing anyone?” Galligan asked.
Clancy felt seriously uncomfortable. She stepped away, putting some distance between them.
“Maybe we should get back to the … to Badger and Otto?”
Galligan gave her a reverse nod, lifting his chin. “Forgive me,” he said.”If I was too forward. I find you… enchanting.”
Clancy giggled and hooked her hair behind her ear. Enchanting? It was so corny, but she kind of liked it. “It’s no problem at all,” she said, not wanting to make things any weirder. “Let’s just not do this right now.”
“I’m going to rest for a bit,” Galligan said. He turned and went down the hall to the quarters.
Clancy sat on the ragged couch and covered her face. She hadn’t been in a relationship with anyone in what? A year? Not with a guy,or a bug. Or anyone. She’d been with a couple guys early on after her thing with Badge ended, but they’d always just seemed okay. There weren’t any sparks. No romance. “I read too much romantasy,” she whispered. “Watch too much romantasy.”
“You like romantasy?” Otto trotted down the hall, tail wagging. “I am obsessed with Holland’s Hope.” She jumped up on the couch.
“Oh, my God,” Clancy said. “I cried when that series ended.” She started to scratch Otto behind the ears and stopped, not sure if it was appropriate.
“Go for it,” Otto said. “I’m a sentient talking dog with an off the charts IQ, but I love being petted. If I like you, I may just roll over on my back and let you scratch my belly.”
Clancy laughed. She started scratching Otto behind the ears.
“Ah, yes. Humans. Trained to pet us, feed us and pick up our poop.” Otto closed her eyes and growled happily. “So, anyway, girl to girl, what’s going on between you and hunky?”
Clancy gasped. “What? Badger? And me?” She forced a laugh and waved it all away. “We’re just friends.”
“Um, don’t bullshit a bullshitter. Especially not one with off the chart senses. When you two are together it’s like pheromone stew. The air smells like teen spirit, if you know what I mean. And the heart rates and– I know. Trust me. You two have the hots for each other.”
“You’re so full of it,” Clancy said, blushing, sliding away from Otto. “We’re just friends.”
“Okay. Seriously.” Otto sat back, paws raised. “Therapy time. What are you so scared of? He’s a boy. You’re a girl. You like him. He likes you.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Because?”
Clancy found herself twisting her hair. “We used to be a thing. It didn’t work. It never works People. When they first meet it’s– omigod, I’m so in love… then the next thing you know, they’re throwing flaming rolls of toilet papers at their exe’s house.”
“Flaming toilet paper? What kind of–” Otto shook her head. “No. Focus. So, yeah, those high-school romances don’t last, the bar hookups don’t last. You can learn. You can do better.”
Clancy glanced toward the cockpit. “It never works out.”
Otto nodded. “Let me lay some serious truth on you, sister.” She folded her paws under her chin. “If you don’t take the risk taking another chance, you'll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“I just wish I could know how it will turn out.”
“The only way to find out is to try.”
“It’s like Schroedinger’s Cat,” Clancy said. “The cat is both alive and dead until you open the box.”
“That is a complete and total misunderstanding of… hey, if it works for you, go for it.”
An alert began sounding off in the cockpit. Clancy and Otto jumped off the couch and headed up. Below them, the thick green expanse of Gigantus stretched out to the horizon. Badger marvelled at the sight. “A thousand shades of green.”
Clancy stared in wonder. Shades of green, deep blue mists. Great winged birds pinwheeled in the sky, dove down beneath the leaves. Rainbows dancing in the mist.
“We’re coming up on the coordinates.” Badger slowed the ship.
“It truly is beautiful.” Galligan, sleepy-eyed, entered the cockpit. He put his hand on Clancy’s shoulder. She gave him a look. He took it off.
Badger brought Clattersall to a stop and they hovered above the forest. “There’s nothing here,” he said. “Just jungle.’
“The Borealis crashed here over 100 years ago." Galligan had moved into the center space between the seats. “By now the jungle would have…”
“Overgrown it,” Clancy finished. “The Borealis is real?”
“It seems so,” Galligan's antenna twitched.
“So where do I land?” Badger said, looking around.
“Blast a hole in the jungle." Galligan pointed to a spot.
“No,” Badger and Clancy said in unison.
“The fate of the universe is worth a few trees.”
“Scan around." Badger began to rotate the ship, tilted slightly forward for a better visual.
“Already on it.” Clancy fired up her HCOMM and linked into the ship’s computer. The sensors reached out. “Head west southwest. There’s a plateau.”
Badger steered the ship that way.
“We’ll have to walk miles through the jungle.” Galligan’s voice oozed irritation. “There’s venomous snakes. Raptillians. Mosquitoes the size of Otto. Flesh eating amoeba not to mention terrenials.”
“Scary.” Clancy watched the map as Galligan steered them to the landing site.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”