Page 3 of 3013: SAVIOR
There was a planet that seemed similar to Earth, but they were still close to their infancy phases of space travel, so it was best to leave them be for the time being. They had also discovered an intriguing world that was home to magical beings that could shift into different forms. The shifters had been in the middle of a brutal civil war, so the sisters had decided it was best to simply observe from afar.
Since Jecca and Jaya spent the majority of their time traveling the vast universe, it was a steadfast rule that they check in with their parents and brothers back home periodically. But because of the distance and other obstructions in space, the wormhole had made that impossible. Even using their magic, their communication system had been blocked for several long months.
Their brothers and cousins had almost lost their minds when they hadn’t been able to reach them. They’d already started to search for them when Jecca and Jaya had finally been able to reach them. Malachi and Braxas had demanded they return to Arcadia immediately. They had also threatened to come find them and drag them home personally, which had been utterly ridiculous.
Thankfully, their parents hadn’t been as freaked out about the whole thing and had been able to calm the brothers down. Of course, their mother and fathers had been worried as well, but they trusted that Jecca and Jaya could handle themselves.
Since the sisters weren’t able to return using the same wormhole, they’d had to take a longer route back. That wasn’t much of a hardship, though. It actually gave them a chance to resume their original plans to visit Tartarus, Earth, and several other places before they returned home.
Malachi and Braxas weren’t very pleased about the delay, but they would just have to deal with it. Jecca thought that they should be more concerned about their younger brothers than wasting time worrying about her and her sister. Riko and Nox had been a little too interested in the exact location of the wormhole for comfort. She wouldn’t be surprised if the troublemakers headed directly to it once they were allowed to travel on their own.
Thankfully, they were a little too young for that just yet.
Reading her thoughts, Jaya snorted in derision. “You really think that is going to stop them?”
“You think they will sneak off planet to check it out?”
“Of course, they will. Riko and Nox are too much like me to doubt it.”
Jecca chuckled. “You are right. We will all have to be very diligent watching over them.”
“That will not stop them.” Jaya glanced out the window. “I think the planetoid should be coming into view soon. If my calculations are correct, that should be Evo.” She pointed toward a planetoid hovering close to a blue star in the distance.
“It is a lot smaller than I expected.”
Jaya hummed in agreement. “That is a good thing.”
“I agree. It will only take us a few days to explore the entire world instead of weeks. We should be able to check things out quickly without causing a disturbance, then be on our way to our next destination.”
Jaya rested her head on Jecca’s shoulder. “We can only hope…”
That sounded slightly ominous. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means our plans have a funny way of changing when we least expect it.”
“I think you just jinxed us.”
“Nay, I think you did, as you are the one who declared it would be a quick trip.”
Jecca sighed. That was probably true. If it ended up being a long, arduous expedition, she had no one to blame but herself.
Chapter Two
“So, what do you think?”
Before answering that particular question, Zack “ZK” Keller glanced around and carefully studied the city street he was standing on. It was a familiar setting, yet completely strange at the same time. Unlike the futuristic cities back on Earth that were inundated with the latest technology, architecture, and other advancements, what he saw now looked like one of the great cities that had existed during the early 21st century.
Tall buildings made of steel and glass rose up majestically to tower overhead, and the streets below were packed with old-fashioned cars and other vehicles. The sky above was a brilliant array of vivid colors, but the multiple high rises blocked the full view of the setting sun. The promise of rain hung heavy in the air, and the scent of cooking meat from a nearby food truck drifted along on the cool breeze, mixing with the acrid smell of car exhaust.
The sidewalks were packed with people dressed in suits holding briefcases, while others were wearing more casual clothing and carrying backpacks or shopping bags. He had seen similar locations from watching old vids but was a little weirded out to find himself standing in the center of the sprawling metropolis.
But that wasn’t the strangest part.
All the people were frozen in place, which meant he and Nico Artane were the only actual living beings present on the crowded street. It was an eerie feeling being surrounded by so many, yet still being alone.
While it was difficult to imagine that most of what he was seeing wasn’t real, that was the true wonder and madness of the new planetoid his friends had created. When he had first heard about what Magnus, Nico, and Razar Artanes’ idea, he’d honestly thought they were out of their fucking minds. Owning a planetoid wasn’t something people just decided to do on a whim. Sure, they’d had a plan, but Evo had to be one of the most ambitious undertakings ever imagined.
The most astonishing thing was they had actually pulled it off.