The resulting howl echoed right around the planet. Hunter was forced to drop his blaster pistol and put his hands to his ears — still he could not keep the blood-curdling screech out of his head. The apparition flew straight up into the dark, smoky sky. But then, with the finesse of a Starfighter pilot, it looped over and performed a wide-out, high-velocity arc. About halfway down, there was another bright flash. The demon had mor-phed into something else.
This new form came to an abrupt halt right in front of them. The transformation couldn't have been more dramatic. Gone were the ugly features, the razor nails, the hairdo of snot. In its place was a stunningly beautiful woman, dressed all in white. She was floating, or more accurately, things were floating around her. There was a thin haze covering what they could see of her body, almost like a gathering of miniature clouds. And behind her was not the murky sky of Myx but the sky of someplace else entirely. It was deep blue, with a bright sun shining. And stars were sparkling in this sky, even though it was obviously daytime, wherever it was.
Hunter had never seen anything like this. The Galaxy was filled with strange things, yet every one of them related back to the universal laws of physics somehow.
But this… this was something entirely different.
"By the very stars!" Zarex exclaimed. "It's a poof…"
"I'm almost afraid to ask this," Hunter said. "But what is a poof?"
"A spirit, sometimes holy, sometimes not," Pater Tomm replied. "No one is sure where they hail from. They are supposed to come first in the form of a demon, then transform. The question always is: Which form is the right one? Demon or cherub?"
Throughout this, the angel stared at them, face expressionless, everything floating around her. And they stared right back.
"Well, you're the expert," Tomm said to Zarex. 'Tell her why we are here."
The explorer gulped once, then stepped forward.
"Forgive us this intrusion," he said slowly, trying to remain calm. "But we came here with a purpose."
The apparition didn't reply. Its expression didn't change a bit.
Zarex pointed to Hunter. "My friend here wants to go to the Home Planets."
Still nothing.
"He feels he might be one who is being 'called back'…
The spirit took its eyes off Zarex and glanced at Hunter.
"Show her," Zarex told Hunter.
Hunter withdrew the piece of cloth he always kept in his upper left breast pocket. The angel's eyes went wide at the sight of the red, white, and blue flag. Suddenly there was another flash. It was so bright, all three humans were thrown to the ground. When they looked up again, the apparition had morphed once more. This time, the shape was hovering just a few inches above the ground in front of them. It was dressed in a brightly colored outfit. Red, yellow, and green striped jacket, bright purple and yellow pants, a strange hat, with two peaks and bells hanging from them.
A jester? Hunter thought.
A delicate hand pushed back the low-slung fool's cap, revealing the face of a very attractive young girl. Blonde. Sweet.
"Why do you feel you are one who's being called back?" she asked Hunter in a high-pitched melodious voice.
Hunter shook his head. "I really don't know. I have this thing inside me that's saying I must find the Home Planets — and, I think, one in particular. I just feel I must get there, somehow—"
"So, you have this compulsion and that flag?"
"Is that enough?" Hunter asked in reply.
She smiled. "It's more than enough. But what of your companions here?"
Hunter looked at Tomm, Zarex, and the robot.
"They helped me get here; they helped me find you," he replied. "I want them to come with me."
The girl laughed. "Well, at this point they have no choice. They've seen me, they've seen this way station. They now know the secret of this place."
Zarex and Tomm seemed relieved.
"I've got nothing else pressing," Zarex deadpanned. "And I've been known to visit a strange world or two in my lifetime."
Tomm also managed a smile. "A chance to journey to a place that isn't supposed to exist?" he said drolly. "How can I pass that up?"
Even 33418 made a squeaking noise. He had nowhere else he could go either.
"I guess it's the lot of us then," Hunter told the girl.
Tomm looked up at her. "Now these Home Planets," he said. "They are close by? Right?"
The girl laughed again. "Look around. Does anything seem close by to you?"
With that, she snapped her fingers, and a bright golden ball suddenly appeared in front of her. She studied it for a moment, then said, "You will have to go immediately. Our time is growing short here—"
"Wait a moment!" Zarex said. "You have to tell us how we are going…"
She shook her head no.
Zarex pressed her. "But what will our means of transport be?"
Again, she shook her head. "I can't say. Those are the rules."
The three humans looked at each other. "Well, how long will our journey take?" Tomm asked her.
The girl just smiled and then winked. It was clear no answer was forthcoming.
She passed her hand over the ball, and suddenly all four were reduced into a Twenty 'n Six box that had appeared in her other hand. The girl manipulated the globe again. The Twenty 'n Six box turned into a smooth, pearl-colored stone. She examined the stone for a moment, then turned to the northwest, toward a piece of the night sky that was particularly devoid of stars. Or at least any that were "close by."
Then she held her hand up to her mouth and blew on the stone.
There was yet another bright flash, and suddenly the stone rocketed away at great speed. Traveling at a velocity that rivaled even that of Hunter's flying machine, the stone was out of the planet's atmosphere, out of its orbit, and out of the star system completely, all in the blink of an eye.
Part Two
Ashley's Dream
8
Lisa Lee was lost, and she didn't know why.
Either her map was too old or they had changed the highway signs in this part of Illinois recently. She'd been driving for hours and yet didn't seem to be getting any closer to her destination. None of the landmarks were as they should have been, and it didn't help that her watch had stopped running early in the trip. As a result, she had no idea what time it was.
This was not good. This trip was her first solo assignment as an FBI agent. She'd been nervous since the git-go. She was out of the FBI field office in Chicago, and up until a week before had always worked with a partner. Now, finally, she had a case of her own. She'd waited for this day ever since graduating from the academy sixteen months ago. And what happens? She winds up lost!
Her only consolation was that her survival kit was holding out. She had three Cokes remaining from a six-pack. Her large bag of Fritos was only half gone. She had ten cigarettes left. Not bad for nearly a full day of driving. She opened a Coke now, downed a handful of Fritos, and lit a cigarette, all in the same motion. She checked her gas gauge. Her vintage Pontiac Firebird was notoriously bad on fuel. Stepping on the gas pedal was like flushing a toilet. But she had had this ideal notion that the long drive down from Chicago would actually be good for the car's engine. Muscle cars needed a long drive every once in a while to blow the carbon out of the motor — or at least that's what her brother told her the day he gave it to her, as a present, for getting her special agent's badge.