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He spun, then slas spread wide, his hair, his elbows, his knuckles, his back, his legs--all held tight to its almost rubbery surface He’d expected fierce heat, but instead it was cool and tingly with power

Then Michael fleard the sky

Chapter 8: The Explorers

The world ind and sound

Michael could barely keep his eyes open as his body rocketed upith the shaft of purple light The roar filled his ears, and the air beat at his head and face and clothes, trying to rip him free, but he felt as if his body had melded with the surface

He turned his head as round was far away, the air thinning,it hard to breathe; the curvature of the Earth was coram, but it all felt so real, like he was about to be launched into outer space--like he was being launched into outer space He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the code, but it was either blocked or he was too panicked to concentrate

He opened his eyes and looked up Above him he could see Bryson--the soles of his feet, at least But there was no sign of Sarah; she had to be above Bryson Michael tried to lift his right hand, but it held tight to the beaht, the skin around his knuckles pulled taut He couldn’t think of any possible explanation for what this thing was, but it hit him that he shouldn’t lift his hand off even if he could A very long fall would be on the other end of a ed

Not the shaft itself, which was still pulsing and ascending at is abruptly … altered And the shift made his head spin At first there was a sharp turn, not sobelow the parallel to the groundmissile, buffeted by wind and noise

Michael opened his mouth to shout at his friends, see if they were okay Air filled his lungs, dried his tongue before he could get a word out Not that they would have been able to hear hi to see as far as possible Ahead, in the distance, a huge black rectangle had appeared, and it was growing bigger the closer they got As he approached he could see that the purple shaft of light intersected the darkness, then continued on to who knehere

Michael tried again to open his h he could barely hear hi and the world disappeared He could no longer see the purple brilliance of the beah he felt it There was only pitch darkness

Silence caain, but it was useless He was blind and deaf and beginning to panic He thrashed, struggling to free himself from the invisible bonds, but to no avail His skin hurt where it adhered to the ray of power, and he had to force hiht rip his virtual body to shreds

A light appeared, soht once more As soon as it did, the purple beam reappeared White tendrils of electricity arced and flashed along the shaft’s surface, the light behind it still pulsing The sound of wind cahtness ahead turned into another opening, growing, coe appeared below the in sunlight An evergreen forest nestled in the valley, and a river wound through it like a snake, glinting and sparkling Everything was crystal clear, the air cool and crisp, clean and s of pine Michael didn’t understand why they’d been taken to such a place or who had done it Was this Kaine’s grand way of getting them alone?

Another dark square appeared in the distance, and soon they passed into it Just like before, all senses were cut off, and once again panic struck hie hold When that did no good, he used the moment of stillness to close his eyes and once more tried to penetrate the code

At least this tih it was blurry He reached for it mentally, but the harder he strained, the more elusive the nuive up, that he’d just keep trying to program them free He could do this If anyone could do it, he could

Finally, he sensed a light behind his eyes just as the rush of wind hit his body, its roar pounding his ears He looked to see that they’d coain, this ti with a storm The beam shone behind hi lit up the grayness in flashes, followed by the ru beam flew, but it felt like they were suspended just below the clouds Whitecaps e waves below as they crashed into each other

A black rectangle appeared; the purple beae world of dull colors and rain Pyra down their sloped sides, creating rivers in the sand The land was desolate--there were no people, no trees, nothing besides the pyranized the place froame he’d played years earlier, but he was too exhausted to inspect it more closely He was soaked His body ached, his skin hurt, hisdown Another atteles stretched below hiing through the trees, stirring theate boxy machines covered eapons turrets; there were flashes of lights and thunderous sound Mechanized soldiers ran along the ground, shooting each other with bright red lasers

Darkness

A city at dawn, skyscrapers nearly close enough to touch, a forest of concrete and h the air A wo at Michael as he raced past She had three eyes and no hair Her legs had been replaced by six silvery contraptions that made her look like a robotic spider She opened her ht toward Michael

Darkness

World after world, gaame, Michael flew, attached to the purple beam The pain consu past, alternating with the black nothingness