Blackstone

The Gray Domain

David stormed off, and I walked back to my room by myself. Carrie and Thomas were talking on their beds and jumped up when I entered the room.

            "Well, there she is," Thomas said, "What happened with Colonel Nash?"

            "Yes, you must tell us everything. Unless, it's not all right," Carrie said.

            "All right, guys. Sit down because you're not gonna believe this," I said.

            Over the next twenty minutes, I totally spilled the beans, telling Carrie and Thomas everything I knew about Blackstone. I told them about the civil war in the Orion Empire, the exiled Prince, the Ark inside the Earth, and the struggle against the Grimm. When I was done, Thomas and Carrie sat on the edge of their beds in stunned silence.

            "Wow, this is like something out of bloody fricking Star Wars," Thomas said.

            Just then a sharp bell rang announcing the company assembly in the Common Room.  We spilled down the stairs, following the other teams and filed into the Common Room. Nicole and David were already there at the front of the room waiting for us. I deliberately avoided looking at David.

            "All right, settle down. We've got a lot to go over today." David said.

            "Congratulations, worms. Today is your lucky day. You get to experience the Gray Domain directly." Nicole said.

            "Physical combat is only half of the equation of being an effective Ranger," David said, walking around the room, "The mental game is more important especially in combat against the Grimm."

            Suddenly, the door to the common room banged open and Nicole stormed in. "Let's go worms. Assembly in ten minutes!"

            Everyone in the room looked around in confusion. What was going on? We looked at Nicole at the front of the classroom who was laughing softly. I turned to find out who the identical Agent Heidegger was but was surprised to find out she was gone.

            "No. I don't have a twin sister, worms. That just goes to show you that reality is pliable especially in 3D. You see what I want you to see. And that's from someone with a minimum of psionic training." Nicole said.

            "The Gray Domain is the Realm of the Mind. It's where you'll receive the best psionic training available from the best instructors available – the Grays themselves," David said, "Again. Don't be alarmed when you see them. God knows you've seen their image all over pop culture so this won't be too much of a shock."

            "Assemble into Teams and Line up, Worms!" Nicole shouted.

            We all assembled into our respective teams and lined up. Nicole activated a Jump Door. The swirling vortex spun in the center of the room, bending and refracting light into a kaleidoscope of colors.

            "The status for Alpha Company First Team is as follows. First place... Team Two. Second Place.... Team Three. Third Place... Team Seven. Good luck and I'll see you on the other side." David said.

            I looked at Carrie and Thomas. We were still in second place and the mid terms were approaching. We had to catch up to Team Two and this Gray Domain was the place where we were going to do it. I braced myself for the jump.

            Team Nine finished their jump. It was time for us to enter the Gray Domain. What were we going to find there? I took a quick breath, bent my knees, and jumped into the vortex.