The Elite

Twenty-Five, Part 2

The portal — if that was what it was — was gone in a flash, leaving me in what appeared to be the burning wreckage of our crashed jet in the place I had just been standing. Only now the sky was black — untouched by the sun — signaling the fact that it was now night.

"Leon!" Aubrey said. "There you are!"

I turned around to see her jogging through the jet's wreckage as if everything was normal. It clearly wasn't, but I didn't know exactly how.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You stepped through Zareen's portal which sent you into the future," Aubrey explained. "Her portals go through space, but also forward in time. You accidentally stepped into hers and got sent into the future."

It sounded like a good explanation that fit everything I'd observed, so I decided to accept that was what happened, even though Aubrey was an alien. It wasn't like I had any other explanation. She'd been my friend for years, so I had to believe her. However, I remained skeptical. Things had changed, I didn't know if I really knew her any longer.

"How do you know so much about Zareen's power?" I asked. "Is she one of your alien friends?"

"She came with Black Hole. She's his ally," Aubrey said. "I know you don't see much reason to trust me, but Leon, please understand. I'm still on your side."

"Right, because turning Haruki and Black Hole against each other is helping," I replied sarcastically.

Not wanting to listen to any lame excuses, I decided to stalk away, and hoped Aubrey just decided to leave Earth. I didn't quite know how to reconcile my best friend with the alien she actually was, so I wished she'd just go away. If she wasn't in my life any longer, then I wouldn't have to deal with all the confusion.

I was so annoyed and angry at Aubrey that my feelings filled me up so much that I was thinking about her and not paying attention to where I was going. Instead of showing Aubrey how much I disliked her lies, I showed her I was an idiot by tripping over a piece of metal stuck in the ground.

Feeling like a supreme imbecile, I quickly rolled onto my back, hoping to spring to my feet and dash away, but I was delayed by Aubrey's panicked shout.

"Leon! Look out!"

Looking up, I saw a piece of metal, temporarily blotting out the light of the flames from the burning wreckage as it soared through the air. Drowning in confused feelings about Aubrey, I didn't do the smart thing and move. Instead, like a novice, I froze, and the piece of metal fell right on top of me.

I let out a harsh scream as part of the metal stabbed me in the gut, pinning me to the ground. There were strange spikes coming off a flat piece of metal suspended above me that were impaled into the ground — except for the one that was impaled in my gut. I didn't know what the piece of metal was or where it came from, but I knew I was trapped and in a lot of pain. From my awkward angle, I couldn't exert enough force to push the metal off. It made me feel absurdly helpless, lying there with no means of escape.

"Aubrey!" I yelled, hoping she would help, but she didn't. Not for a long time.

I didn't know how long I was stuck there, but it felt like forever as I struggled to move the metal even though it remained firmly stuck where it was. Thankfully, the spike in my gut seemed to have missed hitting anything vital, and the blood had congealed around the intrusion so it wasn't bleeding so much. I was still alive, and would be for a while, so I knew I could recover. I was just trapped, unable to help myself or my squad.