When Forever Ends (Part 2: The Place with No Name)

XXXIII

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T h i r t y - T h r e e

"HEY!" Maya's shout echoed. "I can see something!"

Erin looked up from the book. Even though she had been reading for what must've been a couple of hours, she felt she had barely cracked the surface. The book was almost five centimeters thick, and the pages were a lot thinner than in most books.

Maya was peering out the large, curved window to see if there was any change in the view. Apparently there was.

"What is it?" Erin asked.

"I have no idea!" she exclaimed. "It has huge shiny rectangular wings and a big plate-looking thing on one side."

Erin undid the straps holding her in the chair and glided over to look, smashing painfully into the window. She still hadn't gotten the hang of moving around without gravity yet, and she rubbed her sore nose with one hand while she put some space between her and the large plate of glass with the other. Then she looked out at what Maya had seen.

The other girl was right. The object did look strange. It was a large, gold-plated box, with purplish rectangles sticking out of two opposite sides. A large dish was attached to the planet-facing side with a long spine jutting out from the center. They weren't to know it, but this was the satellite Tarron had spoken of.

They also had no way of knowing that the rocket was lower than it should have been. The weight of the extra passengers had slowed its takeoff, and it was now directly in the path of the satellite, which should have passed harmlessly beneath. The satellite drifted towards the rocket with impossible speed, growing larger with each second Erin spent watching.

The object was close enough for her to make out the M.A.S.K. logo on the side when a realization hit her. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "We're gonna crash!"

CRUNCH! The impact shook the cabin. Erin flew forward and her face smashed painfully into the window again. The lights flickered for a moment, but remained lit.

She backed up, once again rubbing her nose, and surveyed the situation. There was a small lump in one of the walls where the object had collided, but the capsule seemed to have held. The object, on the other hand, was completely decimated. One of the wings had crumpled and the dish was separated from the main body, floating freely by. She reflected that, despite the possible damage to Dawn, they had just accidentally foiled another of Tarron's plans. The object obviously couldn't fulfill whatever role it had been assigned in its current state.

There was a loud click that echoed slightly in the cramped rocket and a light on the control panel blinked on for a few seconds. Will peered at it and announced, "It says 'stage one jettisoned.' I wonder what that means." Another light lit up. "'Stage two ignition,'" he read.

Suddenly the whole ship shuddered and everyone flew to the back of the cabin, pressed against the wall by the rapid acceleration. A roar filled the air, mixed with the sound of many objects clanking and rattling around in the compartments lining the walls. After a few moments, everything was still once more.

"What was that?" Will directed the question at Erin.

"I wish I knew," she shook her head. "All this technology is beyond me, and this book is stupid," she threw it away in disgust. Unfortunately, the action of throwing the book sent her flying in the opposite direction, straight down the ladder.

"Oof!" All the air was driven from her lungs as she hit the metal grate at the bottom and she took a few moments to catch her breath.

"You okay?" Will called.

"Fine," she groaned. "Just winded, that's all."

An eerie sound drifted through the air and made Erin look around in surprise. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Will floated down to join her.

They heard it again. It was a low moaning sound, not unlike an animal in pain. It seemed to be coming from a circular door halfway along the hallway. They moved over to it and peered in the small, plastic window. A pair of huge, green cat eyes watched them warily.

*A/N*

If you're confused about the significance of the satellite collision, let me explain. The rocket was scheduled to launch at a certain time, and should have lifted straight off the planet and passed by the satellite harmlessly. The extra weight of more passengers slowed it down, so it collided with the satellite.

Not only did this destroy the satellite, but it also altered the rocket's course. Imagine the rocket's path is a laser beam. Unobstructed, it would continue on straight, directly away from the laser. Now if the satellite is a mirror, and you put it at a slight angle in the beam's path, the laser reflects off the mirror and travels off in a different direction. Make sense now?

So Dawn is now headed in a new direction. Where, you might ask? You'll just have to wait and see! *evil laugh*