The Riddle (Alternate Dimensions Book 2) Read online

  “Oh, apologies. Was I staring?” She smiled demurely and poured herself a glass of something from an overly fancy pitcher. “It’s just rather surreal to see a Stranger, who was able to cross the barrier between dimensions. We all thought it was impossible.”

  “Who’s we?” I asked. “I’m still not clear on this Stranger thing. I’m not clear on much besides the fact that bad things are happening and I need the lady, who brought me here.”

  “You mean Jyra?”

  “Yeah, her.”

  “You really don’t know who she is?”

  I was a bit confused by that and the taken aback expression on the woman’s face. “Yeah, why? Should I?”

  “I…I guess not.” She tapped the edge of her glass. “I do remember that one of them said you had some sort of…pressure about you. Something keeping you from being able to see us, or hear her, or understand our explanations, but that seems to be getting better. Any idea what that was?”

  Surprisingly, it was Bajol that answered. “When Andi was first in my care, we discovered a subdermal hematoma that had been growing unchecked for years. Honestly, I have no idea how she wasn’t dead. We managed to evacuate the threat, but obviously, it takes time for the brain to recover from such trauma. Perhaps your growing ability to communicate with these…uh, other beings that you are describing is your brain slowly recovering its old abilities. Before the…whatever it was that caused your injury–”

  “Nothing too dramatic. Just a drunk guy with an inferiority complex and a bookcase. But are you saying that I used to be able to see you guys? And go to the dark place you like to hang out it?”

  “Well no, not quite. We just know that you were able to connect to another dimension–our dimension to be specific–and project a version of yourself.”

  I sat there, baffled. “Wow. I have no memory of this. Like at all. Are you sure this was me? And maybe not an Andi from some other, other dimension?”

  “Hold up,” Janix said. “What’s all this talk of dimensions? You’re all making it sound like there’s alternate universe after alternate universe just laying around out there.”

  “Well, that’s mostly because there is,” the captain answered. “As far as we know, there’s an infinite amount. Some of them aren’t even perceptible to us.”

  “So, you’re telling me that you all are…what, galaxy shepherds making sure us flocks go the right way?”

  “No, not quite. It’s more like…,” she paused to think. “For whatever reason, the universes have seen fit to give us the ability to perceive some things that others cannot. For most of us, it’s just the meeting place and other Strangers. But a few have dreams. Or in two very special cases, they can insert themselves into the psyche of someone from a realm not their own.”

  “I’m guessing I’m one of those last ones.”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “And you?”

  “Me? No, just your run of the mill Stranger, as it turns out. But that didn’t stop me from doing what needed to be done. I should be sitting back, gloating over my handiwork, but our malevolent friend doesn’t seem to want to let that happen.”

  “And what needed to be done?”

  “Make the right decision in the Great Choice. It wasn’t easy. It never is.”

  “I don’t understand. What are these choices you’re talking about, and why do we have to make them?”

  “Goodness, I forgot how overwhelming this could be to someone who just joined the fold. You see, originally, all of the galaxies, all of the universes, all of the dimensions were nothing. Just violent, lifeless chaos. That is the dark, malicious soup our enemy was born in. And, as life slowly began to appear, it ruled in utter terror. But eventually, as it always does, life began to find a way. Slowly, it started turning the tide until it attracted the Light.”

  “The Light?”

  She nodded. “There are beings that exist far beyond our comprehension. The Light is one of them. It found interest in the dimensions, and what was blooming there, and gave every single one the option to face a Great Choice. Succeed, and your dimension would go on to flourish and defeat the great evil. Fail, and the evil would eat away until the reality was devoured whole.

  “Many, many dimensions made the right choice, and as the rest fell away, the darkness grew weaker and weaker until it was forced to sleep. For millennia, our dimensions have lived in relative peace, making their own decisions and picking their own paths for better or for worse. But somehow, thousands of years ago, the shadows stirred again, and suddenly, realities were facing another wave of great decisions. Those passed, and we lost a few, but we kept on. But centuries later, another decision came. Then another. And as more dimensions fall, that monster grows stronger.”

  “And how long ago was your great decision?”

  “Less than three-hundred years. And I fear we only have months until this one is upon us.”

  “Wait, three-hundred years ago?” Viys’k murmured. “But that would make you–”

  “Side effect of being an interdimensional chosen savior. The only way we die is to be killed. Not exactly the kindest fate.” She shrugged at the thought. “I suppose we’re to the point where I should tell you my name. I’m Vysinagiel Marthanti, but my allies call my Angel.”

  “Wait, Vysinagiel,” Bajol was suddenly on his feet, wide-eyed and incredulous, “as in the Vysinagiel? Like the half-kin that freed the slaves from the Valkor warlord and started the rebellion that would lead to their recognition as a species?”

  “Thank you for the intro, and yes. One and the same.” She took a long drink. “My ability to see the Strangers came to me during a transport while I was a slave on the moon of Fris. It took a lot of planning, but we managed. It’s been lovely, actually, to watch this galaxy grow and make itself right. But now, all that work, all that life we saved, it’s going to waste. Something dark is sweeping over each and every star of our universe, seeking to snuff it out. We have to stop it.”

  I swallowed, feeling the responsibility weigh down on me. “So, you’re telling me that there’s this thing that’s literally older than time itself that wants all of us dead, and it’s up to us to stop it by making these decisions that literally could kill everyone we know and love?”

  “Exhausting, isn’t it?” She leaned forward, her lavender eyes intent on me once again. “But that’s one of the things that makes you so fascinating. You see, up until this point, every single great decision was made by someone from that particular dimension. Sure, we had the help of each other in the form of advice or dreams, but nothing physical. Nothing tangible. But you, you’re from another dimension. Perhaps that is why, for the first time, our enemy is getting directly involved. Its manifestation in our physical plane of existence takes a great toll on it and is an insane risk. Should it expend too much of its power, it risks depleting itself. Should it expend too much of its power, it risks the Light noticing and returning once more to even the scales. If there’s one thing the Light seems to love, it’s evening the scales.”

  “For being the one who made all life possible, you sure don’t make it sound very benevolent.”

  “That’s because it’s not. Other Strangers may worship the idea of the Light, the one who gave us these abilities, but I see through it. The Light is a very powerful, very bored cosmic entity that has decided to extend the fight for their own entertainment, rather than destroying the evil and saving us all. The only issue is, they’ve been distracted by a shiny, new toy and are just letting the channel play to an empty room.

  “No, the Light has abandoned us. And should it return, it will never attempt to fix what’s broken. Only patch it, so it can keep watching until the next thing catches its attention.”

  “Well, that’s awfully….”

  “Bleak?” Janix supplied. “Depressing? Fatalistic? I could go on.”

  “I’m sure you’d love to,” Viys’k jabbed quietly. But it was clear her heart wasn’t in it. “You know, when I first saw you in prison and de
cided to follow what the stupid dream said, I wasn’t counting on being roped into some sort of side kick to the savior of the universe. I didn’t sign up for this.”

  “I’m sorry,” I murmured, rubbing my face with my hands. “It wasn’t like I planned any of this. Mostly, it just seems planned for me.”

  “It would seem that perhaps we are about to cross the point of no return,” Bajol said, sitting down calmly. I had forgotten that he was still standing up after the revelation of who the captain was. “If you think that you would like to back out now, this most likely will be the last opportunity to do so safely.”

  I nodded in agreement, although my stomach sank a bit. It was so odd, I had only known these guys for maybe a week at most, and they were definitely criminals, but they were the only allies I had. And what was more was that they genuinely seemed to care about my wellbeing. Maybe it was just from surviving so many close scrapes together in such a short time. Maybe it was curiosity. But either way, I felt tied to all of them. Watching any of them leave would be incredibly difficult.

  “What are you guys going on about? I never said I was going to leave. Just remarking that I never imagined myself as a secondary protagonist in the grand scheme of things. I always pictured myself as more of the rogue anti-hero.”

  “Please,” Janix scoffed. “If anyone’s the anti-hero, it’s me. Think about it, stunning good looks, history of violence, shaky on several aspects of the law and physically scarred from how the world did them wrong. You’re not gonna find a better origin story than that.”

  “Please, please,” Angel cut in, “you’re both scum of the worlds. Can we move on and get back to what matters?”

  “And what exactly is that?” I asked. “I don’t think I can handle anymore world-shaking reveals.”

  “No, I think we got most of those out of the way. I’m more concerned with taking care of the decision and getting you home. If I’ve learned anything in my time with the Strangers, it’s that mixing things from alternate dimensions without the proper precautions can be disastrous.”

  “So, we need to find the scientist who brought me here. I’ve been seeing her a lot, in these, uh…they’re not really visions, but I’m not sure they’re real either. The smoke creature takes me there when he wants to scare me. But anyway, she’s there, and she protected me a few times, until….”

  “Until what?”

  “Until he took her away. Whoever kidnapped her at the station, when I first arrived must be connected to him.”

  “Then we have to find where they’re keeping her.”

  “Yeah, and how are we supposed to do that? I don’t suppose there are any dreaming Strangers that haven’t been killed off yet that just happen to know all the spoilers for this reality?”

  “No, but the best way to solve a crime is to go back to the start. We need to get you back to that lab and gather all the evidence we can. DNA scanner logs, security footage, everything.”

  “Let me get this straight,” Viys’k said, voice tense. “You want us to go to a top-secret government lab under the tightest level of security due to a terrorist attack that we are currently being blamed for?”

  Angel nodded and clapped her hands. “Sound like fun, doesn’t it?”

  The krelach let out several sputters. “F-fun? Are you serious? Does being a Stranger make you have some sort of inappropriate love of incredibly stressful and possibly fatal endeavors?”

  “Probably.” She poured herself another drink of whatever was in that pitchers of hers then slammed it down onto the table. “So, do you guys wanna form a plan, or what?”

  My three companions looked to me, and I felt my shoulders tense from the pressure. Like it or not, this was my world now. And it was about time I stopped running and things started running from me.

  “All right, so what’s your suggestion?”

  “That, I don’t really know yet. I honestly thought tracking you down was going to take a lot more time and resources. But when I heard over subspace chatter about a Council strike against the Dwyellyn and picked up a rabid kodadt signature, I figured, where else could you be? Nice job getting out of that, by the way. I thought I was going to have to decloak and send crew down. But the less the Council knows we’re involved, the better. They’ve been thoroughly infiltrated by our enemy and its minions.”

  “While you gather your data and put together a plan,” Bajol offered, standing up once more, “we currently are in need of a med-testing lab–at least somewhat current in its capacity. If you have one on board, or access to one on your secret hideaways, we would be most appreciative of being granted access.”

  Angel waved her hand. “I’m sure you have important doctor-y stuff going on, but that can wait.”

  “No,” Janix said, voice tight, “it really can’t in this case.”

  “What, does the big strong bounty hunter have the itchies in his unmentionables? Trust me, whatever you’re worried about comes after making sure we all survive this.”

  She had a point, but it was one based on the idea that I wasn’t carrying the equivalent of space rabies-cancer-herpes. “Angel, I’m infected.”

  Her head snapped to me, and it would have been comical if not for the subject matter. “Come again?”

  “I’m infected. With the rabid kodadt virus.”

  She was on her feet before I could even blink, a gun pulled from who knows where and trained on me. “You couldn’t lead with that? All this time you risked infecting my crew! Me? Thousands of people live here!” I didn’t take it personally, but it certainly didn’t make me feel safe. My crew however, was not as forgiving, and they jumped to their feet as well, yelling warnings. “How long?”

  I shrugged. “A few days we think.”

  “But you’re alive. That’s not possible.”

  “I know. Weird, right? And to top the cake, it’s kinda giving me freakishly cool and stomach-churning talents.”

  “Clarify.”

  “Oh, you know, fairly superhero stuff. I punched a door off its hinges. Blew up some guns with my mind. Projected my consciousness into the body of the kodadt that was attacking us.”

  Finally, the gun was put down and Angel flopped back into her seat. “How did this happen?”

  “We’re not entirely sure, but we think it probably has something to do with me eating the cloud thing alive. Just difficult to sort correlation and causation in this case, being a fugitive on the run and all.”

  The look she gave me was bordering between dumbfounded and rage. “Wait. Run that back a little. You ate the darkness?”

  “Uh yeah. Just kinda swallowed it whole. We’re still not sure if that was a bad decision or not. On one hand, I’ve been infected with a deadly, evil, mutant virus, but on the other hand, it’s weaker and I got rad powers out of it.”

  Angel ran one of her tiny hands through her hair, shaking her head emphatically. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

  “That’s because Andi isn’t quite explaining it to the best of her ability.” Bajol cut in.

  “Well, excuse me for trying to inject some levity into the situation.”

  “I understand, but perhaps Angel would like a more straightforward explanation.” He looked to the captain who was studying us all intensely. “Yes, Andi is infected. However, her body is mutating and purging the virus as it grows and infects more of her, then expelling the waste. The byproducts are completely safe, but I need to test if live samples carry contagion, or if there’s any way she can transfer the virus to anyone else. I only have the cursory readings of my medical scanner, but so far, her body is keeping the virus completely in check.”

  “This…this must be why you were sent here.” Angel murmured, her voice quiet. “To cure the plague and stop that thing. I knew the sickness had to have something to do with the Great Choice approaching us. I just had no idea that it had such a central role.” She stood, and she was all business. It was easy to see how she might have once started an entire rebellion. Energy and hope crackled from he
r small form. For the first time in a while, I felt hope.

  “All right, so we’ve all done some mutual mind-blowing here, so I propose that we call it a night. Tomorrow, I’ll send out my scouts to gather intel, and the doctor will be granted access to our labs. Given the situation, I can’t have you out mingling with the crew until we can prove that even hurt or bleeding you’re not going to infect us. You all will stay in my guest accommodations tonight.” She pointed to another door behind her. “That’s the bathroom. You’re all welcome to it.” Then another door. “That’s the guest quarters.” She stood and stretched. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, this senior citizen is well past her bedtime. I will see you all tomorrow.”

  With a sharp nod, she marched over through the door that the original captain had disappeared through, leaving all of us just sitting there with our thoughts.

  “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could certainly use a rest after everything we’ve gone through.” He grabbed the pitcher that was on the table and took a big gulp. I could tell his reaction was surprised the exact moment whatever was in it hit his tongue, but he managed to swallow without spitting it out. “What kind of namby pirate captain keeps sparkling grell juice in their private quarters? Where’s the Srkryet Rum?”

  I couldn’t help but smile at his incredulous expression. “Hey, remember, Angel’s a couple centuries old. Maybe she got all of her partying and rum drinking out in her younger days.”