In the City of Tomorrow: Chapter 7

In the blink of an eye the Sentinel threw up a force field around the two girls. The twins felt the ghostly Poneri slam against the protective barrier, attempting to break it down. As they stumbled backwards the Sentinel transferred a pattern into their minds. “Use this weapon to fight them!” he shouted. The visible figure of the Sentinel then vanished and he turned into a small metal sphere. The sphere began blasting away at the oncoming figures, using rays of energy to force them away from the girls.

Both girls used the information the Sentinel had transferred to them. Amanda applied the data mentally and used the nanites within her to create focused rays of energy, which she fired at the Poneri that were battling her. The beings immediately jumped back, stunned but not destroyed. Amanda then increased the energy level and saw them dissipate – but as soon as one disappeared, five more poured through the hole.

Meanwhile her sister had used the pattern to create a weapon. The gun was a long, cylindrical object a bit longer than a hunting rifle. It was composed of a series of six translucent green tubes, each of which terminated in a small reflector dish. In the rear of the gun was a handle and a bulky power supply.

Amy aimed the gun at the nearest Poneri and held down the trigger. Immediately all six barrels surged to life and a brilliant white stream of continuous energy shot out. The Poneri that were crowding around her sister were blasted apart and the survivors turned and ran. Amy ran after them, firing wildly. Most of the shots hit the Poneri and destroyed them but a few struck crates and blasted them into pieces.

“Give me one of those, Tiger!” Amanda shouted. Amy tossed her weapon to her sister and materialized a new one out of the air. Amy focused on hunting down the Poneri in the cargo hold while Amanda blasted away at the portal.

“Can’t you shut it down?” Amanda screamed at the Sentinel. “We’ve got to get that thing closed!”

“There is too much interference,” the Sentinel replied. “I can’t do anything while the portal is open and active. We need to close it before I can suspend it in time.”

At that moment the lights in the ship went out. There was a horrible grinding noise and then everything was plunged into utter darkness.

“They’re attacking the ship!” Amy shouted.

“We’ve got to split up,” Amanda shouted back. “Tiger, you go and protect the passengers while I guard Steve. Steve, you stay here and find a way to close that portal.”

“Very good,” the Sentinel replied. “I will attempt to seal it off.”

Amy watched the Sentinel enclose the portal in a large sphere of blue energy. Poneri continued to surge out of the tear in space but they could not pass through the Sentinel’s barrier. Other Poneri that were already in the cargo hold surged toward the Sentinel but Amanda picked them off with her weapon.

“Get going!” Amanda shouted. Amy then turned around and vanished.

* * * * *

At the other end of the cargo hold Karen and Charlie were talking about the day’s events. “I just don’t think the Wall was a good idea,” Charlie said. “I mean, what’s going to happen if it ever fails? You just know that the Spanish Empire is hopping mad about this. If they’re ever let out we are done for!”

“That will never happen,” Karen replied. “The Rangers have had years of experience in keeping the Wall going. By the time they take it down there won’t be anything left of the Empire but a lot of bad memories.”

At that point the cargo bay was lit by a burst of brilliant white light. Karen turned around and saw chaos at the far end of the cargo bay. Although the stacks of crates blocked much of her view, she could still see blue, green, and red energy beams shooting across the room. She also heard violent noises of destruction, as fragile wooden crates were blasted apart and crashed to the floor.

Charlie looked at Karen, terrified. “What is that?”

“Knowing this history of this ship I’ll give you three guesses,” Karen replied. “But I bet you’ll only need one.” She stood up, walked over to a path between the crates, and peeked around the corner. Down at the end of the passage she saw a blue tear in reality. Shadow beings were pouring out of it but something she couldn’t see was fighting them.

“What do you see?” Charlie called out from behind a crate.

“Our ghostly friends are back!” Karen called out grimly. “And this time they’ve brought friends of their own. We’re in for a real fight.”

At that moment the lights went out. They heard the massive engines on the ship grind to a halt. All machinery went dead. The room went completely dark.

“We’re done for,” Charlie moaned.

“What’s the matter with you?” Karen shouted back into the darkness. “You weren’t scared last time!”

“Last time I didn’t know we were fighting Poneri! Do you have any idea what those things can do?”

“And you think hiding behind a crate is going to protect you?”

As she watched there was a sudden commotion down the passageway. A blue energy field appeared around the tear in space. More energy beings surged through the tear but they could not escape the field. The cargo bay was filled with a soft white light but the source of the light could not be seen.

“I think our friend is back,” Karen said.

At that moment something grabbed her and tossed her across the room. She smacked into a crate and sank down to the floor. Dazed and in pain, she lifted up her head and saw three Poneri standing in front of her.

“Do something!” she screamed. Her back was throbbing and her head was killing her. She found it difficult to breathe.

“I don’t have any weapons!” Charlie called back. As soon as he spoke up he regretted it. His voice attracted the attention of one of the Poneri, who looked around and noticed him. The Poneri laughed, picked up a large crate, and hurled it at him.

Before the crate could reach him, though, it suddenly froze in mid-air and then settled peacefully onto the floor. As he looked at it in shock a beam of white energy engulfed the group of Poneri. They vanished.

A teenage girl appeared where the Poneri used to be. The girl was tall and thin, with long black hair and bronzed skin. She was holding some kind of giant rifle, which she tossed to Charlie. She then grabbed another one out of thin air – Karen wasn’t sure how she did it – and walked over to her. “Are you ok?” she asked.

“I think I’ve broken something,” Karen said, wincing in pain.

The girl reached out and took her hand. Karen felt a rush of warm energy surge through her. The pain dissipated and she felt stronger. “You’ll be all right now,” she said.

The girl handed her gun to Karen, who took it and then stood up. “Who are you?” Karen asked.

“A friend,” the girl replied. “I’ve got to go, but you’ll be ok now. If the Poneri come back just point this at them and pull the trigger. They’ll learn to leave you alone.” She then vanished.

Charlie walked over to Karen, nervously clutching his weapon. “Who was that?”

“An ally,” Karen said.

“But where did she come from? I know for a fact that there are no teenagers on board this ship!”

Karen eyed him critically. “Really? I suppose next you’ll be telling me there are no ghosts on board either.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a Poneri lurking in a corner, a few feet from Charlie. She whirled around, pointed her gun at it, and fired. A beam of white light struck the Poneri and blasted it apart.

Karen nodded with great satisfaction. “I think this is going to work!”