I don’t stop to wonder why I’m not locked down. Clutching the Mogadorian book, I step into a hallway that’s just as cold and metallic as my room.
‘Ah,’ says a woman’s voice. ‘You’re awake.’
Rather than guards, a Mogadorian woman perches on a stool outside my room, obviously waiting for me. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a female Mog before, and definitely not one like her. Middle-aged, with wrinkles forming in the pale skin around her eyes, the Mog looks surprisingly unthreatening in a high-necked, floor-length dress, like something one of the Sisters would wear back at Santa Teresa. Her head is shaved except for two long, black braids at the back of her skull, the rest of her scalp covered by an elaborate tattoo. Instead of being nasty and vicious, like the Mogs I’ve fought before, this one is almost elegant.
I stop short in front of her, not sure what to do.
The Mog glances at the book in my hands and smiles.
‘And ready to begin your studies, I see,’ she says, getting up. She’s tall, slender and vaguely spiderlike. Standing before me, she dips into an elaborate bow. ‘Mistress Ella, I shall be your instructor while –’
As soon as her head comes low enough, I smack her across the face with the book as hard as I can.
She doesn’t see it coming, which I guess is strange because all the Mogs I’ve encountered have been ready to fight. This one lets out a short grunt and then hits the floor with a fluttering of fabric from her fancy dress.
I don’t stop to see if I’ve knocked her out or if she’s pulling a blaster from some hidden compartment in that dress. I run, choosing a direction at random and hurtling down the hallway as fast as I can. The metal floor stings my bare feet and my muscles begin to ache, but I ignore all that. I have to get out of here.
Too bad these secret Mogadorian bases never have any exit signs.
I turn one corner and then another, sprinting through hallways that are pretty much identical. I keep expecting sirens to start blaring now that I’ve escaped, but they never do. There aren’t any heavy Mogadorian footfalls chasing after me either.
Just when I’m starting to get winded and thinking about slowing down, a doorway opens on my right and two Mogadorians step forward. They’re more like the ones I’m used to – burly, dressed in their black combat gear, beady eyes glaring at me. I dart around them, even though neither of them makes any attempt to grab me. In fact, I think I hear one of them laughing.
What is going on here?
I can feel the two Mog soldiers watching me run, so I duck down the first hallway that I can. I’m not sure if I’ve been going in circles or what. There isn’t any sunlight or outside noises at all, nothing to indicate that I might be getting closer to an exit. It doesn’t seem like the Mogs even care what I do, like they know I’ve got no chance to get out of here.
I slow down to catch my breath, cautiously inching down this latest sterile hallway. I’m still clutching the book – my only weapon – and my hand is starting to cramp. I switch hands and press on.
Up ahead, a wide archway opens with a hydraulic hiss; it’s different from the other doors, wider, and there are strangely blinking lights on the other side.
Not blinking lights. Stars.
As I walk under the archway, the metal-plated ceiling gives way to a glass bubble, the room wide-open, almost like a planetarium. Except real. There are various consoles and computers protruding from the floor – maybe this is some kind of control room – but I ignore them, drawn instead to the dizzying view through the expansive window.
Darkness. Stars.
Earth.
Now I understand why the Mogadorians weren’t chasing me. They know there’s nowhere for me to go.
I’m in space.
I get right up to the glass, pressing my hands against it. I can feel the emptiness outside, the endless, ice-cold, airless space between me and that floating blue orb in the distance.
‘Glorious, isn’t it?’
His booming voice is like a bucket of cold water dumped on me. I spin around and press my back to the glass, feeling like the void behind me might be preferable to facing him.
Setrákus Ra stands behind one of the control panels, watching me, a hint of a smile on his face. The first thing I notice is that he’s not nearly as huge as he was when we fought him at Dulce Base. Still, Setrákus Ra is tall and imposing, his broad physique clad in a stern black uniform, studded and decorated with an assortment of jagged Mogadorian medals. Three Loric pendants, the ones he took from the dead Garde, hang from around his neck, glowing a subdued cobalt.
‘I see you’ve already taken up my book,’ he says, gesturing to my dictionary-sized club. I didn’t realize I was clutching it to my chest. ‘Although not necessarily in the way I’d hoped. Fortunately, your Proctor wasn’t badly injured …’
Suddenly, in my hands, the book begins to glow red, just like the piece of debris I picked up back at Dulce Base. I don’t know exactly how I’m doing it, or even what I’m doing.
‘Ah,’ Setrákus Ra says, watching with a raised eyebrow. ‘Very good.’
‘Go to hell!’ I scream, and fling the glowing book at him.
Before it’s even halfway to him, Setrákus Ra raises one huge hand and the book stops in midair. I watch as the glow I’d infused it with slowly fades.
‘Now, now,’ he chides me. ‘Enough of that.’
‘What do you want from me?’ I shout, frustrated tears filling my eyes.