Alex took a second to think and see if she was forgetting anything important. “And that kid, the one I saw in the meteor? He was there as well. He said he was part of the Dark One.”
“He was the one who helped you blow up the meteor, wasn’t he?”
Alex thought back to what had happened then. She was annoyed that she couldn’t remember nearly as much as she wanted to. Was her mind intentionally hiding things from her?
After an extended period of silence while Manny waited patiently, Alex finally said, “I don’t know if he was trying to help me. At the time, that’s what seemed like, but now I don’t know. Everything is confusing, and it’s not like when I experience things in real life. I can remember those, and they don’t confuse me. But what happened on the meteor or just now? That feels like trying to remember a dream. Everything starts to fade, or it doesn’t make any sense.”
Manny’s eyes softened, showing that he was at least trying to understand. Whatever was happening with Alex was outside his experience. “Wait!” she suddenly exclaimed. “Can’t you see multiple realities or dimensions or something like that?”
A few of Manny’s eyes turned their attention back to the papers floating in front of him as if he were avoiding the conversation. “Yeah, I can. It’s not as simple as you’re probably thinking, but I can perceive dimensions and realms outside the one I’m currently in.”
“Wherever I was, it wasn’t this dimension. I don’t know how I know that, but it wasn’t. If you were linked with Chine and me, do you think you could tell me where it was? What I was seeing?”
Manny rubbed his chin with one of his eye tendrils. “It depends if I’ve seen it before. Most of the universe across the realms looks the same, even in other dimensions. Unless there was something very noticeable, like a dozen black holes or maybe a few dying stars next to each other—anything like that—I might be able to, if I’ve seen it before.”
Alex thought back to her vision. There was nothing interesting or notable except the planet the Dark One was destroying. No landmarks she could think of. “Do you think it’s worth a try?”
Manny thought it through. “Maybe you should talk to the technicians. There are some things you need to know about how the lack of gravity is going to affect your mission. After that, we’ll give it a try.”
Alex agreed with him. She did want to know where the Dark One was or if it was only a trick of the mind, but the mission at hand took priority. If Boundless was able to retrieve the weapon, it wouldn’t matter either way. The Dark One would be dead. Problem solved.
With that in mind, Alex went over to the technician who was working on the space augments being attached to Chine. “I heard I’m supposed to get a tutorial on all this,” she called as she approached.
The technician, a young man with dusty brown hair wearing a name tag that read Greg, turned to face Alex. “Hey, I’ve been waiting for you,” he chirped cheerfully. “Glad to see you made it in time for me to go over everything. It won’t take too long, I promise.”
Greg waved Alex over and started to go through the augments he’d attached to Chine and why. The augments were far past the prototype stage but hadn’t been tested with riders on dragons. He assured her that the important components were all safe.
The tubes that had been attached were to deal with the lack of oxygen in space. They’d been trying to figure out a way to get oxygen to the dragons before realizing that the dragons would be able to breathe their own nitrous oxide. The tubes were basically a funnel, taking the fumes that were in the dragons’ stomachs and cycling them back through their systems, negating the need for them to carry oxygen.
The only problem was that the dragons would not be able to use flame attacks. That meant their riders were going to have to be meticulous in the augments they chose.
Chine and the other dragons were not used to being without gravity, but according to Greg, that wasn’t going to be the hard part.
The dragons weren’t going to be able to use their wings. Thrusters were being added to their backs, which the riders controlled. If something went wrong, the dragons could operate them, but Greg wasn’t sure how much good that was going to do.
Alex wished they had started training with these new controls weeks ago, or at least earlier in the day. It had been great to see her parents, but the time would have been much better spent getting used to the new way of riding.
Greg assured Alex that it would be like second nature in space. He did caution that it was going to take a lot more concentration since Chine wouldn’t be able to help her when it came to control unless she completely relinquished hers. Great, Alex thought before reaching out to Chine and asking him if he was comfortable with the new equipment.
Chine chuckled. Does it matter? Either way, this is our mission. We are going to have to do the best we can. We’ll figure it out.
Alex was glad the dragon was comfortable with the idea of being in space and having no control over his body. She wished she could pick up on his emotions more, but she realized that if Chine was very uncomfortable with the prospect, she would feel it. It would be nice to trust herself as much as Chine did.
Greg continued
