Brath slowly turned his head until he was facing Alex, his eyes still wide and a little dreamy. “Wait, what? Did you say something?”
“You okay, dude?”
“Yeah, definitely, definitely,” he murmured as he turned back to the view.
Gill, who was standing beside Brath, leaned behind the gnome and tapped Jim on the shoulder, hissing a little to catch Alex’s attention as well. “Brath is from a community of deep gnomes,” Gill explained. “They rarely see the sky when they’re growing up. As a result, the first time deep gnomes see a new sky, they go into something like a trance. It’s similar to a recreational drug. He’ll probably do the same when he sees the sunset here, too.”
Brath punched Gill in the kneecap. “What have I told you about babbling on about why I do what I do?”
Gill laughed and shoved Brath playfully. “I only wanted to let the humans know why you’re behaving so adorably. Didn’t want them to think you were getting soft.”
“I’m not getting soft. It’s just so damn beautiful,” Brath murmured.
The rest of them couldn’t help but laugh at Brath’s attitude change. The gnome didn’t seem to mind. He was thoroughly engrossed in the sky.
A voice came through the intercom. “Please return to your seats. We’re going to begin our descent. We should be on the ground in ten minutes.”
The team grumbled as they complied, but Alex couldn’t have been happier. Staring out the window had been making her anxious. She would have preferred to have been riding Chine. Instead, she was locked up on a ship, trying to pretend her mind wasn’t racing a mile a minute.
She took a seat across from Manny. “Are you coming with us?”
Manny shook his head as he leafed through papers. “Nope, not this time. Just here to get you to the base. After that, it’s just you, the team, and Vardis.”
“What do you mean, Vardis?”
“Myrddin didn’t tell you? Vardis is going with you guys. Guess he thought it would be better for you to keep an eye on him.”
“Than for him to remain in quarantine?”
Manny rolled some of his eyes as he continued to read. “Like I said, sometimes I have my doubts. Things usually work out, though.”
Alex hoped the Beholder was right.
Chapter Two
The carrier touched down on a base on the plains, far from any form of civilization. From the sky, it looked like a blip in the wilderness.
Once the carrier had landed, the doors opened and the main crew filed out, leaving only the dragonriders and Manny. That was when Alex realized she had no idea what was supposed to be happening other than arriving on Earth. Now she realized why Manny had been sent along. Myrddin must have thought it would be easier to send a chaperone than to explain all the details.
Just as Alex had suspected, Manny was gathering his things. He transported them into a void realm, then approached Team Boundless. “Looks like it’s time to get going,” the Beholder said as he floated past the teenagers, who exchanged glances for a moment before following him. No one except Alex was used to taking orders from Manny.
Outside the carrier, the crew had lined up and were being talked to by the commander of the base they had just arrived at. Manny led the dragonriders into the base, which looked worlds different than the Wasps Nest.
Alex had never seen a military base before—truthfully, the Nest was the first base of any kind she’d ever seen—but the Nest and this base were two very different places.
What Alex first noticed was the difference in the air. There was something about the air at the Nest. Alex had thought it was unnamable while she was there, but now she knew what the scent was: it was magic.
The air at this base, however, was as unmagical as it got. It smelled like oil and old grease and sweat. Like a place where a lot of people worked very hard.
Another difference was the lack of advanced tech. Manny had to open a door with his eye tentacles, a feat that took a few minutes despite Alex and Jim offering to help.
Once the riders were inside, Alex marveled at the sheer size of the base. Its construction was impressive in the simple way that all human things seemed to be. The base reminded Alex of photos her dad had sent her of his office since she’d gotten her vision.
The rest of the team didn’t seem to be the least bit disappointed. Jollies and Brath stared fixedly at everything the team walked past as they followed Manny down the halls. The vending machines interested Brath the most. He couldn’t understand why humans would be so cruel as to put food behind a glass wall.
Jollies was mystified by how dark it was. Alex wouldn’t have noticed if Jollies hadn’t brought it up, but the pixie was right. Not that the base was badly lit; it was just a different kind of lighting than she was used to. The Nest probably didn’t use electricity for power.
Manny continued to lead the riders through the halls as they talked. Brath and Jollies were full of questions about how humans could create such a depressing-looking place, and whether Alex had seen anything like this before. The two were very disappointed when Alex reminded them she had been blind for her whole life. She hadn’t seen a lot of things. Still, they pestered her with questions until she finally groaned and told them to ask Jim, whose father was in the military. If anyone could answer their questions, it was Jim.
Jollies and Brath wasted no time accosting Jaws with their questions, and he did everything he could to answer them.
