I fought hard to hide my surprise. Although Alpha Prime was — as Rune stated — widely hailed as the most powerful super on the planet, not many people knew he was my father. I was tempted to ask Rune how he knew, but decided to hold my tongue.
“Basically,” he went on, “the issue with using Alpha Prime in this instance — just about any League member, in fact — is that it presents the same problem as having us Incarnates investigate: lack of the proper skills.”
I pondered on this for a moment, and then the answer came to me.
“Mouse,” I said flatly.
“Bingo,” Rune uttered with a nod. “That guy has been the brains of the League for the past few years — the researcher, the battle tactician, the investigator, the problem-solver…”
“So what are you saying?” I asked. “That the rest of the League’s gone stupid?”
“No,” he said, laughing. “Far from it. I’m just saying that, on the whole, their problem-solving skills have gone to pot. You, on the other hand, have displayed an innate ability to solve mysteries, as well as a talent for thinking on your feet — not to mention the fact that you’ve got a wide array of superpowers.”
“Which still may not be enough to keep me from getting killed,” I added sarcastically.
“Hmmm,” Rune mumbled. “Apparently I need to add ‘pessimist’ to your list of attributes.”
Chapter 8
We left our suite a few minutes after Rune finished explaining to me why I was the right man to investigate Gamma’s death. Personally, I wasn’t convinced, but I was willing to give it the old college try.
“Where are we going?” I asked as we walked through a wide castle hallway.
“The Cosmos Corridor,” he answered. “And before you ask, it’s easier to show it to you than explain it.”
“That’s fine,” I replied. “Any reason we’re trudging through the castle instead of you just taking us there?”
Rune cast a quick glance in my direction. “You’re thinking about Mariner — the way he and Sayo left our suite.”
“Yeah,” I admitted with a nod. “Seems like you Incarnates would dispense with the drudgery of parading around on foot most of the time.”
“Wow,” Rune practically lamented. “You must view Incarnates as incredibly lazy.”
“Not lazy,” I protested. “I just assumed you’d do what was most efficient.”
My companion shook his head solemnly. “You ever heard the expression, ‘the journey is part of the destination’?”
“I think so — or at least something like it. It sort of means that if you focus only on the destination, you miss out on things along the way.”
“Well, that essentially sums up my feelings on the subject,” he intoned. “Besides, the Cosmos Corridor falls under the purview of another Incarnate, so just appearing out of thin air would be rude.”
“I take it that’s why Mariner came through the front door when he arrived at our suite.”
“Correct,” Rune said with a nod. “Leaving, on the other hand, is kind of left to your discretion.”
“So that means we’ll just be disappearing when we depart someone’s company?”
“Maybe,” Rune admitted. “And that reminds me: much of what you see around here and witness Incarnates do is going to be thaumaturgy. The magical and mystical run rampant here, so not everything will be logical. However, there won’t be a bunch of chants, incantations, and stuff like that. It’ll just happen.”
“Wait a minute,” I protested. “I’ve seen you do incantations before.”
“Theatrics. If you’re a magician, people expect and want a show, so sometimes I give it to them.”
“Well, in case you didn’t know, I’m not well-versed in spells, enchantments, and stuff. Maybe you should have recruited a wizard to help you instead.”
“Nah,” Rune stressed, shaking his head. “We’re in good hands with you.”
*****
We spent the next few minutes walking in relative silence, finally coming to a halt in front of a black door that had a field of stars painted on it. A moment later, I found myself doing a double take as I realized something unusual about the door: the stars on it were twinkling. Seconds later, something like a comet shot across the field of view being shown. It suddenly dawned on me that the door wasn’t painted, but somehow represented a “live” view of some region of outer space.
Incredulous, I turned toward Rune and found him grinning broadly.
“I know — it’s a lot to take in when you first see it,” he said, plainly amused by my surprise. “Come on.”
With that, he stepped through the door — literally. Basically, he didn’t bother opening it; instead, he just stepped into the field of stars and vanished.
Still recovering from my amazement regarding the image on the door, I quickly followed Rune’s lead and walked through the door.
Chapter 9
We found ourselves in a room that, to be frank, really appeared to be a continuation of the door. We were completely enveloped by darkness, punctuated by a random scattering of small, glimmering lights — stars. They were all around us: above, beside, below. Moreover, they seemed to extend infinitely in all directions, even beneath our feet. (Which brought to mind another question: what the heck were we standing on?)
Using the term “we” however, was a bit of a misnomer, as I couldn’t see anything other than the stars around me. That said, I could sense someone empathically, although I immediately realized that it wasn’t Rune. Remembering that there was a murderer on the loose, I quickly — almost in a panic — cycled my vision through the light spectrum until I could see somewhat akin to normally.
Rune, as expected, was a few feet away from me. Also nearby was the source of the emotions I’d felt — a young woman.
She was about five-foot-eight, attractive, and seemed to be in her early twenties (although apparent age around here obviously meant nothing). Her hair, short and dark, was worn in a layered style that appeared messy but actually framed her face in an appealing way. Finally, she wore something like a jumpsuit that shimmered slightly, although not as brightly
