Mike walked over to Jack and wrapped him in an odd looking blanket for a few moments. The blood stopped and Jack's face began to look better. The life was coming back into him. When Mike pulled the blanket off him, his wounds were healed, but his legs were still gone.
"Looks like I will have to learn to walk like the rest of you now." he said.
Mike turned to walk off and the five followed him. The air was alive with the crackle of electrical charges and the visual field was fractured. After a few steps, everything cleared up. They were in a light filled tunnel that stretched out as far as they could see. The height was taller than even the mightiest of Oaks. It seemed that all sound was muffled and movement was at a stand still. Moving was easy and effortless, but in slow motion. The effect was dizzying to Rip and he had to stop for a moment and squat with his head between his knees. The others were glad for that short break. They could clear their heads without being the weak one.
"What is this place?" Jack asked.
"Yeah?" chimed in Rip
"This is a planetary highway," answered Mike, "In here we can cover vast distances in little or no time."
"How does that work?" asked Orson.
"In here time is like a river, fluid and alive. If you know how to navigate it, and I do, you can go into the past, present or future." replied Mike. "The possibilities are endless. The past, present or future have infinite dimensions, depending on where we go in or out."
As they walked and talked, they noticed the side gradually change from smooth & shiny conduit to a rough and broken rock wall with steep broken fissures running up and down. They began to hear children crying and screaming. When they looked up they could see them being thrown over the cliffs. Some were able to slide down the fissures, but most were not in control at all. As they hit the bottom there were broken bones and death. The ones left alive screamed as others were thrown over.
"Keep your heads down and don't look up!" exclaimed Mike.
"Why?" they all asked in unison.
"That is pure evil up there, and if those spirits see you, I can't protect you."
Tom could not help himself. Those poor kids needed help and he was gonna give it. He was not at all prepared for what he saw at the summit. There were three of them looking at him. One was white faced in a black robe and hood. The hatred in his red eyes was undeniable. The other was red with no clothes at all. For a moment Tom felt a sense of relief, but that died away when he saw the evil black eyes. Then he could see that the third was a mix of the other two. They were all one, joined together at the chest. The air was dark and thick around them smelling of sulfur and making it hard to breathe. Tom felt fear for the first time in his life and he did not like it.
"I'll be right back." he said in a determined voice.
He started up the steep hill. It was easy going at first, so he felt pretty good. About three quarters of the way up the rocks turned into loose sand. The beast was sitting like a vulture, looking at him in astonishment. No one had ever tried to reach them before, and this was making them nervous. Almost within reach of the summit, the loose sand became slippery mud that sucked his feet down. Tom was in a struggle for his life now. Heroically he pulled himself up and onto the hard surface at the top of the cliff. The beast threw evil at him with all they had. Tom ducked, jumped, bounced and dodged it all without getting hit. The more they missed, the more that they tried. Years of inactivity had made them slow in movement and that worked to Tom's advantage. He grabbed a stone and hurled it with all his might. The stone struck the beast in the chest where they were all joined together. The sudden jolt startled the three headed beast. The surrounding air went dark and lightening struck at Tom's feet knocking him to the bottom of the cliff. When he awoke, the beast was gone. Mike and the others rushed over to offer him help.
"Are you ok?" asked Rip.
"Yeah, just let me get my shit pulled back into a pile."
"I have never seen anything like that in my life!" exclaimed Mike with wonder in his voice. "You are indeed a credit to your warrior race."
"Thanks Mike, Where did they go?"
"I don't know, but I'm sure they will be back."
"Let's help the kids." said Orson.
When they looked around, the kids could not be found anywhere.
"Let's hope thy don't encounter the beast again. Looks like they have been trapped here for a while going over and over this trap." said Mike.
"Let's get the hell out of here!" exclaimed Corporal Shirah.
"Don't be in such a hurry Corporal." said Mike. "Where you are going is a hell of a lot worse. For you and Millions of others."
Corporal Shirah was a afraid to ask any questions. Little did he know that Mike was telling the truth and not just trying to frighten him. What does Mike know, he thought to himself?
