CHAPTER SEVEN
Apprehensively, Justin stepped off of the hotel elevator. Grimly, he looked at the note and videotape in his hand that Zator had told him to deliver. He wished that the other guys were with him now but Zator had told him to come alone. This way, it would arouse less suspicion. The band had already been questioned about Brian’s kidnapping, but of course they ‘hadn’t been in the area when it happened’. That was fine by the police, after all no one really believed that they would have kidnapped one of their rivals. That whole interview had made Justin feel sick.
CHAPTER EIGHT “Ok, I’ll help you,” Justin said, eventually.
Justin took a deep breath and marched off determinedly down the corridor. He kept teling himself that those Daolians didn’t deserve his sympathy, he hoped he’d believe that himself if he said it enough times.
It wasn’t long before he bumped into a security guard.
“Uh, is it okay if I see the Backstreet Boys?” Justin said, nervously. “The security downstairs thought it’d be alright.”
The security guard nodded. “I was told you’d be coming up here. The boys are all in Nick’s room, number three hundred and twenty,” he said, gesturing down the corridor.
“Thanks,” Justin replied, before heading away in the direction the security guard had indicated.
He soon found the room. There was another security guard waiting by the door. Justin’s gut tightened. What if the boys called for security? Zator wouldn’t be able to help him then.
He pushed his nerves aside. “Can I speak to the boys?” he asked.
The security guard eyed him warily for a second, but then he shrugged and knocked on the door.
“Guys, Justin Timberlake is here to see you,” he said.
There was silence for a minute but then Nick’s voice called: “Okay Mark, send him in.”
Tentatively, Justin opened the door. He prayed that he would make it out of it again alive. Slowly, he shut the door behind him and turned to his rivals. They seemed uncomfortable.
“Hey Justin,” Nick said.
“Uh, yeah, hi guys,” Justin replied.
There was silence.
“Did you want something?” Howie asked, eventually.
Justin could feel himself trembling. How would they react? He held out the video tape and the letter.
Nick took it from him, curiously. He opened the note and gasped.
“This is from Zator!” he exclaimed. “How did you…?”
Kevin snatched the note from Nick and read it aloud.
“Dear Backstreet Boys, I hope you are well. You may be relieved to know that your friend is still alive. However, he will not be for much longer if you don’t give me what I want – the five remaining amulets, yours and Zanells. I have little doubt that she has been in contact with you. I also warn you that if you decide to harm my messenger then it will result in bad consequences for your fellow band member. You have twenty-four hours to comply. Zator.”
“Where did you get this?” Howie asked.
“Zator told me to give it to you,” Justin replied.
“You know Zator?”
“Yes.”
“It was you wasn’t it? You kidnapped Brian! Why you - !” AJ said, trying to grab Justin but failing as Kevin pulled him back.
“Yes, it was him,” agreed Zanell, walking in from her hiding place in the bathroom (she had refused to venture back into Nick’s wardrobe). “All of N*Sync are working for Zator.”
Justin stared at her in surprise. “You’re Zator’s daughter?” he asked. She looked nothing like her father.
Zanell nodded. “So, you’re one of Zator’s new pawns?” she said.
“He’s trying to save my world!” Justin protested.
“What?! He told you that? And you’re stupid enough to believe him?” Howie said.
“This is N*Sync we’re talking about!” Nick replied.
“Let me at him!” AJ said, struggling in Kevin’s arms. “I’ll knock some sense into the whining, snot nosed bugger!”
“AJ, calm down!” Howie said. “Justin, what’s going on? What exactly did Zator tell you?”
“He told me how you escaped from your own dimension. He said that you turned his daughter against him and stole the amulets and were going to use them to destroy Earth!”
“That is the most ridiculous piece of s-” AJ said, before Zanell cut him off.
“Did he tell you what he was planning?” she asked.
Justin remained silent.
“Justin, you’d better start talking or I’m gonna call for security!” Nick said.
Justin panicked, but he still held one card. “If you do that then I won’t report back to Zator. Then it’ll be ‘bye bye bye’ Brian!”
Nick’s eyes flashed angrily and he flew at Justin and pinned him against the wall.
“I swear if anything happens to Brian then you’ll live to regret it!” he snapped.
“Nick! Release him!” Zanell ordered.
Nick hesitated, but eventually he let go of his terrified rival.
“Now Justin listen to me. My father is a very wicked man and he’s lying to you. I stole the amulets from him because he used their powers to destroy entire worlds. The Backstreet Boys have been helping me to save your own world from my father.”
Justin wavered slightly. This story seemed to make sense more.
“Justin, I can see from your eyes that you already doubt Zator. Believe me when I tell you that he’s manipulating you and that I am telling you the truth.”
There was a sudden scream from the T.V set. Howie had inserted the videotape that Justin had given to them. On the screen they could see Brian chained to a wall. One of Zator’s goons was trying to inject Brian with a syringe.
“No, no! Let me go!” Brian yelled, kicking for all he was worth.
The goon punched Brian in the stomach before plunging the syringe into his arm. Brian moaned as he slumped to the floor. The screen was replaced with static.
“My god, what have you done to him?” Nick whispered.
“Poison,” Justin said, quietly. The guilt burned in his stomach. “Zator did it because he thought that it would make you give him the amulets.”
Nick fought hard to hold his tears back. “And this seems right to you? How can you bare to help a creep like Zator when he makes Brian suffer like that? Brian hasn’t done anything wrong! He’s human like you and me!”
Justin lowered his eyes. He hadn’t expected this, he’d expected anger. This was so much worse.
“Help us, Justin,” Zanell said. “Put right what you’ve done wrong.”
Justin looked at the other Backstreet Boys. They weren’t angry anymore. They were all much too upset by what they’d just seen happen to Brian.
“How do I know that you’re telling me the truth?” he replied.
“You know I am. You’re just afraid to admit that what you’re doing is wrong.”
“Justin,” Nick said. “You know Zator and his ship better than we do. You know where Brian is being held. We probably couldn’t save him alone,” Nick closed his eyes and Justin could see that what he was about to say was killing him. “We need you.”
Justin hung his head. Who should he believe? His arch rivals, the Backstreet Boys, or the Zophacian emperor, Zator? What should he do?
“Aww, if he’s on our side then does that mean that I can’t hit him now?” AJ said.
“I deserve it,” Justin mumbled.
“Yes, you do!” AJ agreed.
“Guys, stop it!” Zanell said. “You’re all going to have to work together if you want to save Brian.”
“But how do we know we can trust Justin?” Nick asked. “He might be setting us up!”
“We can trust him,” Zanell said, firmly.
“I hope so,” Nick muttered.
Zanell ignored him. “Now Justin, do you know what my father is planning?” she asked.
“I think so,” Justin replied, trying to separate Zator’s lies from the truth. “He’s planning to use the powers of the six amulets to open a doorway to another dimension. I think he’s going to try and make you guys go through it. If that happens he says that you won’t ever trouble him again.” He then told Zanell about the ‘gateway’ and the story he had told her about the Backstreet Boys being Daorians.
“Daorians?” Zanell asked, a note of fear and urgency in her voice.
Justin nodded.
“Did he tell you the name of the dimension he was going to open a doorway to?”
“Yeah, the Daori dimension.”
“What’s wrong?” Kevin asked, when he heard Zanell gasp.
“My father told me about the place once. He said that it was a realm of darkness and evil power. He has tried many times to open a doorway to it but has failed."
“He told me that he succeeded once,” Justin said.
Zanell looked worried. “Maybe that part of his story was true and he did have an energy source capable of opening a doorway. That means that he has had contact with the Daorians. I wonder what he’s up to?”
“What are the Daorians like?” Howie asked.
“Nobody has ever seen one. There are only rumours about what they and there dimension are like but from what I’ve heard I think that we have to make sure that my father does not get the amulets. Who knows what might come from their dimension or what the consequences will be?”
“What about Brian? Was he kidnapped just so Zator could black mail us?” Nick said.
“I’m not sure what Zator wants with Brian,” Justin said. “But we were told to kidnap him and not any of you guys.”
“I think that we need to get Brian away from Zator as soon as possible,” AJ said. “He could be planning anything with him.”
“I agree,” Zanell replied. “We should leave at once. Can you boys make up excuses to get away for a while?”
“We’ll have to work on that,” Howie said.
“What about the rest of my group?” Justin asked. “They’re still with Zator on his ship.”
“Then we’ll have to get them away from my father as well. I think the sooner the better.”
“Justin. It’s going to take us a while to think up something to get away. Can you return to Zator alone? You might be able to figure out a way to get everyone off of his ship safely,” Kevin said.
Justin hesitated. What if Zator knew that he was helping the Backstreet Boys? Still, there was no other choice. He’d have to face Zator eventually and his friends were still on his ship. He couldn’t possibly leave them. “Ok,” he said. “I’ll talk to Lance and the other guys.”
Zanell nodded. “If you need to get in touch with me then speak to Hazak. He’s an engineer aboard my father’s ship and he’ll help you. I’ll ask him to introduce himself to you.”
“Right,” Justin said. “I’d better leave now, actually. Zator has his men waiting for me at the docks. They’ll get suspicious if I don’t turn up soon.”
“Justin,” AJ said, as he was leaving. “Keep your guard up. Zator won’t have recruited you just to piss us off. I’m willing to bet that he has plans for you as well as Brian.”
**********************
Zator seated himself in front of the console which controlled the ‘gateway’. Carefully, he reinserted Brian’s amulet into the correct panel. The gateway buzzed as more energy pulsed through it.
Zator pushed a few buttons and a screen lit up displaying a shadowy figure with red eyes.
“It’s about time you contacted me,” the shadow hissed.
“It took me a while to get hold of an amulet and even now there is barely enough power for me to send a message to your dimension.”
“Do you have him?”
“Yes, I have him. He’s locked up in one of my cells at the moment.”
“Good. How long before you can open the doorway?”
“As soon as I get the amulets, he’ll be yours.”