CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Cautiously, Nick and Howie peered into the room. There were no more of Zator’s men waiting for them.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Zanell stood defiantly in front of N*Sync, her hand on her amulet.
The room was filled with consoles and screens. Nick poked a control panel experimentally and was rewarded with a happy bleep.
“Cool. I wonder what they all do?” Nick said, prodding another button which gave him an electric shock. “Ow!”
“I don’t know but I think we should leave them alone. They might be booby trapped or something.”
Nick immdiately jumped away from the console he was playing with.
“But maybe one of them could help us find Brian?” Nick said, sitting down in one of the seats. “It’s worth a try and I’ll be careful.”
Nick pressed a few of the glowing buttons. They beeped but did nothing else. Howie pressed a few too but still nothing happened.
“Let’s try this bid red one,” Nick said, pressing the biggest button on the control panel.
The screen lit up with an angry buzz. Words appeared on the screen:
SELF DESTRUCT OF CONSOLE INITIATED!
A small timer also appeared. The countdown started at ten seconds and beeped with every passing second. An alarm began to drone.
“I told you it was a trap! Turn it off, turn it off!” Howie yelled.
Nick frantically pushed the button again and again but nothing happened. The counter was down to the last five seconds. Nick stood up and grabbed his swords.
“Get back, Howie!” he said, before bringing the blades smashing down upon the console. There was a horrible creaking of metal before smoke began rushing from the console, but the alarm stopped.
“Geez, that was close!” Nick said, staring at the remains of the console.
Suddenly, the console beside the one Nick had just trashed exploded in a ball of blazing fire, narrowly missing Howie. The console behind them also went up in flames.
“Let’s get outta here!” Nick yelled.
The two of them dashed for the door, dodging another of the insane, self-destructing consoles. However, as they reached the door, a thick plate of metal slid in front of it blocking their escape.
“Over there!” Howie called, pointing at another door on the opposite side of the room.
The console behind Nick suddenly exploded spectacularly knocking the younger man to his feet. Nick groaned as he felt a searing pain on his arm. Howie pulled his friend to his feet and dragged him to the door and through it. The two of them dropped to the floor and lent beside one of the walls.
“I wonder how many other traps Zator has set for us?” Nick mumbled.
“Nick, are you okay? Your arm-”
Nick looked down at his throbbing arm and saw a huge burn gaping back at him.
“I’ll live,” he said, trying to blot out the intense pain.
“Come on,” Howie said, helping his friend up.
“Where do we go now?” Nick asked.
Howie looked about the corridor.
“That looks like an elevator over there. Let’s have a look on the next floor.” Howie walked over to the elevator and pressed the panel beside it. There was a chime as the elevator arrived. Nick withdrew his swords, ignoring the pain it caused his arm.
“Stand back, Howie. It could be another trap or it could be full of goons or-”
“Or it could be a normal elevator,” Howie said, as the door slid open to reveal an empty lift.
“It could have been a trap!” Nick argued, as they stepped inside.
Unlike Kevin and AJ, they arrived at the next floor and left the elevator without any trouble. The door opened into another corridor.
“This place is like a maze,” Howie said. “I wonder how Kev and AJ are doing?”
There was a sudden yell from somewhere nearby.
“That was AJ!” Nick screamed, and dashed off down the corridor with Howie to find their companions.
***********************
“What’s taking them so long?” Joey whined. “They’ve been ages!”
“You don’t think that Zator will give Justin up that easily do you?” JC said.
“I know, but it’s taking forever,” Joey replied.
“Be patient,” Zanell said. “Nick and the others will find Justin and Brian. Have faith in them.”
“It’s difficult to have faith in the Backstreet Boys!” Joey said.
“They’ve saved your world before without you even knowing it so give them a little respect,” Zanell said, coldly.
Joey went red and sat down by himself on a crate.
“He’s just worried about Justin,” Lance said.
“And I’m worried about Nick and the others,” Zanell replied.
Suddenly, before anything more could be said, the door to the docking port opened. Zanell smiled and rushed forward to greet her friends, until she realized who it was.
“Father!” she cried, in horror.
Zator smiled. “Hello, my dear.”
“I’ll fight you if I have to, father,” she said. “Leave us alone.”
“Would I ever hurt you, daughter dear?”” Zator said, still with a horrible smile upon his face. “As for those cowards behind you, you can keep them. I have no further use for them.”
“We’d take you on any day,” Joey muttered.
“Shut up Joey!!!” Lance said.
Zator gave them all another smile. N*Sync cringed.
“I’m warning you, leave us alone,” Zanell said.
“I know why you are here. You have sent those idiot Backstreet Brats after the little basketball player and the incompetent boy with the perm. You’re not having them back.”
“They’ll find them,” Zanell replied, confidently.
“Really? That might be a little difficult considering that I have them all captured. Apart from your blond headed boyfriend – my robots took care of him.”
Zanell faltered. Had Nick really been hurt? If anything ever happened to him …
“What’s the matter? Have I upset you?” Zator asked.
“I don’t believe you. I don’t think you can find them, so you just came down here to taunt me,” she said, but her voice was not as strong as it had been before.
Zator shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He walked out of the docking port.
“What was that all about?” Lance asked.
**********************
Kevin and AJ stared at the two immense robots in front of them. One was gold and the other a metallic rusty red. They both carried a long sword each.
AJ looked back at the elevator and pressed the panel beside it. They could not possibly fight these two!
The door to the elevator remained firmly shut. AJ pushed the panel again. Nothing.
It seems there was no choice but to fight.
The golden robot stamped a few steps forward. AJ seized his two light beam guns and fired at the advancing robot. It did not even flinch as the beams hit it, not leaving a single mark upon the shiny body. AJ swore.
“I’ll deal with them,” Kevin said.
Kevin looked about the corridor and spotted a beam on the wall. He grabbed it with his two hands and wrenched it from the wall. There was an awful groan of metal as the wall lost one of its supports. Kevin held it in his hands, ready to fight.
The golden robot suddenly bought it’s sword crashing down in front of them, leaving a deep score in the floor. Then it smashed it’s sword into Kevin’s beam. The long metal bar shattered with the blow.
“Youch!” AJ cried as a chunk from the broken beam hit his shoulder.
AJ tried to dodge around the golden robot but the red one grabbed him in it’s giant fist to prevent his escape. AJ kicked his enemy with all of his might but it was no use against the metal monster. He saw the other robot raise it’s sword again. This time, it would shatter Kevin.
“AJ! KEVIN!” a cry came from down the corridor.
AJ turned his head and saw Nick and Howie running towards them. Zator was with them. AJ felt himself go numb. This was it, they had failed.
“Let them go!” Zator said.
The red robot immdiately dropped AJ to the ground and the golden one froze. Kevin slid around the two robots to join AJ.
“Are you guys alright?” Nick asked, running over to help AJ up.
“Yeah,” AJ said, reaching for his guns. “Let’s get Zator now,” he whispered.
“No it’s okay. It’s Howie,” Nick said, putting a hand on AJ’s arm.
AJ looked up and saw the look of intense concentration upon Howie’s face. The Zator was an illusion. But the robot’s obeyed him believing it to be their real master.
Nick led Kevin and Aj away from the robots, back to Howie.
“Watch this,” Howie said with a grin.
“Fight each other!” Zator commanded.
The robots suddenly turned to face one another. They raised their swords and there was a huge clang as they clashed together in the air. The red robot then used it’s sword to hit it’ opponent over the head with.
“Come on, we’ll leave them to it,” Howie said.
Slowly, the four of them backed away from the fight and Howie made the illusion of Zator disappear. When they were safely several corridors away from the fighting robots they stopped.
“Thanks, buddy,” AJ said. “I don’t know what we’d have done if you guys hadn’t of shown up.”
“Did you find Brian?” Nick asked, anxiously.
“No.”
Nick hung his head. They would never find him.
********************
Zanell looked nervous as she faced N*Sync.
“I’m going to go and look for Nick and the others. they’ve been gone for way too long,” she said.
“It’s a big ship,” Chris said. “It’s bound to take a while.”
“I won’t be long,” Zanell said. “Maybe I can find Hazak and see if he knows if Zator was lying.”
“I’m sure he was,” Chris reassured her.
“I’m still worried though,” she replied.
“But what about us?” Lance asked.
“Don’t worry, if Zator was going to kill you, he would have done it by now,” Zanell said.
“How comforting.”
“You’ve got the laser so you’ll be okay,” Zanell said. “I won’t be long.”
N*Sync watched her as she approached the door.
(uh oh, don’t go through that door, Zanell! Too late…….)
********************
Brian and Justin stared at the doorway opening in front of them. So far, it hadn’t opened completely. Brian guessed that Zanell must still be in the docking port. He hoped she would stay there. Justin fidgeted beside him.
“Would you quit that?” Brian said, in annoyance.
Suddenly, there was a loud roar from the doorway before them. There was a bright blue flash and, to his despair, Brian saw that that the doorway had seemed to cave in slightly, forming a black tunnel. A tunnel to the Daori dimension. It was open.
“What’s happening?” Justin yelled, above the roar of the tunnel.
How stupid was this guy? Wasn’t it obvious? Brian thought to himself. Instead of saying this to Justin’s face, however, he said: “I think Zanell has left the docking bay!”
The roar grew louder and Brian felt a huge force pulling him towards the doorway. It was like a wind, only it was much more powerful than any wind Brian had ever known. He felt himself being dragged towards the tunnel. Justin screamed beside him as he was pulled closer to.
Brian felt the ropes loosen around his hands and legs. He struggled until they came undone completely. He was free!
He rushed over and untied Justin but before they could leave, the wind grew much stronger and they had to grab onto a console to prevent themselves from being pulled into the Daori dimension, but Brian knew that they couldn’t hold on for much longer.
“Brian, your amulet!” Justin cried.
Brian looked and saw that the wind had knocked his amulet to the floor. With one hand still gripping the console for dear life, he reached out with the other. His fingers tangled around the chain and he pulled it towards him.
The wind increased and Brian felt the amulet being pulled from his grasp. He quickly returned his hand to the console. The amulet safe in his possession. He closed his eyes and touched the jewel in the middle. He felt himself change, but as he did the wind grew stronger. He felt his hands beginning to slip from the console. The rope still tied around his legs was being yanked towards the tunnel.
What could he do now? The amulet gave him only limited powers and he couldn’t really use them while hanging onto a console! There was only one thing he could do.
“KEVIN! NICK!” he screamed. “AJ! HOWIE, HELP!”
He prayed that they had heard him.