Illus. by David Francis
When the brutal, burning stopped and Ross was thrown to the ground, he entertained the thought that he might have actually died. Being sucked into a black hole wasn’t exactly something people usually lived through.
For a few seconds, he surveyed his body — he wiggled toes and fingers, and then onto moving full limbs just to make sure all worked. He was good. Even the pain that had plagued him when he had been sucked in was slowly dying out.
Now, if only his vision could come back.
His eyes opened up as soon as he hit the dirt and all he could see was the swirling colors from the vortex. Was this what being blind was actually like? No one ever talked about the colors before.
Soon enough though, as the pain subsided, his vision returned. The darkness of space was gone. At first, he thought his eyes hadn’t really healed yet, but were putting an odd spin and blur to the planet he had been on before. In front of him sat a grouping of large rocks. Beyond it was something he had never seen before. This… purple landscape with towering spires and electrical storms was nothing like the lush beauty of red and yellow from the planet Ross had visited to find his sister.
Sister…
Riley!
Ross shook his head to focus. Whatever had happened to him he’d have to think and wonder on later. The important thing was finding Riley.
He stood up slowly, rolled his shoulders, and twisted his neck to work out any leftover kinks. He looked over his shoulder at the split in the air a few yards away. It was still pulsing, pulling and pushing. Had Riley come through one of these as well? Would it be dangerous to invest —
“It seems to be just behind this group of rocks, sir. Would you like the other Porphyrion to check it out first?” A voice pulled Ross from his thoughts immediately and yanked his focus back in front of him. They were close by. What did he do? Was this planet friendly or had he happened into dangerous territory? It’d be better to hide for now. He had nothing to protect himself — his gun didn’t make it through the vortex.
“The Porphyrion are as good as naught, but guards and cannon fodder. I will be fine, Armaros.”
Ross stumbled forward and pushed himself between two of the rocks, letting out a groan of pain as the rock cut across his back. He quickly sucked in his breath to stop the sound. After managing himself into a little nook where he wasn’t being stuck by a rock, he waited and watched, eyes trained forward.
Ross didn’t have to wait long. Two men appeared into his line of vision a few seconds after he hid himself. Unfortunately for Ross, he couldn’t hear much at all beyond the rocks. They stopped any words making it back to the Rocket Ranger. They didn’t, however, stop him from being able to watch the pair.
Illus. by John Thompson
The two men walked around the perimeter of the split in the air that Ross had come through. The smaller of the pair gestured to it quite a bit, shaking his head almost as much. The bigger of the two just nodded now and again, walking much slower than his smaller counterpart. Eventually the two stopped, shoulder to shoulder, and appeared to continue to talk. The smaller gestured one more time in a grand sweeping gesture then walked away.
A second later, Ross watched four more people walk to the portal, each holding a large gun in their hand. Those silhouettes were easy enough to recognize.
The five seemed to speak for a while — Ross assumed from what he saw. The left as a group, walking away from the portal. Ross waited and watched. He didn’t know who they were or what they wanted, but he was not going to risk anything until he found out more about where he was and if Riley was still here as well. Those were the only things that mattered.
The Rocket Ranger pulled himself out of the rocks, gritting his teeth as the rock sliced at his back again. This time would surely draw blood. After he freed himself, he took a look around. No one else seemed to present. Neither of those voices or those other armed shadows. The… Porphyrion? What an odd name. The Porphyrion. Armaros. And then the one only known as “sir” so far.
Ross eyed the vortex for a few seconds before he finally looked past it. Long away in the distance, he could see light. It was small, but it was a better sign than he had seen so far for actual civilization. It was also in the opposite direction from which the suspicious group came. That was enough for him.
He took off in that direction, every now and again checking over his shoulder for any sign of the Porphyrion, Armaros, or “sir.” But no one else was out in the desolate landscape. There were a few sporadic lightning strikes nearby, but Ross didn’t pay much attention to them. Eventually he kept his eyes forward on the light source and, hopefully, something that would lead him to Riley.
Unbeknownst to Ross or any other souls, something else did eventually come through the rift. It was a mass of black, shapeless limbs branching off from a smoky body that never quite solidified. It rose up when it appeared and then disappeared into the rocks that Ross had hidden in as well, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
Illus. by John Thompson