Jack looked down from the Sky Ride as he passed over the Little Bo Peep play exhibit. Mara was down there and had become the star attraction. The sheep were plastic sheep mounted on a spring rocker for the children to play on. Mara was stalking the sheep, and much to the delight of the children, pouncing at them as if on the hunt. Everyone wanted to get a picture of their kid with the tigress that had faced down the bully Sherata teens that had been terrorizing the park. The Sky Ride passed the exit platform, but Jack didn’t get off. He waved at the Marshal waiting at the exit as Jack continued for another loop around the park. Jack didn’t have any intention of getting off the ride at the exit ramp. The Marshal thought Jack was safely trapped from escaping while he was fifty feet off the ground on the Sky Ride, but any genetically enhanced Aeden soldier could easily drop fifty feet from a troop carrier to the ground, and Jack was technically an Aeden soldier. His career in Gate Command might have been cut short by a terrible twist of fate, but he still possessed the bio-mechanical augments he was born with, plus a few others exclusive to Aestar family members. Jack waited until he was back over the Little Bo Peep exhibit to slide under the safety bar and drop from the chair. The Marshal and Toran’Sar would find him again, he wasn’t exactly hiding, but they would have to search the park. Jack was almost half-way to the ground when an apeirogon door opened beneath him, but instead of being vertical as most doors tended to be, this door was hanging horizontally twenty-five feet from the ground. There was nothing Jack could do to stop himself from falling through the door. There was a moment of vertigo as the shift in gravitational orientation caused him to shoot out of the doorway and fall on his back in a tumble until he came to a stop in a cloud of dust. The first thing Jack noticed after sorting out which way was now up, was that he was surrounded by a company of Eroden soldiers. A large Eroden approached and chittered at him in that odd special chitter that Jack was now certain to be laughter. Jack recognized the colorful leg markings on the big arachnid – it was the General, and he was laughing at Jack’s exit from the door. Jack looked up at the General with a half-grin. “If this continues, I’m going to set the record for most times kidnapped in a single day.” General Cluth chittered a laugh. “You are not being kidnapped, the door is right there,” the General waved a hand? Claw? Leg? Upper appendage? Jack would need an anatomy book to sort out what parts were what. “You are welcome to refuse my invitation and depart unharmed.” Jack got to his feet and brushed the dirt off. He doubted that he was welcome to leave and would be stopped if he tried. “What do you want?” “Questions and Answers,” chittered the General and translated by the device he wore around his neck. Jack figured it would make sense the General would need a translation device, the Eroden didn’t have the necessary anatomy to make sounds similar to an Aeden. There were other species that could use a device like that also. The tigers tongue was too thick and made their accent heavy and sometimes difficult to understand. The amphibians had a thick accent too, but Jack just thought their accent was annoying. Jack shrugged. “You didn’t have to abduct me, I would have answered your questions?” The General chittered a new sound, a sad sound. “Walk with me, young warrior.” The wall of Eroden guards moved aside and Jack followed the General. With the Eroden no longer blocking Jack’s view, he could see a primitive fortress below in a valley. “Is that your home?” The General chittered a laugh. “No, that is The Great Library several years after it was built, but there are no books to be read but the Zilinth’s own scribbles on poorly made scrolls, of which cannot be translated. It is not a true library, or even a fit place to live. However, they do tolerate the occasional tourist that travels back to see the fortress, but mostly they just ignore us.” “The terrain has really changed,” said Jack. “I would not have guessed this is the same place we just came from.” The General stopped at the edge of a cliff looking down on the fortress. “Seven billion years will change a landscape. There’s not much to see down there, unless you have a desire to watch ancient Zilinth foul themselves regularly in the streets.” “What? But, they came from another universe and have advanced technology, why would they be living like that.” Jack put a hand over his eyes to see better in the bright sunlight. “They had no corporeal form when they arrived here, and their technology is locked away in their minds. The Zilinth down there are still trying to master the art of living in the physical world. If you wish to go down and see for yourself, you are welcome, but I’ll wait here, the smell is bad. I brought us up here where we will be spared the foulness of the place.” Jack wrinkled his nose, even from here he could smell the sewage. “Why would they even let people come see this?” “They don’t, only the Eroden are allowed here.” “I’m here.” “Under my supervision.” The General lowered himself into the Eroden version of sitting down. “ “Okay, so why did you bring me here?” “I want you to surrender.” Jack laughed. “I’m not surrendering.” “We are willing to withdraw our fleet if you surrender.” Jack shoved his hands into his pockets. “And then what?” “You will be tried for the crimes of the Aeden people, and with your sacrifice you will give the Aedens the time they need to evolve away from the brutality they have visited upon the universe.” Jack repressed a further laugh. “My sacrifice? So, not only have I been abducted, I’ve already been found guilty… are you my executioner.” “I would not allow anyone else to put the blade to your throat,” said the General. “You deserve a death from a warrior that cherishes you as both friend and enemy.” “I believe you, but I won’t surrender,” said Jack. “And I don’t think abducting me was your idea, there is someone pulling your strings, and I think I know who it is now. Anyway, you didn’t bring me here to see a bunch of ancient Zilinth that haven’t figured out what a toilet is yet. This place is a security hole the Zilinth haven’t found yet. You were able to open a door to here because this is still technically the library property, but the Zilinth in this era don’t care what’s going on, so from here you are unhindered to take me from the property without any Zilinth security forces yet to stop you. And, the reason you brought so many guards with you is because you know how difficult it’s going to be to put me in chains.” “Don’t fight, Jack, I really don’t want to see you hurt.” “But a blade across my throat is okay? I’m guessing your species doesn’t understand the concept of what a martyr is? You would only rally the entire Aeden Empire into a fighting frenzy by turning me into the martyr that died for the Aeden people.” Jack smiled his best disarming smile, which was probably lost on the General since they wouldn’t really have an understanding of human expressions. “Sir, you quoted an Eroden proverb to me. You said, ‘If you stand on a path with a charging mortho beast running towards you, it would be prudent to find a different path to stand upon’. Well, I see a charging mortho beast coming, so I think I’ll go stand on a different path.” Jack grinned and tapped a finger on the library card in his pocket. “Little Bo Peep exhibit, please.” The General realized too late he’d forgotten about Jack’s library card and lashed out to grab his escaping prisoner as Jack dropped through an apeirogon door into the Little Bo Peep exhibit. Jack felt the General miss by the breadth of a hair. He rolled gracefully onto the grass and looked up to see the General looking down through the door at him. Jack immediately pulled the library card from his pocket to request librarian assistance, but dozens of apeirogon doors opened first, and what seemed an entire battalion of lizard men in uniform rushed out to surround him. Jack glanced up again, but the door had already faded away. The same elderly Zilinth ran out of one of the doors with an expression of genuine surprise, and the man was out of breath. Jack cocked his head to the side, not in amusement, he didn’t want the man to have a heart attack, but the man should have known before it happened that a Park guest was going to be kidnapped. The Eroden had truly found a hole in their security. “Mr. Aestar, are you alright?” asked the Zilinth man as he rushed towards Jack. Jack lay back in the grass as he stared up at the sky. He heard the lizard man shouting for a medical team. The lizard man knelt next to Jack and started patting at him looking for injuries. “Stop, that tickles,” said Jack. “I’m fine, but we need to talk. Can you block me from going through any other door than my own, or Mara’s?” “We’ve already put a block in place on every guest, you just lie still, the medics are coming,” replied the lizard man. “I’m fine, listen to me,” said Jack pushing the man’s hands away. “You need to get these soldiers out of here, it’s going to make people think the park isn’t safe. A kid getting kidnapped will shut this place down. I saw it before on my world. A kid got dragged all the way out to the parking lot at an amusement park, but fortunately, a soldier like me was just arriving with his family and rescued the kid, but the damage was done and the park never re-opened.” The lizard man put a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “You let me worry about that, just be still.” “If you tell anyone I was kidnapped, I’ll deny it and say I feinted because I wasn’t drinking enough water and got over-heated. I’m not going to let this stupidity shut down the park, Mara loves this place.” “While I’m impressed there is an Aeden capable of an unselfish act, we are not going to engage in a cover-up,” replied the lizard man. Jack rolled his eyes. “You’ve obviously never met my brother, Luca, he doesn’t have a selfish bone in his body. Anyway, I was never technically off the library property, so it’s a fuzzy gray area whether I was kidnapped or not. They underestimated how difficult it would be to kidnap me. Let’s deal.” The lizard man frowned. “No, Mr. Aestar. We will take responsibility for our security failure.” Jack shrugged. “Okay, if you want to play hardball. Nobody in Gate Command still believes that stupid story about the Eroden being arachnids. They do vaguely resemble a spider, but it’s only coincidental. I saw the truth. That fortress you built after you arrived in this universe has some very high walls. You don’t build a fortress like that unless there is something very dangerous roaming around. You brought the Eroden with you as watch dogs because you knew it would take years to get your feet under you in a new universe and you needed help to defend against whatever you found here.” The Zilinth lizard man laughed and waved the arriving medical team away, Jack obviously wasn’t hurt or even emotionally distressed in any way over the kidnapping attempt. “Was that your best fastball, Mr. Aestar? I am familiar with the human game you are referencing, and I’ll have to disagree and say it was a foul ball. We did not bring the Eroden with us from another universe. You cannot transfer matter across the dimension between universes.” Jack held a hand out in a gesture to wait. “That wasn’t a foul ball, Sir, it was a curve ball to get you to confirm which of my two theories are correct. My second theory is that the Eroden were already here, some kind of pre-historic monster, and your fortress was to defend against them. You finally managed to capture one and genetically modified the species to be intelligent, but they eventually rebelled and left to create their own civilization, and you’ve been trying to keep it hushed ever since, but they’re getting harder to control. When they get done destroying the Aeden, the Ruk, and what’s left of the Atan, they’ll be coming for daddy next.” Jack sat up and propped himself up on his arms. “Are you ready to negotiate now, Sir?” The lizard man waved the soldiers back to the doors. “Another foul ball, Mr. Aestar, and I do believe when using baseball as an analogy, it is more common to refer to yourself as the batter, not the pitcher.” Jack pulled a shoe off to shake the sand out of it. “Really? I don’t know, I’ve never seen the game played, but I’ve heard my grandfather say stuff like, you swung and missed, or you struck out, then whomever he’s talking to is put in a hole and concrete poured on top of them.” The man’s lizard eyes blinked several times as he tried to process Jack’s reply. “I don’t even know how to respond to that statement, Mr. Aestar. In any case, your attempts at blackmail are juvenile.” The lizard man retrieved a device from his pocket and spoke into it. Jack could hear the man’s voice echoing throughout the park. “Attention, guests of the park. I am the Director of the Story Book Forest. There has been an attempted kidnapping of the grandson of one of our V.I.P. members. The kidnapping attempt failed and security has the perpetrators in custody due to the quick actions of one of our guests reporting suspicious activity. The boy is unharmed and in good spirits. I would like to offer all guests currently in the park a free season pass for any distress this incident may cause you. You may pick up your free pass at any customer service counter. Thank you for your understanding.” Jack squinted an eye. “Wow, you’re good. Does my grandfather really have a membership here?” “He does, but he’s restricted to the V.I.P Diamond reading room.” Jack laughed. “You should also check him for the silverware when he leaves.” “Good day, Mr. Aestar, and try to stay out of trouble.” “You never asked me who the kidnappers were,” said Jack. “I already know who the kidnappers were, Mr. Aestar, and I’m not going to do anything about it.” “Why?” “The devil you know is preferable to the devil you don’t.” The man waved the back of his hand as he walked through the apeirogon door. “Hey, don’t I get a complimentary upgrade on my membership or something?” The lizard man turned around as the door began to fade away. “You exited a ride in an unauthorized and dangerous manner resulting in your kidnapping and subsequent rescue. I’m not responsible when you do stupid things, you are. Read your membership contract, Mr. Aestar, you are responsible for any damages caused to the library and adjacent properties. You will be charged for the complimentary season passes we have to give out. Good Day, Sir.” The door faded from view with Jack staring at the door wide-eyed. “Wait... what? There has to be 25,000 people in the park!” The door had no more than disappeared than another appeared. A medium sized Eroden skittered out of the door holding something in front of him. Jack dropped into a fighting stance, expecting the worst. The Eroden had one of the translator devices hung around its neck. “A gift, no tricks,” chittered the Eroden. Jack carefully approached and took the object. It was a box wrapped with a ribbon. The Eroden skittered back through the door and disappeared. Jack sighed and turned the box over in his hands. He pulled the ribbon off and opened the box. Inside was a book, and in gold letters printed on the cover it read – The Tuloun, as translated in Ruk. Jack lifted the book out and opened to the first page. The book wasn’t new, and the pages dog-eared and worn, a dark stain was spread across the page over an inscription written in the fanciest script Jack had ever seen – To my friend, Jack, a cherished enemy. General Cluth. Jack flipped through a few pages and found a folded piece of paper. He unfolded the paper and read: I wept as I lifted this book from the body of the one you know as Jack 432. I built his tomb and laid him to rest beside his beloved Mara, as I have done for all of them. I am haunted by the face of every Jack I have cut down. I beg you, my friend, end this living nightmare, seek out Jack 432, he knows the truth. I am pleased you escaped. You are a worthy enemy. General Cluth. Jack read the note several times before re-folding the paper and putting it back in the book. How was he supposed to find a ghost?