Chapter Seventeen — Part 3

The Central clicked a series of commands, and two Hunters stepped onto either side of me. “Escort the outcast to her ship. I’ll not tolerate her lies.”

The Hunters were on either side of me, sharp claws exposed. I had to think fast. I drew Jupe’s flute from my case. I bowed to the Central, as I would to Tester, leaving the flute at his feet. The Central stared down at the flute, uncomprehending of my actions.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t agree.” I whistled my good-bye. “There may come another. His name’s Jupe and he can help you to heal your world. He was injured by the same blast that damaged your people. This is his flute, and he’ll play it for you, should you let him. I’m sorry, but I can’t allow harm to come to Earth or to your people. I must have word with this man.”

I put my flute in its hip case and yelled out Wisdom’s name. My armor fell away. I shifted to angelic form, and with a snap of my wings, jumped backward and rammed a stiff shoulder into Prince Wastik’s solar plexus. I dragged him into Otherspace, where I could torture him for his cruelty. But Otherspace was dark, and I found myself stuck, unable to move because of shifted laws. Prince Wastik giggled insanely as he broke free of my weak hold.

“That was stupid. This was the reason I structured the colony propulsion systems the way I did. No chance of angels getting in my way.” He laughed at me, his soft fingers stroking my face; finishing with a back handed smack. “The angels created Transcendence in Otherspace, making it the bright and beautiful place that it is — but you’ve been in it so long you can’t deal with the shift in laws that occurs when Realspace bleeds into your home dimension, resulting in Mixedspace and mixed laws.”

He punched me in the chest — right between my breasts. Like an insect trapped in amber, I couldn’t move. I was wracked with pain. The laws of Otherspace and Realspace were chaotically shifting and merging in this Mixedspace, and it would take time to learn to function and exist in such chaos. For now I was trapped. Prince Wastik could move, I merely had to discover his secret.

“Oh, I know you’re trying to figure out how it is that I’m not trapped. It’s simple, really. I had a lot of time to practice and perfect my moves in this Mixedspace. The first time I created the sub-teselar field, I was trapped for nearly a century in Mixedspace. Anybody can learn anything, given a century. I know its rules and incongruities better than anybody — I created this space.”

I stopped trying to move for a moment, looking into the distance. Worse than being in fog, I could not even see particles of mist. It was just an endless twilight, a plane without even the substance of thought.

“You’re not trying hard enough, Captain Bit.” He punched me in the gut, knocking the wind from my lungs.

Anger rose up within me, I couldn’t even figure out how to spit at him. I gasped for air.

“Do you have any idea the pleasure I’m feeling right now? Can you imagine what it feels like to kill somebody slowly, to work them over and watch them suffer?” He said.

If I were Tiffany I would’ve had a witty comeback. If I were Tester or Wisdom, I would’ve torn his head off and used it as a planter. But, being Bit, I could only struggle against the different laws of Mixedspace as he kicked me in the ribs and face.

“It was like this with the first angels who were too stupid to get out of our way. A few of them tried to stop me, tried to save their city. It was more of a challenge to kill them, however, because unlike you they actually possessed intelligence, and were able to adapt to Mixedspace. But what can I expect? You are, after all, only a child.”

“Stop gloating, and get it over with, you bastard.” Blood trickle down my face; I could taste it on my lips.