Infinite Horizons

The Humvee landed on the roof of the mall with a crash, and Tango went flying out of the back. Cassia sat still in her seat for a moment to make sure everything was settled before she stepped out. Jumping seemed to be getting bumpier. At least on the way back towards Earth One, they’d only lost the passenger door. It had disappeared midjump. For the second time in as many jumps, the smell of smoke tickled her nostrils. This time, though, it was much stronger. Grit appeared at her side.

“This building is burning,” he said, in a confusingly calm voice. Cassia ran towards the edge of the roof. Sure enough, flames were working their way up towards them. She could hear screaming, and see people running from the mall towards their cars in the parking lots. Sirens wailed in the distance. Quickly, she turned back to Grit.

“The Pathfinder should’ve been on this roof,” she said. “But it can camouflage itself, so it could be anywhere. We’ve got to find it.” Without waiting for a response from Grit, she moved away, hands extended to avoid running into the invisible ship. Grit followed in a similar manner. Unfortunately the roof was expansive, and the smoke from the fire below was causing Cassia’s eyes to water.

“Cassia, we need to leave,” Grit prodded. “This roof is dangerous. Even with no flames, the heat could make it collapse.” Cassia ignored him, and kept moving forward. Eventually, Grit shrugged.

“I must go,” he said. “Tango!” He moved away from her as he called again for the pangolin. Cassia was getting desperate and picking up speed. She could heal herself if she ran into the ship at full speed. She heard Grit calling in the distance and she vaguely hoped she found his pet. With a loud groan the roof in front of her caved in, and heat shot upward. Cassia barely stopped in time to avoid falling into the sudden pit. As it was she tumbled to the ground. Grit was still shouting in the background, and she finally realized he was calling her name.

“Cassia!” He sounded closer now. Cassia picked herself up and scrambled away from the hole. She could see Grit sprinting towards him, with Tango nowhere to be seen.

“It’s…here! The ship…next…edge…hurry…!” It was difficult to hear the man over the roaring of the fire below her, but she eventually determined that he had found the ship. She raced towards him, as loud groans behind her let her know that the roof was continuing to cave in. Grit turned as she approached and together they sprinted towards the edge of the building opposite from where the Humvee had landed. A roof caved in just to the right of Grit. He stumbled, but Cassia yanked him backwards by his backpack, barely even stopping her sprint, and Grit resumed running after her. As she approached the edge, she could see Tango sitting on his hind legs, with seemingly nothing but empty space behind him. She waved her hands over her head as she got closer. It made her feel like an idiot, but it worked. The familiar silvery lines rapidly appeared as the space behind the pangolin gradually faded into the dark black of the Pathfinder Odyssey.

Cassia barely broke stride, launching herself into the open doorway and immediately approaching the dashboard. She checked quickly to see that Grit had also entered, bringing Tango with him, and then she placed her palm on the dashboard.

“Get us above these flames!” she shouted, and the ship pulsed then rocketed upwards. The force of the movement through Cassia and Grit to the floor. Tango, in a scaly ball, tumbled haphazardly around the interior. As the ship settled, Cassia lay on the floor, eyes closed, to catch her breath. When she opened them, Grit was standing over her. He extended an arm towards her.

“Thank you for catching me back there,” he growled. “I owe you.” Cassia shook her head, but accepted his help in standing.

“Seems to me that we’re even,” she replied. Grit seemed to accept this, and turned to examine his surroundings.

“Damnedest ship I’ve ever seen,” he muttered. Cassia snorted.

“Yeah, well, few people have seen it,” she said. “So consider yourself lucky.” She placed her hand back on the ship wall to open up a viewing window. Sunlight streamed in, but Cassia could also see the flames engulfing the building. A window opened near Grit as well, and he eagerly looked out. Suddenly he gasped.

“What do you see?” Cassia asked, and he pointed at the roof.

“There’s a message for you!” he exclaimed, his voice higher with excitement. Cassia quickly moved to look out his window. Sure enough, spray painted on the roof in bright red paint was a string of words that started with her name.

Cassia, we wen…see Thor…See us ther…u can…

“Is that a giant middle finger?” Grit asked. Cassia shook her head in exasperation, though she couldn’t quite keep from smiling.

“It sure is,” she answered. “Looks like Mel signed it. Smart of her to leave a message. Good thing we arrived before the building burned down or we wouldn’t know where they went.” Grit turned from the window to look at her.

“You know where to go from that?” he asked, surprised. Cassia nodded.

“It turns out they’re going right where I was planning to go all along,” she said. Grit shrugged.

“Ok,” he said simply. “Lead on to Thor, then. You’re stuck with me, because I’m fairly certain my Humvee didn’t make it through that fire.” They both looked back out the window. On the ground below they could see rescue personnel fighting the fire, though there were a good number of them that seemed to be staring up in their direction. With a start, Cassia realized that she had assumed the Pathfinder would stay camouflaged in the air, but that must not be the case. She quickly put her hand on the ship.

“Take us to Thorny,” she said. “And step on it.” Grit buckled himself in seconds before the ship launched into motion.

The Pathfinder was hurtling through space one second, and the next it was not. Cassia and Grit slammed against their seat restraints, and the pangolin went flying through the cabin. Cassia collected herself for a minute before unbuckling and stepping out of the ship, Grit right behind her. They were on the top floor of a massive parking garage. Grit gave a low whistle.

“This here is Sin City,” he observed. Cassia didn’t respond. She just moved towards the stairway. Grit didn’t speak again until they stepped out of an elevator bank towards the expensive suites of the Bellagio.

“This guy Thorn is a high roller, huh?” Grit remarked. Cassia opened her mouth to reply, and then Grit swore loudly. Following his gaze, Cassia saw a body lying halfway out of a nearby smoke room. Slipping her knife from her belt, Cassia motioned to Grit for silence and then slowly approached the doorway. Grit had produced a handgun from one of his many pockets, and he put a hand on her shoulder then pointed to himself. Reluctantly, she nodded and let him take the lead. The big veteran quickly leaned out and scanned the room, weapon extended. Then he motioned to Cassia and headed in.

The inside of the room was a grisly mess. There were blood spatters on the furniture and the wall, and three bodies dressed all in black lay unmoving that Cassia could see. Through a doorway, she could see three more casualties. One seemed to be nearly headless. She glanced at Grit, but he seemed to be handling the bloody scene fairly well.

“Any of yours?” he asked simply, and Cassia shook her head. She moved through the smoke room to the door leading to Thorn’s living space. It wasn’t locked, which was a bad sign. Grit again took the lead, and slammed the door open with a massive kick. The only body in this room was a small red haired woman with a hole in her forehead. Cassia surged ahead of Grit, bursting into Thorn’s kitchen. There were two more dead men in black, one with a knife still stuck in his neck and the other full of bullets. Moving even quicker now, Cassia rounded the corner into a hallway leading towards the bedroom. As she entered the room, something in her subconscious began blaring an alarm, and she abruptly turned and tackled Grit around the midsection as bullets exploded into the doorframe.

Almost immediately, Cassia was back on her feet. Ignoring the beginning of a protest from Grit, she dove through the bedroom door with her knife ready to fling. Her gaze barely took in a redheaded stocky woman, face full of fury, attempting to bring a weapon up towards her. Behind the woman was the pale face of a terrified man, and at the last second Cassia’s brain kicked in. Her knife buried itself in the wall to the left of Mel’s head, and she hit the ground with a thud, blood roaring in her ears from the adrenaline.

“...fucking stupid piece of shit!” Mel finished shouting. “I almost blew your brains out of your silver head!” Cassia sat up. Mel, it seemed, was yelling at her. Kevin was staring wide eyed at the still quivering knife handle protruding from the wall.

“I’m glad you guys made it,” Cassia said, standing up and ignoring Mel’s yelling. “This is Grit, he helped me get here.” She gestured to the doorway as the big man entered slowly. He eyed Mel warily. Cassia noted the pangolin snuffling around in the hallway. She was surprised it had made it this far without her noticing.

“Did you get Mel’s message?” Kevin asked. Cassia nodded.

“Barely, right before the building burned to the ground.” Mel’s eyebrows raised, but she didn’t say anything. Kevin, however, was incredulous.

“The mall burned down?!” he exclaimed, but Cassia was already searching the room.

“What happened to Thorn?” she asked. Mel frowned at her, and Cassia sighed.

“Yes, I know Elias Thorn. I was planning on coming here anyway.” Mel stared at her for a moment, and then shrugged.

“The Singularity picked him up,” she said, unusually serious. Cassia's eyes widened in recognition.

“Those were Pinnacles in the kitchen?” she asked, and Mel nodded.

“And you killed two of them?” Cassia’s tone changed to disbelief but Mel nodded again.

“Got one fair and square. The other one was distracted by a fucking idiot,” she said, gesturing towards Kevin. He somehow seemed to turn paler remembering the fight.

“Good work,” Cassia said. She started to say more but Grit interrupted.

“I’m sorry, but what is The Singularity?” he asked Cassia, still keeping an eye on Mel. “And what are Pinnacles?”

“We don’t have time now,” Cassia replied, waving him off. “We’ve got to find another Thorny.” Mel nodded her approval, finally putting away her handgun. Grit visibly relaxed.

“I agree,” she stated. “I need to talk to him about all this shit. He owes me new shoes.” She walked out of the bedroom. Grit looked at Cassia, confused.

“Isn’t Thorn who we came to meet?” he asked as Cassia hauled Kevin to his feet and led them after Mel.

“Yeah, but he’s gone now,” Cassia answered. “So we’ve got to find a different version.” Grit shook his head, still not understanding. Kevin looked like he’d given up even trying to keep track.

“Won’t any other version of Thorn not know who we are?” Mel chuckled at this.

“I know where another one is,” she said to Cassia, then looked back over her shoulder at Grit.

“Elias Thorn is probably the weirdest fucking guy in the multiverse,” she said in all seriousness. “But if the Singularity’s going after him, we’re all in deep shit.”