Some of the motorcycles had the power crystal on their fuel tanks, but others were definitely gas-powered, thundering like day three at Sturgis. My uncle had a Harley Davidson, and he drove it loud. He said it was to warn other drivers he was there, but I could see the twinkle in his eye. He liked scaring the shit out of the neighbors when he took his bike out.


    There was a wide variety of motorcycles from choppers to fat boys to sleek Asian bikes to dirt bikes. The bikes were all different, but the riders were all the same: Sleezenak, sitting so their tails curved over their shoulders. Normally, they were nocturnal, afraid of the light, but we’d gotten unlucky with New Ireland. It was a dark and cloudy place.


    A thought hit me—that drumming in Fry City was probably from the Sakata statues. These Sleezenak were dressed in rough leather clothing, armed with stone axes and spears. A few had riders who started whirling slings over their heads.


    I wasn’t worried about me, but I didn’t want anything bad to happen to my friends. It was too late to race into one of the ruins, like I’d done with Billie. We’d never make it, but we needed some kind of cover.


    I shouted orders. “Fall back to the hilltop. Billie, give me the magnum. Get as many as you can with the rifle. Holly, don’t shoot until they’re close or you’ll never hit them. The shotgun is for close range only. Don’t worry about wasting ammo. Our plasma guns will get fully charged once we reach Sector X. Khanna, only use your spear when you’re out of arrows.”


    The women nodded, and we hurried back to the top of a hill. The girls could hide behind the crown, giving them some cover. My fingers were wet with sweat on the revolver. I only had six shots, and I had to use them wisely. There wasn’t going to be time to reload.


    A stone crashed into my chest, knocking me back a bit.


    Damage sustained. Repairing cellular structure. One moment. Estimated energy use 3% of total. Please charge this unit to 100% to ensure host’s survival. Primary mission incomplete.


    “What the fuck, Opal! You can heal me?”


    Affirmative. Further enhancements possible with 100% charge.


    Say what you will, but at least she was consistent.


    “Keep me healed,” I told her. “I have plenty of power crystals.”


    I felt a warm feeling in my chest as she repaired the damage. I wasn’t even going to have a bruise.


    Billie was lying prone, which not only made her less of a target, but it would steady her shot. Good girl.


    Khanna was on her knees, just below the crown of the hill. An arrow flashed from her bow and pulled a Sleezenak off their motorcycle. Holly had her shotgun, but she was shaking so bad, I wasn’t sure she’d be able to use it.


    There were hundreds of Sleezenak bikers coming for us. And the biggest one, on the biggest fat boy motorcycle, had a pickax with a long, slender power crystal tied to the end of the shaft.


    His eyes caught mine. He was the male, and all the Sleezenak with him was his wives. I realized what had happened. The surviving wives of the last chieftain I’d killed had taken most of the Sakata statues and fled to Fry City to find another male to bond with.


    I took a second to consider which of my weapons I wanted to use. The chainsaw stick was powerful, but I was going to be facing multiple opponents at the same time. I didn’t want the chainsaw bouncing back and hitting me in the face, so I went with the ax. I could wield it better one-handed, since in my other hand, I’d have the magnum.


    My job was to keep the motorcycles from racing up to the top of the hill while the girls took out the lizards with their long-range weapons. It was me against an army of lizard people on motorcycles, way too many for us to fight, but there was no place to hide. We didn’t have a choice.


    At least I could be a target. I raced down and easily dodged the first motorcycle. I hacked through a leg and set the rider spinning into the dirt. The Sleezenak went tumbling into the wheels of another bike, which toppled them over.


    I fired point blank into the face of an oncoming biker, blowing most of her head off. One tried to spear me, but I pivoted and hacked off an arm. It’s hard to drive your bike with only one arm. The first wave went down from my work, Billie’s bullets, and Khanna’s arrows.


    Some of Sleezenak came for me, but others gunned their bikes, going for the girls at the top of the hill. One got close, but the boom of Holly’s shotgun meant she wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Bikes began to pile up on the hilltop, which gave the girls more shelter.


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    I’d lost track of the new shaman in all the fighting. It wasn’t long before the magnum was out of bullets, and I stowed it in loops on my survival suit.


    One good thing about the fight. If I got close to a bike with a power crystal, I could steal the power source. Opal was giving messages left and right as she used the crystals to keep herself charged while she healed me.


    I eventually started tossing motorcycles into the incoming horde, and I could take out two or three Sleezenak at a time. I could smell gasoline in the air, and it wasn’t long before I tossed a motorcycle and there was a huge explosion, which took out more of the Sleezenak.


    It was clear. We were hopelessly outnumbered. We had to get out of there and bring back reinforcements. I hacked the head off a Sleezenak but grabbed her motorcycle before it went into the dirt.


    It was one with a power crystal. “Don’t take the crystal, Opal. I need to use it to power the bike.”


    The throttle was like a normal motorcycle, and I raced through fallen backs, back up to the top of the hill. I fish tailed a bit but soon roared up to my friends. “Girls! Grab bikes. Billie, Holly, do you know how to ride a motorcycle?”


    I figured Billie would but what about Holly?


    Both were pale, and Holly had a gash on her forehead.


    Khanna was out of arrows, but she’d found a sling, and she was hurling rocks. “Khanna, you’re going to get on the motorcycle behind me. We’re going to retreat.”


    Billie worked the action of the rifle and shot a biker coming at her. Piles of bodies and bikes littered the hilltop. At least we had any number of motorcycles to choose from.


    I pulled up next to the Huntress.


    “Get on, Khanna,” I said to her. “Use your spear, so we can provide Holly and Billie some cover.”


    Khanna gave me a very worried look but managed to overcome her fear. She climbed on, and we drove over the top of the hill. She speared Sleezenaks while Holly and Billie found bikes.


    “I hate this so much!” I thought that had come from Billie, but instead, it was Holly. She looked miserable even though she’d chosen a really nice motorcycle. It looked out of place on K’Shaul…it should’ve been in Tokyo. Holly had the shotgun over her shoulder as she went speeding across the grass. But she wasn’t thinking clearly.


    She was going in the wrong direction. I had planned on going back the way we’d come, but no, she was heading east. That would take us to Sector X, but that was where the reptilian biker shaman had taken most of his army.


    The huge Sleezenak on his fat boy and fifty other bikers went roaring after her.


    Billie gave me a helpless glance. “Do we go after her?”


    “We don’t have a choice!”


    Khanna then shrieked. “Look! The storm! The storm!”


    We hadn’t seen it coming because all of those dark, swirling clouds had been hidden in the sky above Fry City. However, it was clear that another Ravana Storm was heading straight toward us.


    Holly was too panicked to stop and turn around. Besides, it was all happening so fast. We now had the Sleezenak bikers, the big chieftain with the power crystal pickax, and the Ravana Storm to deal with.


    I was about to go after Holly when another wave of Sleezenaks hit us. Billie’s rifle boomed again and again. Khanna and I kept the bikers away from her but there were just so many. Meanwhile, Holly was getting farther and farther away.


    Again, I smelled gasoline from a bike, and I had an idea.


    Driving by, I leaned over and lit the ground on fire with my welding torch. The flames streaked across the ground, found the gas tank, and then, one after another, fallen motorcycles started to explode. The heat and noise was incredible. As was the shrapnel. Another dozen biker Sleezenaks died in the blast.


    That gave us our escape.


    I gunned my bike and heard the whine of the engine, powered by the crystal, and then I went tearing off down our hill, racing toward the Holly, who was way in the distance, running scared. We weren’t going to catch her.


    Billie was behind me. We were heading right toward that storm. For a second, I considered driving right into it. Would it take us home? Or would it take us to another part of K’Shaul? There was also the possibility it would kill us outright. Maybe we’d just gotten lucky to be brought here. Look what the storm had done to our bus.


    The air crackled with electricity and the entire world became the thunderous crackle of the storm. It was right in front of us.


    I roared down a hill and then topped the next one. In front of me was swirling black darkness wreathed with lightning. I couldn’t see a thing, couldn’t hear a thing, and somewhere in that mess was Holly. Or had she made it to the other side? I didn’t know.


    Billie pulled up next to me, her face was white, and her eyes were wide.


    The storm crackled past us leaving behind a roaring sound.


    The ground dropped a good twenty feet. The Ravana Storm had sliced through a hillside when it laid down the new landscape. Below were rivers of bright red lava cutting across a flat plain of black razor-sharp rocks. It was at least a mile, maybe more, of a lava bed, roaring with heat. I could also hear the snap and pop of the liquid rock cooling.


    “Opal, give me some good news. Can you scan for Holly?”


    Scanning for HOST COMPANION: Holly Kroft. Holly Kroft not found. New sector detected. Sector 4.303.D (Earth, Equator, Hadean Eon)


    Once again, this was Earth, but this was from a whole other universe, a 4th universe, and a D timeline. A whole series of meteorites came falling out of the heavens, hitting that cooling rock, one after another. The sky was a swirling dark red, like blood mixed with ash, and the smell of sulfur blew across us. For a second, I couldn’t breathe.


    I had a horrible thought. “Opal, is there oxygen in the new sector?”


    The atmosphere is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium, with significant amounts of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and ammonia.


    So the answer was no.


    Opal did have some good news.


    The new sector’s atmosphere will change as the sectors between zones mix. Oxygen will be introduced in large quantities. Unknown processes detected. This unit’s theory is that the Fodoron Obelisks also help with the integration of new sectors.


    At some point, we might be able to explore what I thought of as Lava World, but it wouldn’t be for a while.


    We had to wait for the Hadean Eon rock to cool.