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Sixteen holes were made in the door to the broken Sector
1B thanks to the misfiring of the guards’ weapons. Some were scattered around
the walls, but none were made in the wall facing outside--facing the stars --
for obvious reasons.
“Are you new to this?” Magnolia inquired of the
guards. “It seems that way -- you haven’t hit anything besides the walls yet.”
One guard shook the rainbow gun in her possession
irately. “Maybe it seems that way to you, but I’ve merely started!”
“What she said!” the other guard exclaimed. His
next misfire was fatal. The shot went straight through the wall facing the outside
of the ship. “...Oops.”
“You--” Before Magnolia could finish, she scrambled
to the door and clung to the handle. “Now you--”
“This really isn’t a time for insults,
is it?” Sys-op inquired indignantly, Magnolia clinging to her tail as
every loose object in the room was drawn to the quickly-growing hole in the
wall. The guards went straight out of the ship after the hole had grown a considerable
size.
“Um... they were wearing helmets, right?” asked
Magnolia.
Sys-op remained silent for a while. “Erm -- sure
they were! Now, off to Sector 1B with us, right?”
“But it’s under const--”
“Look, Magnolia, y’wanna end up like those guards
out there?” questioned Sys-op.
“You’re right,” Magnolia replied. She glanced
at a glowing red button to the left side of the door. “I think this thingy right
here opens it,” she said, pressing the button. It suddenly glowed bright green
and the door swung open. Magnolia and Sys-op rushed inside and shut the door
quickly.
Magnolia sighed. “That was... um... fun.”
“Sure!” said Sys-op. “’Course it was! You know
how our ideas of fun are so similar.
“Whatever you say,” Magnolia replied. The room
was quiet and dark, and there were all sorts of boxes and poles scattered about.
The door to the next room was very elevated from the rest of the room, and there
was no ramp or any means of getting to the ledge it sat on. “Great, so how do
we get out of here?”
“Well, if we can get enough of those boxes in
a stack, we can reach the top,” Sys-op murmured. “It seems obvious.”
“You’re right,” Magnolia observed, sitting down
next to one of the cardboard boxes. As she tried to pick it up, she noticed
that it was much heavier than she thought. “OKAY! That approach is NOT going
to work!”
“What’s the matter?” Sys-op inquired.
“There’s stuff in here!” Magnolia opened
the box to find it completely filled with gears. “Heavy stuff!”
“Push it, then!” Sys-op advised. “It might be
tall enough on its own if you hop or something!”
“Gee, thanks!” Magnolia replied, pushing
the heavy box towards the door. Once it was in a suitable place, Magnolia stepped
on top of it and reached for the ledge. “I’m a little too short. And -- yes
-- even if I hop.”
“Wait, it’s a little bit easier to reach over
to the left,” said Sys-op. “Try moving it over there.”
And it was. Magnolia held Sys-op up first and
then pulled herself up. The door automatically opened and Magnolia led Sys-op
into the next room, which, thankfully, was not under any construction.
They continued down a few hallways uninterrupted.
The door to the next room, however, was locked. “It’s probably the control room,
isn’t it?”
“Probably. There isn’t a button or anything this
time,” Sys-op observed. “So, now what?”
Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps
could be heard. “I think there are some guards coming around this way. Umm...”
Magnolia spotted two statues of Aglyco in the corners behind them. “Quick --
behind that statue!”
They hid as the door slid open. Two guards, as
were expected, strode down the hallway. One slid a card through a slot on the
door handle and the other opened the door and stepped in. The first guard looked
around for a moment, and then followed his accompaniment inside.
Magnolia quickly ran to the door and held it
slightly open as the guards stepped further into the room. While she was there,
she heard a conversation.
“Missing? Where... hole in the ship? Who...”
“Yes... singer... earlier today... name was...
Cornelia, I think.”
“I’VE never heard of anyone by that name... raising
security... this instant!”
The guards apparently left the next room. Magnolia
slowly opened the door and strolled into the room. Two alien Aishas could be
seen from a distance -- one with silver hair -- conversing quietly. “You think
that prisoner escaped?” one inquired. “The Grundo, I mean?”
“Don’t be silly. The day she escapes won’t be
for quite a--” The silver-haired Aisha turned around and spotted Magnolia. She
smiled. “You’re just priceless, you know that? I knew you’d show up.”
“You know me too well,” Magnolia simply replied.
“What’s all of this?”
“You like?” The Aisha, (identified as Aglyco,)
inquired. “It’s my new ship -- it was built just for this purpose, too! After
you destroyed my poor ’Vanity, I was left with no other choice
than to get a new ship.”
“How did you even survive?” asked Sys-op.
“If I remember correctly, you were caught in the explosion.”
“Which is where you’re completely wrong,” Aglyco
replied. “I know how to get out of my own ship -- don’t think I would
be so stupid as to stay behind.”
“That makes sense, I guess,” said Magnolia. “And
I suppose you think you’ll get away with the whole ‘dragging-Neopia-into-the-sun’
thing, mm?”
Before Magnolia could continue, a rainbow gun
was pointed in her direction. “Nuh-uh. I don’t do thinking, Magnolia; I’m actually
quite confident I will.”
Magnolia and Sys-op fell to the ground as she
fired. The door was hit instead. “I’ll have you know I’m not being so nice
this time,” Aglyco continued as Magnolia scrambled behind a metal structure.
“That isn’t particularly going to help me carry out this plan, is it? And as
much as I’d love to be nice to you,” (she stepped in front of Magnolia,)
“I’m really a lot more concerned with my plan.”
Magnolia looked up. The rainbow gun was, of course,
pointed in her direction again. She quickly stood and backed away as Aglyco
fired once more. “And where on Star XS-094 are my GUARDS?”
Tevanni, sitting in a chair in the back of the
room, took this as a hint. She stood up and rushed to a keypad near the door
as Aglyco, Magnolia, and Sys-op scrambled around the room. She pushed a button
at the top. “There, I called the guards in Sector 8D!” Tevanni exclaimed happily.
“8D?” Aglyco inquired with disbelief. “We’re
in sector 3A! That’d take too long! And get BACK here, you disco FREAK!”
“Ooops...” Tevanni pushed another button. “All
better!” The door slid open to reveal four Aisha guards in the hallway. They
ran inside and seized Magnolia and Sys-op, bringing the struggle to an abrupt
halt.
“That’s it -- from now on, you’re ALL standing
RIGHT outside my door!” Aglyco exclaimed. “Take this girl and her pet where
that Grundo is and report back here immediately.”
Magnolia and Sys-op were taken away by the guards
while Aglyco sat down in a chair with a sigh. “Day five is now officially over.
Fyora’s got one day to make her decision, am I right?”
“Of course you are.”
To be continued...
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