As the Sonic Rover soared through the night, Alex sat at the controls to the jet, her mind synched with its systems. Since her first encounter with the AI Master, she had found that she liked letting her mind wander through cyberspace. She knew she had to be careful, though. If there was one thing she had picked up from her programmer master, it was that the internet was for more than just research. She had found that wandering through the radio waves and communications signals that surrounded her had a calming effect on her, as a normal person might find in a walk through a park. The scenery was lovely, but her mind was on other things.
As she swiveled around in her seat, she looked back at the rest of the Rovers sprawled throughout the cabin. Some of them sat in the jet's seats, while others were sprawled out on the floor. She noticed Sylvia was slumped against the wall and chuckled as she saw Taz tucked up under the German Shepard's arm. The dingo pup had fallen asleep long before the other, older members of the team, curling up on the floor, exhausted from the day's events. Alex's eyes wondered over the rest of the room, lingering on the puddle of drool dripping from Anton's jaws and watching as Blitz kicked in his sleep.
Her eyes finally came to a stop, when they lay upon Hunter and Colleen. The pair was sitting on the floor, shoulder to shoulder, with Colleen leaning her head on Hunter's shoulder, and between the two, Alex could see their hands interlocking. Her march through the digital realm came to a stop as she focused on the pair. Colleen slept with a smile on her face, and Hunter had a grin that spelled contentment. Alex stared at the couple's hands as she remembered the conversation she had had with them earlier that night.
After the unintentional reveal of the Road Rover's unintended time jump and the slew of questions that had followed, the conversation had shifted into smaller groups. Taz had enthusiastically regaled Blitz and Exile with tales of the last ten years in entertainment. Anton, Shag, and Sylvia had started trading cooking tips, and the Master had asked Gavin about all the major world events that had he had missed out on. Alex had found herself talking to Hunter and Colleen, and eventually, the conversation had turned towards their relationship.
"So how did it start?" asked Alex. "I mean, I gather you met when the team formed, but when did you become a couple?"
"Well, I have to admit," said Hunter. "I can be a bit dense."
"You don't say," Colleen commented.
Hunter laughed as he put an arm around the collie.
"Anyway, I think it was sometime in the summer of '98 when I first asked her on a date."
"I'd been crushing on him for a long time before then, though," Colleen said, leaning on his shoulder. "Took him for-bloody-ever to get the hint."
She leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek as she continued.
"He took me to one of the nicest dining places in town. Then, we snuck into its back lot and went dumpster diving." She laughed. "Never had so much food and fun at the same time."
Alex chuckled.
"It seems you and Gavin have something in common," she said.
A thought crossed her mind.
"Were you dogs or cano-sapiens for this?"
"Dogs," answered Hunter.
"So, you retain your cognitive functions when you revert to canine form?" asked Alex.
"Yes, we do," said Hubert, joining in the conversation. "It's a side effect of the Transdogmafication process. Now, Miss Alex, I hope you don't mind, but I assume you've seen the workings of our base of operations."
"Yes."
"Well, then perhaps you could give me a rough guess as to how much we'll need to improve things."
From there, the conversation had drifted into talk of technology, Alex getting Hubert and the Master up to speed on the latest tech. She looked forward to overhauling the Rovers' base; all that time she had spent watching her master work would finally pay off.
Alex's wandering mind was brought to a halt once again by an incoming transmission, which she felt an instant before she heard it.
"Hello, is anyone there? This is Luka."
Alex sat in surprise for a moment, before touching her communicator collar.
"I hear you, Luka. This is Alex," she said.
"Oh, thank goodness," replied the soldier on the other end. "Where are you? I've been getting worried."
"Luka, is something wrong?"
"No, no. I just thought I would have heard something from you. It's been nearly a two days."
"Well, we managed to find the Road Rovers, and we're heading back to our base."
"Oh good, that's a weight off my mind. I think I'll leave you to your flight. Thanks for letting me know."
"You're welcome."
With that, the communicator went silent. Alex sat still for a minute before a blinking light on the jet's console caught her attention. Taking note, she moved to the back and gently shook Gavin.
"Hey, wake up," she whispered.
The border collie's eyes blinked open as he awoke. Seeing the malamute staring down at him, he smiled and yawned.
"Hey Alex, what's up?" he asked blearily.
"Hi Gavin," she said. "Listen, can you help me wake the others up. The autopilot says we're getting close to base, and I thought it'd be wise to wake everyone up.
Gavin's ears and eyebrows went up as he stretched.
"Sure," he grunted.
He rose from his seat, and within a few minutes, all the Rovers were awakened.
"Thanks for the wakeup call, hon," yawned Colleen, as she and Hunter took the front seats and peered over the console. "We'd best all buckle up, 'cuz we're just about to start our landing approach."
The Road Rovers and Neo Rovers all found their seats and strapped their safety harnesses on. The pair of pilots began pulling levers and flipping switches, until suddenly, the engine sputtered and shuttered, before shutting down.
"Uh, was that supposed to happen?" asked Taz, peering out the window.
Hunter pulled a mouthpiece from the dashboard.
"This is your captain speaking," he said, over the jet's loudspeakers. "I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is we'll be landing soon. The bad news is we're out of fuel; so we'll be crash landing."
Everyone in the jet's cabin sat in shocked silence as he continued.
"Please be sure your tray tables are stowed and your seatbacks are in the upright position. If we should happen to crash in a large body of water, please remember that your seat cushion can be used as a floatation device. Thank you for flying Rover Air, and have a pleasant day."
As Hunter stowed the mouthpiece, the Rovers in the back felt their weight shift as the plane started to nose towards the earth. Moments later, several loud screams of terror came from the back of the cabin.
"I'm too young to die!" cried Taz.
"I'm too pretty to die!" exclaimed Blitz.
"Au revoir, mes amis," Anton sobbed. "It was wonderful while it lasted."
"Oh, don't be such a drama queen!" exclaimed Gavin. "We'll be fine, right Hunter?"
The Labrador turned back towards his passengers with an apologetic look on his face.
Gavin's eyes grew wide for a moment before screwing shut as he too joined the chorus of wails.
As the Sonic Rover shook and buffeted as his plummeted, Alex looked around her in terror. The two pilots were frantically working the jet's controls, trying to pull them out of their ever increasing dive. All around, her fellow Rovers were crying out in terror as the ground rushed up to meet them.
"I can't believe this is it," she thought. "I'll never see my master again. I'll never get a chance to be a hero. I'll never –"
Her thoughts ground to a halt as she looked towards the front of the cabin. Hunter and Colleen had stopped trying to save the jet and were gripping each other's' hands. The placement of the front seats prevented them from having any other form of contact, but as they plunged towards certain doom, she could tell they wanted to spend their last moments together.
Alex stared at the pair for a brief instant, before something sent a surge through her mind.
"No," she thought, "I won't let this end. I won't let what they have end like this. I'm going to save my pack, my team, and my friends!"
Reaching into the depths of her mind, she felt something visceral and instinctual take control. For the second time that day, she felt her mind meld with the jet's systems as she let out a primal howl.
With the sounds of rushing winds and screaming dogs filling her ears, Sylvia wrapped Taz in a hug, leaning over him protectively. She whimpered as she felt the pup beneath her arms shaking like a leaf.
"I cannot believe it is ending like this," she thought.
She thought of her master, back home in Germany, the friends she had made amongst the Road Rovers and the Neo Rovers. She would never see them again, never chase rabbits in the woods, never –
She yelped in surprise as she felt her weight suddenly shift as the engines sprang back to life. In front of her, she could see Alex howling to the sky, a purple aura radiating from her, as she watched the jet start to pull out of its nosedive. As she watched, she saw the paneling on the jet's walls begin to glow purple as a series of cracks and crashes came from the back of the jet.
Turning in her seat, she watched as the rear ramp was violently severed from the plane and fell away. An instant later, wind began rushing by her as she watched the Sonic Rover's front door fly out the back. Turning back, she watched as scores of wires erupted from the walls, ceiling, and floor and began prying parts of the plane's interior apart. Panels, empty sets, and carpeting were thrown out the back, followed by the jet's mechanical, hydraulic, and electronic parts. Within seconds, the interior of the plane had become a skeleton of its former self.
By now, the plane had pulled out of its nosedive, but was still heading for a rough landing. Hunter called out from the front.
"Brace for impact!"
Instants later, the Sonic Rover slammed into the New Mexico desert. Sliding along the sand, it kicked up a massive cloud of dust and dirt, and sand flew in through the front door, blinding the passengers within. For several tense seconds, the Rovers held on tight as their jet skidded along the ground. Finally, the jet came to a shuddering halt as it collided with an outcropping of rock.
A few moments passed, as the dust began to settle. Slowly, the Rovers began to wipe the sand from their eyes and began to extricate themselves from their seats.
Coughing the dust from her lungs, Sylvia released her hold on Taz as she sat up and unbuckled her safety harnesses. She watched as the other Rovers all did the same, all but Alex.
"Alex," she asked, as she came around the front of her chair, "are you alright?"
She gasped when she saw the malamute was unconscious. Hastily pulling of her harnesses, she caught the other female as she fell forward from her seat.
Next to her, Gavin had finally wiped the grit from his eyes and turned as he heard Sylvia gasp.
"Alex!" he exclaimed, rushing to help catch her. "Is she alright?" he asked.
"I am not sure," said Sylvia, concernedly. "Let's get her outside."
The pair carried the unconscious Alex out, supporting her arms with their shoulders. As they exited the crashed jet, they saw the other Rovers standing in the moonlight, as the sky began to light in the east. After a moment, Taz leapt in the air with a loud whoop.
"We're alive!" he cried, his excitement causing fire to rise from his arms. "We're aliiiii – Hmmph!"
Blitz's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Halt die mund!" he hissed. "Do you want people to hear us?"
Taz wrested himself from the Doberman's grasped and glared back at him.
"Well, forgive me, mate," he said, "if I'm a little excited over not bein' dead."
"Easy now, Rovers," said the Master, laying a hand on each one's shoulder. "No need for anger. We're all a little high on adrenaline. First, let's get away from the plane, so if anyone sees the dust cloud, they won't find us."
Nodding in agreement, the Rovers trekked east over the desert, towards the lake where their base was. Shag offered to carry the still unconscious Alex, to which Sylvia and Gavin acquiesced. As they walked along and the sun began to rise, Hunter noticed that Gavin looked disheartened.
"You okay, bud?" he asked the Border collie.
Gavin sighed.
"I guess I'm just worried about Alex," he said. "This is the second time she gone unconscious like this. The first time was my fault."
"Now, wait a minute," said Hunter. "I heard what happened with the AI Master. And that pillar falling over wasn't your fault. You and Taz had no idea it was that weak, or that he was powerful enough to break it."
"Yeah, but if I hadn't been –"
"Listen, Gavin," Hunter stopped in his tracks and turned to look the Neo Rover straight in the eye. "The first time Alex went unconscious was not, I repeat, was not your fault. The time, is also not your fault. Do you realize what she did for us today?"
Gavin shook his head.
"She restarted the engines, forcing them to run by 'manually' rotating them with the pneumatic starter pump. At the same time, she adjusted the Sonic Rover's ailerons, bringing us out of our nose dive, and while she was doing that, she tossed absolutely everything that was unnecessary out the back door to make the plane lighter and the crash less deadly. She fainted, because of the mental stress she went through to save everyone. Now, you can either sit here, moping about how you couldn't keep her safe, or you can take the time that she has given you and be the leader you were meant to be."
When Hunter finished his tirade, he briefly stared at the younger Rover before his natural smile reappeared on his face.
"And who knows? She probably likes confident guys."
With that, he turned on his heel and followed the group, still heading east towards the rising sun. Gavin stood in shock for a moment before rushing to catch up with Hunter.
"How did you know what she did?" he asked, catching up to the Labrador.
"Well, until she pulled them out and tossed them, the instruments were still working," Hunter grinned.
"I can't imagine the strain that must have had on her mind," Gavin pondered. "How did she do it? We haven't even had our powers for a week."
"You'd be surprised what someone under stress can do," Hunter replied. "Maybe it was the adrenaline."
As they walked along, Gavin paused for a moment.
"What did you mean when you said 'the leader I'm meant to be'?" he asked.
Hunter chuckled.
"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but the other Neo Rovers already think of you as their leader," he said.
"Really?" Gavin asked, his ears up in surprise.
"Oh sure, you're the one who lead the charge against the AI Master, you're the one who put the pieces together on how to find us, and you concocted the scheme that got you out of the slammer. And, to top it off, your powers will make our team coordination ten times easier."
As they reached the main group, the Border collie thought about what Hunter had said. While all of it was true, Gavin did not feel much like a leader. If anything, he felt like he was the least qualified. Alex was super smart, Anton was really strong, Sylvia had a certain motherly quality to her, and Taz had, well, enthusiasm.
"And sure, my telepathy would come in handy in a fight, but I don't –"
His thoughts were interrupted by a groan from within the group, Gavin looked up to see Alex stirring in Anton's hold.
"Alex!" he exclaimed, rushing up to her.
"Welcome back to living world, comrade," said Exile.
"Did we make it?" asked the still semi-conscious malamute. "Is everyone safe?"
"Yes, Alex," said the Master, placing his hand on her shoulder, "thanks to you."
"Oh, thank goodness," she sighed, leaning back in Shag's arms.
"How are you feeling?" asked Sylvia.
Alex rubbed her hand over her face, trying to wipe the drowsiness from her eyes.
"Light-headed," she said, "but I think I can walk."
With a grunt, Shag lowered her to the ground. As she tentatively stepped onto the sandy ground, she tripped and fell forward.
"Whoa, I gotcha!" exclaimed Gavin.
Leaping forward to catch her, Gavin wrapped his arms around the falling malamute. After a moment, Alex had regained her footing and leaned on him to straighten up. As she rose, her eyes inadvertently locked with Gavin's. He was stunned to see that her eyes were a beautiful shade of chocolate brown. Likewise, Gavin's piercing steel-blue eyes caught Alex by surprise. For a moment, neither Rover moved, holding each other in a half-embrace. They were jolted from their reverie as Colleen cleared her throat.
"Ahem, well, what say we get moving, then?" she asked.
The two younger Rovers separated, their cheeks glowing red, as the cavalcade of canines continued to cross the wasteland before them.
After several more hours of walking, the sun had risen to its zenith, and the desert sun was mercilessly beating down on the bedraggled dogs. As he panted heavily, Anton wiped the sweat from his brow.
"How much farther is it to the base?" he asked, wringing out the fur on his forearms. "I'm afraid I will melt in this heat."
"I could scout ahead, if you guys want," Hunter replied.
A murmur of agreement sent the Labrador rushing over the next ridge. As the other Rovers sat on the ground, Anton collapsed onto his stomach, his thick fur making the day's activities extremely uncomfortable. Looking around, he saw the other Rovers panting, their energy drained by the heat.
"If only we could get some shade," he thought.
He then noticed the wind begin to pick up, its cool gusts washing over his fur. Looking towards the sky, he saw a wall of clouds rushing towards them.
"Rain!" he thought. "What luck!"
Within moments, the sky was darkened by the advancing storms.
"Is the weather normally like this?" Anton asked Colleen, over the rising wind.
"It's the desert," replied Colleen. "When it changes, it changes fast, but I can't say it's ever changed this fast."
After a few minutes of rest, Exile pointed eastward.
"Comrades, do you see that?" he asked.
Looking where he was pointing, the other Rovers saw a cloud of dust rising from the east. Moments later, Hunter came blazing over the ridge, skidding to a stop beside his teammates.
"Did you find the lake?" asked Alex.
"Yeah, yeah I did," Hunter breathed, panting heavily, "and I've got some bad news. There were a bunch of army guys around the lake, and I'm pretty sure they spotted me. They're heading this way."
"How long do we have?" asked Gavin, rising to his feet.
"Not sure, last I saw of them, they had their jeeps' pedals to the floor."
"I'd really rather us not get in a fight with the US military," said the Master, "but if we must defend ourselves, then so be it."
The ten Rovers got to their feet, readying to protect the Master, Hubert, and Muzzle. Within minutes, the sound of running motors reached the canines' ears, as they saw a cloud of dust rising from over the ridge. Moments later, a dozen jeeps breached the top of the hill and began rolling down the slope towards them. As the wind continued to rise, the Rovers braced for a fight. As he eyed the oncoming soldiers, Gavin's ears perked up.
"Do you guys hear that?" he asked.
"Hear what?" asked Sylvia.
"That voice on the wind," the Border collie replied, "it sounds like…singing, or chanting?"
As the wind continued to rise and the soldiers drew closer, the other Rovers began to hear what Gavin did. The voice was rich and melodious, but the words it spoke were unlike any they had heard before. Suddenly, Gavin's mind was stricken with a powerful pain. Gripping the sides of his head, he bent over in agony, a cry of pain escaping his muzzle.
"Gavin, what's wrong!?" cried Alex.
"Not sure," Gavin wheezed. "Huge spike in mental feedback. Feels like something's burrowing into my head!"
"Mates!" cried Taz. "Look at the wind!"
The other Rovers looked to up to see that the wind was now swirling around them at an astonishing rate, kicking up giant clouds of sand and completely obscuring the canines' view of the outside world. By now, the chanting had risen to a thunderous level. As the wind spun faster and faster, and the chanting grew louder and louder, the Rovers felt themselves begin to rise off the ground. As they ascended into the whirling winds, they saw a bright light in the clouds above them. As they looked on, the light rushed down to meet them, and they felt themselves engulfed by a powerful force. The next moment, the light vanished, leaving them several feet in the air and falling. With a resounding clang, the Rovers struck the metal floor beneath them, landing in a literal dog pile.
As the Rovers tried to extricate themselves from their pile, they heard a voice nearby, and as it spoke, they realized it was the same voice they had heard chanting in the desert.
"Dr. Shepard," it said, "it's been far too long. Welcome back to WISP."
Author's Note:
Hello everyone, it's been over a year since I last posted anything on this sight and over two years since I posted anything related to the Neo Rovers. I really don't know what to say, other than I'm sorry. This past year has been something of a train wreck for me, and I haven't touched any of my stories at all since last October. For those of you who don't know, for the past four years, I have been attempting to get my degree in Chemical Engineering. I really wanted to get into that particular field because, for one, I've always enjoyed building things, and two, there was a lot of money in the field. But, try as I might, the classes I was required to take proved to be too much for my brain to handle, and so, I've spent the last two years (including summers) trying to get through what are supposed to be sophomore level ChemE classes.
Now, I've entered my fifth year of college and have decided that enough is enough. I am sick and tired of literally failing every semester and have changed to my major to Biological Sciences.
Another reason for my lack of activity is the fact that, a few years ago, a group of my friends and I started playing Dungeons and Dragons together. In the time since then, we've had more adventures than I care to count and have some really great stories to tell. However, being the storyteller that I am, I was quickly suckered in by the idea of writing and running my own campaign, so last summer, I did just that. Over the past year, I have been running my campaign, sending my friends' characters all over the world I had created, meeting NPCs I had crafted with the same care I had given the characters in my stories. To say the least, once I got the hang of it, I really enjoyed it; the give-and-take storytelling of tabletop roleplaying is a wonderful experience.
My excruciating classes, my growing interest in D&D, plus the fact that I started a job last summer, have all contributed to my lack of presence on the Internet. But, you may ask, why bring this up now? Why after all this time am I suddenly reappearing? Well, it's because I finally started writing again.
Having a less strenuous class load, plus having (mostly) finished my campaign, has given me the will and the free time to continue some of my stories. As of right now, I am currently working on finishing Neo Rovers, and from there, I plan on completing the remainder of my unfinished stories. I have a few sequels planned for some of my stories, but I don't want to make any promises I can't keep.
So, look out for more in the coming weeks. Hope to see you then!