Chapter 4

The ride through the flume was peaceful after a while. Press spent most of the time feeling his jaw where Saint Dane hit him. All he did was dislocate it, but Press quickly popped it back into place. When they arrived at the mouth of the flume, Press saw Osa and Brent looking towards the wall. Press saw there was writing on the wall. It said:

MY PARTNER IS AFTER YOU

"Who could possibly have done this?" Osa said.

"It's obvious. This has Saint Dane all over it." Brent said

"What should we do?"

"He obviously knows we're here but he doesn't know where. Second Earth is a big territory. It will take him a while to find us." Brent answered

"But who's his partner?" Osa asked.

"I'm not sure, but we need to get out of here and to my apartment."

"We really need to figure out what territory we're going to go to next." Press said

Brent looked over to Press with a big smile.

"Now you're starting to sound like a traveler."

"I'm starting to look at this as a big game, like football. The other team does an unexpected play and you counter quickly."

"Good idea, Press. We have to hurry." Brent said as he checked his watch, "A train will be coming soon so we should leave now."

Brent walked over and picked Quor up, who had been lying on the floor. Press opened the door and everyone file out through the door ahead of him. Soundly the jumble of sweet notes started up. Press closed the door quickly.

"Somebody's coming!" he yelled. They all started to slide down the wall towards the station. The wall was as always gross and covered with oil and goop. A train horn sounded behind them.

"What was that?" Osa asked.

"Brent! A train!"

"We're to far from the station! "He yelled back

"Just run, you have Quor if you can put her on the platform she'll be fine!"

The train just kept coming. Every second the rumbling kept getting louder and louder. The horn was so loud it hurt Press' ears. Press looked and saw Brent sprinting down the tracks, with Quor bobbling around his shoulders. Press looked towards Osa who was behind him. She had a scared look on her face.

"It'll be ok, Osa, just lean back against the wall. The train will pass us and we'll be fine." The both put their backs to the wall. Osa reached over and grabbed Press' hand. He squeezed it back. It felt like an earthquake to Press. The train came at 90 miles an hour. It seemed to last for 10 minutes but it was more ten seconds. When the train was finally gone Press started to breathe again.

"Phew. That was close. Ok Osa, you go ahead of me." Press said. Osa stepped over Press' feet and continued up the tracks. Press looked back towards the flume and saw someone's head sticking out of the door. It looked like-

"Dad?" Press said. The figure quickly pulled its head back inside the door.

Press met up with the others at the subway station. He tried to tell Brent but he decided not to.

"It was just my mind playing tricks on me." He thought

They went up the stairs and out onto the streets of the Bronx. Press was surprised that the Mustang from earlier was still there. Press helped Brent get Quor in the back seat and then hopped in the front. Brent started the car and took off down the streets. Press looked back to Osa and saw her cradling her aunt's head in her lap. It really touched Press.

"Where's your apartment at? You never told me you lived near us." Press asked.

"I never use it. I just have it for emergencies or times of need. Like now." Brent answered

They never turned onto a highway to go to Stony Brook. Instead they went towards Manhattan. They drove for about twenty minutes and stopped at a hotel. It was tall and pink. All the walls ended in a point at the top. The pink wasn't vibrant, it was actually soothing.

"This is the Manhattan Tower Hotel. I live in the penthouse up top. It used to belong to and old gangster boss guy about 50 years ago. Let's go." Brent said. He went over to the car and grabbed Quor.

He carried her unconscious body inside to the elevator. They all piled in and rode the elevator to the 30th floor. When they arrived in the house, Press and Osa plopped on the couch while Brent laid Quor on the bed in the other room. He came out of the room with a dark look on his face.

"She's hurt pretty bad." He said

"What happened to her?" Osa asked.

"When I threw you two out the window, Saint Dane went after Quor. She used everything she knew to fight back but Saint Dane got her. She has some scratched and bruises and a couple cracked ribs. She'll make it but she'll be hurt for a while."

"How long can we lay low?" Press asked.

"As long as possible, which will probably be a week. It's just enough time to figure out which territory to go to next."

"Can I give Osa a tour?"

"No, you're not allowed to leave the penthouse."

Press gave a frustrated sigh and laid back on the couch.

"What territories are there?"

"Like I said earlier there are ten. First, Second, and Third Earth. Cloral, Zaddaa, Veelox, Quillan, Eelong, Denduron, and Tazexx. I don't know anything about Third Earth though. I've never been there."

"So if Second Earth is now...First Earth is in the past and Third earth is in the future?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go to Third Earth."

"Well, that was a fast decision. Why should we go there?"

"Cause I want to and Saint Dane wouldn't expect it."

"How?"

"Well if we're on Second Earth now, then he'd probably expect us to go to one of the other territories that you would know about. Let's go to Third Earth. Plus he wouldn't expect a childish answer like mine."

"Good answer. Fine, we go there next week."