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  Beams opened his mouth to ask more about it, but then Sparky suddenly said, “We have finally arrived at IEA HQ. I am sending a message to the flagship to alert them to our presence.”

  “Great,” said Mr. Space. “Also, turn on the Adventure’s exterior cameras. I want to see how the battle is going.”

  Sparky nodded and tapped a few more touch screens. In the next instant, all of the monitors showed the exterior of the ship, but then the cameras rotated until they were all pointing forward. Beams gasped at the scene it displayed.

  A massive satellite—possibly as big as the moon, although it might have been bigger than even that—floated in front of what looked like a multicolor painting, which Beams could only assume was the space between dimensions. The satellite was shaped like a sphere with two long protrusions rising from the top and bottom. It was tilted slightly, like Earth on its axis, and bright lights lit up its exterior, yet somehow Beams thought he would have been able to see it even without the light. It seemed like the space between dimensions had its own light source, though he couldn’t see any sun.

  But even the satellite, as massive and majestic as it was, wasn’t the most interesting thing the cameras showed. What was most interesting was the spaceship battle occurring all around it.

  Hundreds of spaceships—ranging in size from slightly bigger than a helicopter to larger than an aircraft carrier—were locked in combat around the satellite. Half of the ships were dark, wasp-like vehicles that swarmed larger ones, while the other half were mostly silver and sleek like bullets. An absolutely massive spaceship, which seemed to be made out of some kind of rusted, corrugated metal, floated not too far from the satellite, firing off laser after laser at the satellite. Every time a laser hit the satellite, however, a yellowish-green barrier would become briefly visible and block the lasers, only to fade away in the next instant.

  As Beams watched, two ships crashed into each other in a fiery explosion, while several of the wasp-like ships swarmed a large silver one and completely tore it apart. One of the silver ships fired several missiles at an incoming larger ship, knocking out its engines and send it crashing into the barrier around the satellite. Several of the silver ships were peppering the massive rusted one with laser blast after laser blast, but their attacks didn’t even seem to glance off the rusted one’s massive hull.

  “Holy cow,” said Beams, staring uncomprehendingly at the battle before him. “This looks like something straight out of a space opera.”

  “This isn’t a space opera,” said Mr. Space in a grim voice. “This is real life. Those are real people—my fellow IEA agents—getting slaughtered out there and that is a real Darzen warship attacking HQ, though I’ve never seen one in real life before.”

  “Wait, you mean the big rusty-looking one?” said Beams, pointing at the massive dark ship he had noticed before.

  Mr. Space nodded. “Yeah. I’ve heard rumors about Darzen warships. They’re supposedly the strongest ships in the Darzen army, capable of obliterating entire cities on their own with one blast of their mighty cannons. Their only problem is that they’re really slow, but that doesn’t matter when they have nigh-impenetrable hulls. And that doesn’t even take into account the fact that they usually carry about three dozen stingers inside them at all times to deal with enemies too small and fast for them to hit.”

  “Stingers?”

  “Those wasp-looking ships,” said Mr. Space, gesturing at a screen depicting one of the wasp-like ships Beams had noticed crashing into the barrier. “They’re single-person vehicles that are incredibly fragile, but also very fast and can hit hard, especially in large numbers. Very annoying.”

  Beams was about to ask Mr. Space how he knew so much about them when one of the screens suddenly depicted the IEA symbol and Sparky said, “We are receiving a transmission from the flagship Olympia. Should I connect?”

  “Of course,” said Mr. Space.

  Sparky nodded and tapped a screen. The next second, the IEA symbol was replaced with the video of gruff-looking man in his fifties sitting in a chair which looked a lot like Sparky’s floating chair. The man had long gray hair, with a beard and mustache to match, and he seemed to be wearing a blue-and-yellow uniform, though the monitor only showed his head, neck, and shoulders.

  “Commander Nova!” said Mr. Space. He immediately stood up straight and saluted the man on the camera. “Jason Space, deputy of the Adventure, at your service!”

  “Jason Space?” the man, apparently named Commander Nova, said with a frown. “Where is your captain, Helena Galaxy?”

  “She is still out on a mission, sir,” said Mr. Space promptly. “When we received HQ’s distress call, we felt we had to leave immediately, as per IEA protocol.”

  Commander Nova sighed. “I was hoping, when we sent out the distress call, that Captain Galaxy would be with you. Just our luck that she had to be out a mission when the worst attack on HQ in the history of the Agency happens. God really does have a sense of humor.”

  Mr. Space flushed with embarrassment when Commander Nova said that, but he said, “Well, we’re still willing to provide your forces with the full might of the Adventure. Our cannons are at one hundred percent charge and all three shield layers are at max power.”

  “Very well,” said Commander Nova. He then glanced at Beams and frowned. “Who is this? He doesn’t look like an IEA member.”

  “Uh, he’s my guest,” said Mr. Space, who looked even more embarrassed than before. He nodded at the Rubber Ball under his arm. “Part of our mission was to retrieve this box and this boy came along to make sure it got to HQ safely.”

  Commander Nova’s eyes narrowed. “You mean this kid is a native? For God’s sake, Space, you can’t keep taking natives out of their universe like this. You’re going to unbalance the whole multiverse if you keep this up.”

  Keep taking natives out of their own universe? Beams thought. Has Space done this before?

  “Sir, I know full well what the IEA’s policy on interactions with natives are, but this situation is different,” said Mr. Space. “I have in my arms the brain of the Dread God who the Darzens are trying to resurrect. One of the reasons I came back to HQ was to deliver it to Chief Nebula and—”

  “What?” Commander Nova said. “You mean you have the Dread God’s brain? For God’s sake, why the heck did you bring it here? Are you trying to make sure that the Darzens can get it?”

  “Sorry again, sir,” said Mr. Space. “When we received the distress call, I just didn’t—”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Commander Nova interrupted. “I want you to take that box and get as far away from here as possible. We still don’t know why the Darzens are attacking HQ, but if they learn that your ship has the brain of their god, then they’ll redirect the full force of their army on your ship.”

  “But sir,” said Mr. Space in surprise, “we want to help defend HQ.”

  “And you won’t be able to help if yours gets swarmed and destroyed by stingers,” Commander Nova finished. “This is an order, agent, and I expect you to follow it.”

  Mr. Space opened his mouth, likely to continue arguing, but then a sudden alarm began blaring in the bridge and Sparky said, “Intruder alert. According to the Adventure’s security systems, three unknown invaders have appeared on the third deck. They appear to be Darzen warriors.”

  “What?” said Beams. “How did they get on board the ship?”

  “No idea,” said Mr. Space, “but it’s obvious why they’re here. I’ll go down and eliminate them. Beams, you can stay here.”

  But Beams shook his head. “No way. You can’t beat all of those Darzens by yourself. You need my help.”

  “All right,” said Mr. Space. “I don’t have time to argue this anyway. Sparky, you can protect the Rubber Ball while Beams and I head down to Deck Two in order to eliminate the intruders.”

  “Certainly,” said Sparky. “I will activate the barrier shield around the bridge just in case any Darzens manage to make it past you t
wo and get up here.”

  “Good luck, Space,” said Commander Nova. “I am unable to provide your ship with any reinforcements, but I will send a message out to the rest of the fleet that your ship has been invaded and needs back up. See you later.”

  The screen returned to showing an exterior shot of the Adventure, which showed the battle between the IEA and the Darzens was raging as hard as ever.

  “Come on,” said Mr. Space to Beams as he drew his gun. “We’ve got no time to lose.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  A few minutes later, Bolt, Captain Galaxy, Nicknacks, Shade, and Cadmus Smith stepped out of the shadows into a small, but well-furnished, office. Bolt blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting. They had used Shade’s shadow travel power to quickly and easily travel from Hero Island, which was located off the coast of New York, to the Facility, which was located somewhere in the Nevada desert. Bolt had shadow traveled a couple of times in the past, but he never enjoyed it and was always grateful whenever they emerged from the shadows and into the light.

  “Is this the Facility you told us about, Cadmus?” said Nicknacks, glancing around the office into which they had emerged.

  Cadmus nodded. “Yes. This is my office, which I thought was the safest place for us to emerge without compromising any government secrets to you outsiders.”

  “You mean you have more secrets here than just Graalix?” said Bolt.

  “Of course,” said Cadmus. “We’re the government. We have secrets within our secrets. And no, before you ask, we are not going to show them to you. We are only going to show you the Soul Crown.”

  “And give it to me,” said Captain Galaxy. “Right?”

  Cadmus’ expression, as usual, was hard to read. “Come with me. I will lead the way.”

  Cadmus left the office, followed by Captain Galaxy, Bolt, and Nicknacks. Shade took up the rear, which made Bolt feel a little nervous, because it made him feel like the three of them were prisoners being escorted to their prison cells. Of course, he knew that wasn’t the case, but Bolt did not trust the G-Men due to several bad experiences with them in the past. The G-Men may have been a superhero team dedicated to defending America, but their methods were often questionable and it wasn’t always obvious how certain things they did—such as kidnapping young newborns from their parents and experimenting on them for their whole lives, for instance—benefited America or if they did at all.

  “So,” said Bolt as they walked down the empty hallway, “what is this place called?”

  “That is confidential,” said Shade behind him, causing Bolt to look over his shoulder at her. “But we call it the Facility. It’s an off-the-books government facility meant to keep things that the government doesn’t want the general population to know about secret.”

  “Such as the Soul Crown and Graalix,” said Bolt. “Right?”

  “Right,” said Shade, nodding. “We also do a lot of experiments here, too. The things we do—”

  “Shade,” said Cadmus from up ahead. “Don’t spill all our secrets to the visitors. They don’t need to know everything.”

  “Sorry, sir,” said Shade. She brushed back a few strands of hair. “It’s just that I can get a little talkative around cute boys.”

  Bolt flushed with embarrassment. He already had a girlfriend and he hated how Shade always flirted with him. Shade wasn’t bad-looking by any stretch of the imagination, but he still wasn’t interested in her. It didn’t help that half the time he wasn’t sure if her flirtations with him were serious or not. Based on her mischievous grin, he guessed she was just trolling him this time, though it could have gone either way.

  “And no one knows about this place?” said Nicknacks to Cadmus in front of him. “No one at all?”

  “Only a handful of people in the government know of it,” said Cadmus without looking over his shoulder. “President Plutarch and Vice President Porter, for example, know of it. So do the heads of the CIA and the FBI. But other than those people, the Facility’s existence and location are a complete secret, well above top secret in the government’s confidentiality order.”

  “Interesting,” said Nicknacks. “Given all of the strange things you obviously keep here, I understand why you keep it secret.”

  “Of course,” said Cadmus. “Secrecy is necessary for security. Without secrecy, it is much harder to protect this country.”

  Bolt frowned. “I don’t know. I think a little transparency in the government never hurt anyone.”

  “But you don’t want to reveal your whole hand to everyone,” Shade said. “Sometimes, it’s better for everyone if certain things are kept under wraps. And, of course, keeping secrets can be a lot of fun, if you know what I mean.”

  Shade winked at Bolt when she said that. Bolt just looked away from her, deciding that he was just going to do his best to ignore her until they got out of here. He was just glad that his girlfriend, Blizzard, wasn’t here, because if she was, she’d probably have already strangled Shade to death by now (though he wasn’t sure that would be a bad thing).

  “Can you guys stop discussing issues like transparency in the government?” said Captain Galaxy. “I know it’s important and all, but we’re here to see the Soul Crown, not discuss politics.”

  “Of course,” said Cadmus. “We should be there soon. I sent a text ahead of time to the Facility Supervisor to get the Soul Crown ready for us in the meeting room. We’re almost there.”

  Cadmus was correct. After a couple more minutes of walking, they arrived in front of a set of double doors labeled ‘MEETING ROOM,’ where Cadmus entered first, followed by Captain Galaxy, Nicknacks, Bolt, and Shade.

  To Bolt’s disappointment, the conference room was rather plain and unremarkable, looking no different from any other generic conference room in the world. The walls did have bare patches here and there, however, that made Bolt think that there must have been some pictures or images or something hanging there recently. Why they were taken down, he did not know, but given how the nails were still in the walls, Bolt suspected that confidential images usually hung in the conference room that the G-Men did not want Bolt and the other two visitors to see. It would certainly fit in with the secretive nature of the G-Men in general and Cadmus Smith in particular.

  But they were not the only people in the conference room. A short, fat man wearing a lab coat that looked a little too tight around the waist stood at the end of the conference table, his hand on a large metal box on the table. The man looked up when everyone entered, revealing that his left eye was covered with a patch. It made Bolt wonder how this man lost his eye, though he quickly pushed that thought out of his mind as Cadmus approached the man.

  “Director,” said the man. His voice was slightly breathless, as if he had just run a marathon. “You got here quicker than I expected.”

  “Shade’s shadow travel is very useful,” said Cadmus. He came to a stop before the man and glanced at the box. “I’m more surprised you got the Soul Crown out of storage so quickly. I thought we would have to wait at least a few minutes before you got it up here.”

  “You know me, Director Smith,” said the man, pumping his chest out proudly. “I believe in efficiency and doing things without delay. I was the one who designed the Facility’s method for organizing the objects stored within. I knew exactly where the Crown was and how to get it. Child’s play, really.”

  “Hmph,” said Cadmus, which told Bolt that Cadmus was used to this man’s boasting and didn’t think much of it. “Well, I’m glad you got it out here anyway. Our guest will be pleased to see it.”

  “Guest?” the man repeated. “You didn’t mention a guest in the text you sent me.”

  “Why else would I ask you to remove such a valuable and unique object from storage, if not to show to a guest?” said Cadmus. “Allow me to introduce her to you.”

  Cadmus stepped aside and gestured at Galaxy, Bolt, and Nicknacks. “This woman is Captain Helena Galaxy, who is from another un
iverse. The alien is Nicknacks, who I know you have heard of before, and the superhero is—”

  “Bolt,” the man said. He scowled. “I recognize him.”

  “You do?” said Bolt in confusion. “But we’ve never met.”

  “But you’ve met my brother,” said the man. “Howard Blue, or, as you probably know him, Sandstorm. He was in charge of that facility where you were being kept prisoner, but then you beat him up and escaped.”

  Now Bolt remembered. Last year, during his brief time on the run from the law, Bolt had ended up in the custody of the G-Men. He had managed to free himself, but not without having to fight a G-Man agent named Sandstorm, who, as his codename implied, could control sand and even turn his body into that substance. It had been a long time since Bolt had last thought of Sandstorm, though now that the man mentioned it, Bolt did see the family resemblance between the two, even though this guy was shorter and fatter than Sandstorm.

  “Oh, yeah,” said Bolt, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry for that. I didn’t mean to hurt your brother. I was just trying to escape. Is he okay?”

  “He’s fine,” said the man with a snort. “Which is the problem.”

  Bolt blinked. “What?”

  “You heard me,” said the man. He pointed a finger accusingly at Bolt. “My brother’s power meant he’s never had to take a punch in his whole life. I was hoping that you knocking him out would humble him a bit, but he still thinks he’s better than me just because he was born with a power and I wasn’t. Maybe if you had punched him a few more times, he would have realized he wasn’t all that.”

  “Um …” said Bolt, not sure what to say.

  Luckily, Bolt didn’t have to say anything, because Cadmus said, “Your family issues are irrelevant here, Peter. Right now, we have more important issues to discuss, such as the Soul Crown.”

  The man named Peter took a deep breath and said, “Sorry, Director. It was irresponsible of me to bring my family issues into the workplace. I’ll try not to do that again.”