#50

Jacob recovered quickly, but as soon he did, Doctor Kay was down the stairs again.

“We've arrived,” he said.

“What?” replied Jacob. “We've probably been aboard for, what...twenty minutes?”

“A lot can happen in twenty minutes.” He gave a look at both of the young men. “You know that now. And so do Mina and Aurel.”

Jacob stood up. “You know what happened to them?”

“Of course.” He took this time to turn away. “I'm sorry, Jacob, but they, along with everyone in the immediate area around that cave, are dead.”

Jacob blinked.

“What?”

There was silence.

“Our enemy entered through the cave, my friend,” Kai said, not turning back to face him. “However, he has...an affinity for certain areas. Certain countries. America, mostly, because he was a born patriot on his homeworld. A member of the 'Lady Liberty' cults there, at least in one of his lives. He warped into the universe via the London cave, and from there set up a localized warp to the strongest 'Soft Place' he could find. In this case, Maurice.”

“I don't care about that right now,” Jacob said, controlling his voice. “What the hell was that about Mina?”

“Presumably she was struck down by one of the enemy's Guards, just as Aurel was. I suspect she held her ground, but her entire school was...sterilized.”

“What.” It was a flat response. Jacob began breathing heavily, but then flattened that, as he flattened his words. “Do you have proof?”

The Doctor shrugged. “She could have survived. Theoretically. I know for a fact, though, they would have never allowed Aurel to escape.” This time he did turn back. “We could look for her, Jacob, but for now we need to locate you and your friend's respective siblings, if possible, and prevent a breach.”

“A breach?”

“It isn't merely a strange sense of Americophilia that motivates our foe. This particular Soft Place has almost direct access to this Earth's core.”

Jacob was shunting his stress elsewhere; into the environment. “Meaning?”

“Meaning that they intend on awakening a serpent. A World Snake, within the planet's center, which I believe will destroy every living thing on Earth-Beta-2. Your world.”

“Why is Maurice, of all places, one of these 'Soft Place' things?”

“I don't know. There are strong psychogeographic energies bound to it. We're still investigating.”

Jacob thought about it for awhile. His outward appearance was one of simple unhappiness. He didn't betray anything else.

“If they access this Soft Place—they could potential destroy the world. That's what you mean, right?”

“Yes.”

There was another pause. “Then I guess we've got to do this. But.” His voice barely rose in emotion at all. “After this, we head for England. We look for Mina.”

“She's gone, my friend.”

“I doubt that.” The voice was slightly mocking, as if this dimension-surfing Doctor was below him. And in Jacob's resolve, he was.

The Doctor sighed. “Very well.”

The front door of The House opened, and below, they could see that they were high above the fields around Maurice. They was a cold, high-air wind that swept through the Manor.

“Like I said. We've arrived.”