Chu’s palace collapsed toward the ground, the whole thing at once. Paul threw his hands over his ears. The sounds of destruction were louder than anything he’d ever heard before as an entire building of metal and glass exploded nearby. He watched as a massive cloud of black dust rolled out of the falling ruins, billowing out and rushing toward them at an alarming speed.

“Now, Master George!” Mothball roared, barely audible over the sounds of the mountain collapsing. “Now!”

Like a fleet of starships zipping into hyperspace, the Realitants winked away in quick succession. Paul actually tasted the choking dust and saw the suffocating darkness before he felt the familiar tingle and was winked to safety.

Chapter

50

~

Much to Discuss

No one did any celebrating.

After getting safely back to headquarters and undergoing full debriefings, most of the Realitants said their good-byes and winked back to their home Realities. Paul and Sofia stuck to Tick’s side; except for the rise and fall of his chest, he seemed as dead as a corpse. Paul couldn’t think of much to say as they followed Mothball to the infirmary, where Doctor Hillenstat hooked Tick up to several monitoring machines; an IV dripped a clear liquid into his veins. Rutger watched from the side, scrutinizing the doctor’s every move as if waiting for him to make a mistake.

“How long will he be out?” Sofia asked. “Is he gonna be okay?”

Hillenstat frowned. “An hour. A day. A week. No telling.”

“But will he be okay?” Paul said.

The doctor felt Tick’s forehead. “Yes, he’s fine for now. But in the long run?” He shrugged. “I think I’ll let Master George be the judge of that.”

Sofia huffed. “Aren’t doctors supposed to make you feel better?”

Hillenstat smiled through his droopy mustache, the first time Paul had ever seen him do it. “Doctors are supposed to be honest. Now, I’ll go and get Master George and you can bother him with your questions. I need a nap.”

He wiped his hands together as if swiping away crumbs from dinner, gave one last look at Tick, then walked out of the infirmary.

Sofia looked at Rutger. “Nice guy you got there. I’m glad I’m not sick.”

Rutger ignored them, looking over at a machine that monitored Tick’s vitals, but Mothball spoke up. “Best doc in the Realities, he is. A bit snippy, though.”

Master George walked in, Sally lumbering along behind him. They both pulled up chairs to the bed and sat down
so the whole group was in a circle, looking solemnly at the comatose Tick.

“So what’s the deal?” Paul asked.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with him?” Sofia added.