fantishu
Chapter 75
Chapter 75: Betrayal and Sacrifice
As Philip floated throughout the huge cosmos, his thoughts touched a rainbow of several versions of himself in different worlds.
Suspended, he experienced a power surge inside him-a cosmic force beyond the confines of one universe. Amelia went outside the alien facility in the meantime, her will obviously on show. Her concentration on Philip’s telepathic distress call caused the surrounding air to burst with electricity. Time was limited, she knew. Philip’s attentiveness stayed on extending within the outsider situation.
He saw glimmers of alternative lives – adaptations where he never met Amelia, worlds where the strangers never attacked, and actual events where Earth had collapsed to supernatural victors.
The rainbow of possibilities overwhelmed him, but at the core of this cosmic tempest was one truth: he was the key to something more than himself. While Dr. Reeves labored feverishly to free Philip from his own energy field incarceration, the multiverse was flying through his head. Having years of study on extraterrestrial technology, he was prepared for this time.
He gently slid the little gadget in his sleeve-a prototype he had been working on behind closed doors. Her shape shimmered with otherworldly vitality as the alien disguised as Cambel moved among the seized squad. “Your species continues to surprise us, Philip,” she said, not seeing the faint motions behind her.
“This kind of fortitude against inevitable loss. Nearly admirable. Suddenly the chamber echoed with a great break. The energy field containing Dr. Reeves had cracked. His fingers fluttered over the unusual symbols as he lunged at the alien console in the disorientation that followed. Reeves, what’s going on? Amanda yelled still caught in her own energy field.
Because he was so concentrated on the current work, the scientist said nothing. The outsider Cambel whirled around with angry eyes. “Hidden him!” She gave the order, and several alien guards came out from discreet alcoves. As turmoil erupted in the room, Philip felt a shock in his cosmic trip.
A physical event caused him to come back to awareness. He fought to wake, against the casing. Doctor. His hands blurred as he furiously labored over the alien controls. Over the turbulence, he yelled, “I nearly have it!” “The data is downloading right now!” The closing in of the extraterrestrial guards focused on the scientist. The false Cambel’s structure flashed violently, her human disguise bombing as her wrath grew.
You stupid! You know nothing about the thing that powers no joke! Dr. was preparing the guards to blast. Reeves gazed up at his colleagues with a melancholy smile. He answered, “I’m sorry,” gently. “Say that my family loves me.” He dropped his hand down on a brilliant emblem bearing those words.
The space erupted in an ear-splitting scream and a blinding burst of light. Dr. Reeves vanished along with the outsider control center he had been gradually erasing as the light turned off.
The energy fields holding the rest of the gang glittered and passed on. Philip collapsed and started to wheeze on the ground. He watched Amanda clutching a small gadget-the one Dr. Reeves had been using minutes before. “He… he moved the information,” Amanda said, her voice muted with emotion.
Nevertheless, at what cost? The alien Cambel let out inhumane yells of wrath. Her shape now totally exposed, she towered over them as a writhing mass of tentacles and brilliant eyes. “Do you suppose this influences anything?” She exclaimed. “Your poor resistance pales in comparison to our might!” The office shook as though in line with her statements.
Alarms went off and the biological walls throbbed with furious red light. “This place is going to collapse!” Phillip shrieked. “We have to leave immediately!” As the squad fled, debris dropped from the walls and tentacles that sprang out kept them secure.
The alien guards’ weaponry released energy bursts as they pursued that burnt the surrounding air. As they neared the front door, the building rocked violently. The entrance began to collapse, then moved to imprison them within.
Pushing his crew through the little gap, Philip guided them to safety. A ringlet curled over his lower thigh tugging him back as he set out to follow. He saw the outsider Cambel, whose architecture currently combines human and outsider components in great measure. Growling, “You’re not going anywhere, Philip,” she said “Your process closes here!” As Philip struggled against her hold, the cosmic energy he had touched in the multiverse surged within him.
He made a quick decision while the gateway started crumbling. Emphasizing strongly, “No,” his eyes sparkled with an ethereal radiance. “This is merely the beginning.” Philip unleashed a surge of energy that sent the outsider Cambel flying once more into the falling office with an explosion of force he lacked total understanding. He rolled to safety and dove through the gateway just as it gave way totally as the alien complex fell behind him.
Philip gulped for breath and looked up to see his crew staring at him absolutely in wonder. Amanda held to the data gadget on her chest as tears ran down her face. She started “Dr. Reeves,” but she couldn complete. Philip lay a soothing hand on her shoulder. “His sacrifice won’t be in vain,” he told her. “We have the data here. We can at last understand what we are facing right now.
A real voice cried out as the group refocused and started to head toward their base. “‘Philip!” They watched Amelia sprint toward them, her eyes wide with aid and something different-a recently acquired power that seemed to fit Philip’s own. As she came to him and securely encircled him, Philip felt a flash of identification. Amelia also revealed on his cosmic trip anything he had gone through. Whispering, “I felt you.” “Across the entire thing.” In what ways might this be? A low thunder sent their attention back to the remnants of the outsider office before Philip could respond.
The ground started to shake, and from the rubbish a massive form started to climb. “It can’t be,” Amanda said, her face pallid with anxiety. Still, this was. Rising from the debris, the alien Cambel became a giant behemoth that dominated the scene. She gazed at Philip and Amelia with a great deal of contempt and a little degree of dread. “You think you’d have won?” Her strong voice rocked the surrounding air. “You have no idea about what you have produced.
The real war has hardly started!” As the team stood stunned, Philip and Amelia automatically held hands. Energy fissures between them formed a shield of protection all around the group. Philip matched Amelia’s gaze and saw his own confidence reflected back in hers. Then we will face it together, he said, showing a strength he had never thought he possessed. “For Dr. Reeves, for Earth and all the truths under danger from this invasion.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.
The alien Cambel shook the ground with earth-shattering steps and surged toward them. The force of the multiverse enveloped Philip and Amelia as they stood steady. As the rest of the team got poised for contact, the couple lifted their free hands in tandem, eager to show off their just gained skills. Philip realized at that moment that everything – his past, his friendship with Amelia, the intrusion, and Dr. – was suspended among triumph and most certainly demolition. Reeves had arrived in this place thanks to his sacrifice.
Still, their reality’s fate stayed in a crucial position as limitless others passed by. Philip inhaled fully and ready for the struggle of his life as the outsider monster advanced upon them. He knew that nothing would ever be the same as the real fight for the multiverse was about to start.