The airplane took off, heading for Quattro City.
After the plane reached its normal cruising altitude, the seat belt light was turned off, and people began to move around.
Zain didn't notice any of it. He sat in his seat, trying to focus, trying to ignore the immense fear that threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't help but wonder, What if something happens? What if the plane crashes? What will we do?
From where she sat next to him, Sasha noticed what was happening to him. "Zain, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I'm okay," Zain replied. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."
Sasha frowned. "You're not a very good liar, Zain," she said. "Anyone can see that there's something wrong with you. You haven't said anything since we got on the plane, and you've been staring straight ahead the whole time. Besides, your hand is shaking." She smiled and placed her hand over his. "I'm your friend, Zain. Please tell me what's the matter."
Zain turned to her. "I... I'm afraid," he answered. "Dad was flying a plane like this when he died."
Sasha blinked. "Oh, I understand. You're afraid of flying."
Zain nodded. "I can't help it," he said. "What if something happens to the plane, and it crashes?"
"Zain, that's not very likely," Sasha assured him. "It happens sometimes, but it's a rare thing. The chances of that happening are very small."
Zain nodded. "I know... But what if something DOES happen?" He glanced around wildly. "Or even, what if the plane is attacked by the aliens? What if Kaatz or Mister P show up and come after us again? We can't fight them on the plane and risk damaging it. There's so much that can happen, and we're so high up..." His breathing started to become faster.
Sasha held a finger to her lips. "Zain, your voice is getting louder. Please try to calm down."
"I can't," said Zain, fighting to lower his voice. "If the plane falls..."
He covered his face with his hand. "Some leader I am," he said, berating himself. "I can fight Madness creatures, but I'm terrified of flying."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," said Sasha. "Everyone gets afraid sometimes. It's nothing to be ashamed of." She placed her hand over her heart and looked away. "I'm afraid, too. I'm afraid that Giaguo, the dark one, will take me, like he did in my dreams. I'm terrified of that happening..."
Then she turned back and met Zain's gaze. "I'm not ashamed to tell you that," she said. "Do you think Karen's ashamed to let us know that she's afraid for Neil?"
Zain sighed. "You're right, Sasha. Fear is nothing to be ashamed about. If we didn't feel fear, we wouldn't be human, would we?"
She smiled. "I guess not."
Zain returned the smile. "...I'm still terrified, though." Their conversation had made him forget his fear for a while, but it was beginning to come back, even worse.
"Well, maybe we can do something about that," said Sasha. She pointed out the window, to the west. The sun was setting; soon it would be night. "Let's think about something other than flying. Look at those clouds out there... Aren't they pretty?"
Zain looked. "Yeah," he agreed. "Especially the way the light from the sunset is hitting them. They look as fluffy as a pillow."
"See?" said Sasha. "All we have to do is think about something else." She leaned back in her seat. "What's your brother like, Zain?"
Zain looked at her. She was right; now that he was focusing on something else, the fear was growing distant. "Selrey? Well, he's certainly nothing like YOUR brother..."
They both laughed.

"Look at that!" cried Karen.
Guy looked. The plane was approaching a vast web of bright lights spread out on the ground below. "We are nearing Quattro City," he said.
Karen stared at the bright lights. "I've never been in a huge city before," she said. "But then, I've never flown in an airplane before, either."
"There IS a first time for everything," remarked Guy, grinning.
She looked back at him. "A big city like this is bound to have all kinds of stores," she said. "There must be so many possibilities there!"
From where he was sitting in front of them, Kato turned around, folding his arms. "These large Western cities are too crowded," he stated. "They are crowded, polluted, and noisy. It will be impossible for me to meditate."
The plane began to lower its altitude. "We will be landing soon," said Guy.
He stared down at the city below them. "In Quattro City, I will be able to complete some of my weapons," he said. "I will be able to arm myself with more than just my Equalizer."
Karen smiled. "That's great, Guy! I'm planning on practicing my PSI, and making it stronger. The next time we run into Mister P, we're going to have a few surprises for him."
Guy nodded. "Precisely."

Soon enough, the airplane landed at Nordfour International Airport, and the group disembarked. After exiting the airport, they took a bus to the inner city. It was now nearing 11:00 PM.
Despite the late hour, Quattro City was still filled with bright lights and lots of noise. Tall buildings surrounded them on all sides. Everyone except Kato looked around in awe, as none of them were used to being in a large city. Kato shook his head in disgust, feeling homesick for the quiet mountains of Dalaam.
"Well, it's getting late," said Zain. "We should stay in a hotel for tonight, and then we can call Sasha's dad again tomorrow."
"That sounds like a good idea," agreed Karen, yawning. "I'm dead tired."
"I am tired as well," said Guy. "After all, we have had a long day." It was true; they had fought against Kaatz AND visited the Tranquil Zone that same day. "Also, I require a place to rebuild my weapons."
"It's settled then," said Zain with a nod. "We'll rest for tonight, and then tomorrow we'll decide what to do next."

They found a hotel, rented rooms for the night, and split up to sleep.
Zain opened the door to his room and entered it. The hotel room looked more antiquated than he had expected; the chair, table, and bed were all of an old-fashioned design.
He felt dead tired, as Karen had put it. They had indeed had a long day, longer than most of the days he had seen while on this quest. From now on, he decided, we'll try not to do so much in only one day. We can't keep up a pace like this.
Zain reached up and untied his goggles, and set them on the table. The twin broken lenses stared back at him, seeming almost sad. Zain sighed and lay down on the bed.
He remembered what Jeff had said on that night last week: "This meteor marks you as the leader of the Chosen Eight." Zain was starting to wonder if he could really measure up to this destiny. He had lost to Kaatz, and he had been no help at all at the Tranquil Zone. Even with his "empathic PSI," as Kaatz had called it, he had been useless in that battle, incapacitated in a single blow.
"What am I going to do...?" he asked himself.

In her room, Karen was having the same problem. Where Zain had fallen to Kaatz after a more close battle, Karen had been beaten by Kaatz with ease. What frustrated her the most was that the entire time, Kaatz had been toying with her, making her believe that she had had a fighting chance. Am I really that... weak? she wondered. I've been practicing with my PSI all my life, and it all amounts to nothing...
Then there was Mister P. Karen hadn't even had a chance to fight against him; she had easily succumbed to his paralysis beam. And then he had taken Neil away from her.
Even though she had helped defeat the Mighty Bear Seventy at the Tranquil Zone, she had not been able to do it by herself. It had taken the combined strength of her, Guy, and Kato to do it. By herself, Karen felt next to useless.
Karen looked at herself in the mirror. She was starting to wonder if she could even make a difference in this struggle against the aliens. Even if she managed to find Neil, which was seeming more and more unlikely every day, would she even be able to free him? Or would she ultimately join Neil as a prisoner of the aliens? Or even, would Mister P end up killing her, as he clearly wanted to do?
She wished she had Zain's ability. His psychic power stemmed from the force of his emotions; if only Karen had that power, then she wouldn't have to worry about Mister P OR Kaatz anymore. If she had that power, then as angry as she was at Mister P, she could probably vaporize him. But she did not have that power, so there was only one thing to do: try to improve her own abilities.
She thought about her telepathy, which she hadn't been able to use ever since they had learned that the enemy was tracing it. Will I ever be able to use that power again? she wondered. Now that she had discovered her abilities as a telepath, to not use that power was starting to make it seem as if something was missing from her consciousness.
And then there was the perennial question: who were her parents? To this, she had no more of an answer than she did before.
Karen sighed. "What am I going to do...?" she asked herself.

Zain woke up the next day, and looked at the clock. Unlike almost all clocks in the year 202X, which were digital, this one was an old-fashioned face clock. It read half past eleven.
"Shoot, I overslept," he mumbled. Getting out of bed, he stretched and rubbed his eyes. I hope they haven't been waiting for me long, he thought.
He reached down to take his goggles, noting that the lenses were repaired and good as new. He started to tie them around his head again--
"Wait a minute..." He took them off and looked at them again. It was true. The lenses were no longer broken; they weren't even scratched.
Zain rubbed his eyes again, certain that he was seeing things, and took another look. The lenses still stared back at him, whole and unbroken.
"This doesn't make any sense..." He spent the next few minutes scrutinizing them. They WERE his goggles, the same pair; his father's initials, LM, were still scribbled on the inside in permanent marker.
Finally, Zain decided to worry about what had happened later; the others had to be waiting on him. He tied the goggles around his head as usual and exited the room.

When he went down to the lobby, Zain found that he was not the last to arrive. "Karen has not come down yet," explained Guy. "It is possible that she may have slept in late."
Zain got out the Receiver Phone. "Well, while we wait for her, I'll call Sasha's dad again, like he asked."
He dialed the number, and was soon speaking with Samuel. After the usual greeting, and Samuel's questions about his daughter's safety, he explained what he knew. "This next place has been called a 'sanctuary' against evil," Samuel explained. "I've heard several different names for it, but the one I've heard the most is 'Lode Spire.'"
"Where is it?" asked Zain.
"That's the problem," Sasha's father answered. "I don't know for sure. It's somewhere in the western part of Quattro City, but I've never been able to find it; no one knows its exact location. The only thing I know for sure is that Lode Spire is somewhere in western Quattro City, and that the people I've questioned spoke about it just like the people in Troisemburg spoke about the Tranquil Zone."
"Okay then," said Zain. "We'll just have to go and look for it."
There was a pause on the other end. "Okay, Zain," said Samuel. "I've transferred some money into your bank account; you can get it with your ATM card. If you need anything at all, just give me a ring, and I'll help you in any way I can. And be careful; with all the random attacks and abductions that have been happening around the world, anything could happen."
Zain nodded. "We'll be careful, Mr. Maybee. Thanks for everything." He ended the call.
Just then, Karen came down. "Sorry I'm late," she said, sounding troubled. "I slept in too late."
"You do not have to apologize for that," replied Guy. "After all, you have not arrived much later than Zain."
Sasha looked at Zain. "What did Dad say?" she asked. Everyone turned and looked at Zain expectantly.
Zain faced them all. "The next Sanctuary is called Lode Spire," he explained. "It's somewhere in the western part of this city, but Sasha's dad didn't know anything other than that. If we want to find it, we're going to have to search."
"I suggest we split into separate groups," said Kato. "That way, we can cover more ground in less time, and we'll find it faster."
Everyone agreed that this was a good idea. "Well, there are five of us," said Karen. "Who's going with who?"
Kato folded his arms. "I will go by myself," he stated. "I mean no offense to any of you, but I will be able to work more quickly alone." His gaze focused on Zain. "That is, if you approve."
Zain nodded. "If that's what you want, then sure," he agreed. "You don't need my permission, you know."
"You are the leader," Kato explained. "I'll follow your orders."
Before Zain could say anything, Guy spoke up. "I suggest that the remaining four of us be split into two groups: you and Sasha, and Karen and myself."
Karen nodded her assent. "I agree with Guy, Zain," she said. "I think we'll be most effective that way. After all, before we all met each other, you and Sasha were a team, and me, Guy, and Neil were a team."
Zain nodded as well. "It's settled, then," he said. "We'll split up into three groups here. We should also head in different directions, so that we don't end up covering each other's area. Kato, you head northwest. Guy and Karen, you go due west. Sasha and I will search to the southwest." He paused, making sure that everyone understood. "At 9:00 PM tonight, we'll meet up back here, to discuss what we've found."
Karen smiled. "Okay. See you later."
They split up and left the hotel, beginning their search for the next Sanctuary.

Meanwhile...

Samuel Maybee put down the phone. "I hope they'll be okay," he said to himself.
He turned away from the phone and started walking, not having a clear destination in mind. He was so filled with concern that he didn't know what to do next.
It was preposterous. The idea that a small group of teenagers could stop a planetwide alien invasion? Even if one factored in these teenagers' unique abilities, the very notion of such a thing was beyond reason. And with his own daughter among them, Samuel couldn't help but be even more worried about their welfare. And yet...
Samuel still remembered that time 30 years ago. Back then, in the year 199X, a team of four gifted children, three of them even younger than Sasha was now, had done exactly that: they had stopped an alien invasion. Samuel still remembered that miracle; at that time, he himself had not been much older than those four heroes.
Maybe it IS possible, Samuel dared to hope. If four kids could thwart an alien invasion by themselves... What would EIGHT be able to do?
He might not know if he believed in the possibility of their victory or not, but he had to believe in his daughter. He had to believe in Zain, the young man whom Sasha had dreamed of. He had to believe in the possibility that miracles COULD happen. And because he had to believe in them, he had to do everything in his power to aid them.

Samuel was startled from his reverie by a worker who had approached him. "Mr. Maybee, you have a call from Twoson," he said.
Samuel frowned. "Twoson?"
The worker nodded. "It's Mr. Orangere," he said. "He wants to speak with you."
Samuel's blood ran cold. If Orangeman Orangere had discovered that his son was missing...
"I'm on my way," he said.

To be continued...