Saga by Connor Kostick Page B

this.”
    Nathan gave me a wave, not breaking his rhythm.
    “I think we need to talk.”
    “Yes. Certainly.”
    Nathan came with us, still gently rocking his head to the music as we made our way to the door. For some reason, the sense of threat had receded.
     
    A section of the hospital had been turned into a café for the night. It was the third-floor southeast corner that Athena had designated as our meeting point. We sat at a table near a window, which I pulled up until it was as open as it could possibly be. In an emergency, if I boarded through the space, a slide down the outside wall might slow me enough to manage the drop. Maybe. Carter and Milan had stayed to see more of the band; Athena was on my left, Nathan on my right, and all three of us were listening with amazement to what the pirate was saying.
    “A dragon?” Athena repeated. “You killed a dragon?”
    “Yes, Inry’aat, the red dragon. It took us nearly eight hours.”
    “That’s fantastic; well done.” Nathan patted her arm happily. “What else have you conquered?”
    “Well, with my friends, let’s see.” She leaned back in her chair, and I caught Athena’s eye. She rolled her eyes in mock alarm.
    “A medusa, that was tough. You know what a medusa is?”
    “It’s a legendary creature, half-woman, half-snake, whose gaze turned her enemies to stone and whose hair was poisonous snakes,” Athena replied dryly, like a computer encyclopedia.
    “Right. It was huge, about two stories high. We’d never fought one before and the worst turned out to be her blood. We’d drunk potions to protect against the petrification, so that was fine. But my friend, B.E., he cut off one of her hands and the stuff that came out was horrible, like steaming acid; it did a huge amount of damage.”
    “Thrilling. What else?” Nathan was hypnotized by her. He was leaning forward across the table, his head resting on his arms, with unwavering attention to what the pirate was saying.
    “ Tscha! Stop this stupid conversation right now.” Athena sounded cross. “Let’s get back to the police station. How did you make us invisible, really?”
    “I told you, with a potion of invisibility. I guess you don’t have them here. In fact, this is a fairly gloomy world, and I think that, for some reason, it’s making people ill. Today is the first time I’ve really enjoyed myself. Do they have these parties often?”
    It was easy to see that Athena was exasperated, but I found Cindella rather endearing, very otherworldly. And, after all, she had rescued us.
    “About once a month, perhaps every two months,” Nathan answered her.
    “Where are you from?” Athena persisted in her interrogation.
    “Ahh, well, there’s, like, two answers to that, depending on what you mean. See, this character, Cindella, she’s a leftover from a game called Epic. But me, I’m from New Earth. Actually, never mind . . . I’m sorry, just a moment; someone wants me. I’ll try to come back.”
    She sat motionless, her eyes glazed. Nathan began to smile dreamily at her, but I didn’t. What she was saying was nonsensical, and yet . . . I knew there was something strange about our world, something we didn’t quite grasp. Then she was gone, her chair empty.
    “Death and destruction!” gasped Athena.
    “Interesting.” Nathan’s voice was surprisingly placid; perhaps he felt as I did. As if we were on the verge of resolving questions we hadn’t even realized had been unsettling our minds all this time.
    “What’s going on?” Athena muttered to herself.
    “You know what I think?” Nathan sat up; his movements were languid, like those of a cat stretching.
    “I’m surprised you can think, you’re so infatuated with her,” Athena replied snappily.
    Nathan just smiled. “I think two worlds are somehow colliding, ours and theirs. That there is a conjunction of some sort, and people are slipping through from theirs to ours.”
    “But not the other way around?” I asked.
    “Oh come