Specter Rising (Brimstone Network Trilogy) by Thomas E. Sniegoski Page B

beast.
    “Your father?” Emily repeated, pulling back. She turned to Stitch, who continued to advance holding the piece of flooring that looked as though it must’ve weighed at least three hundred pounds. “He says this is his father.”
    “Your father?” Stitch repeated, letting the stone crash to the floor.
    Bogey cleared his throat loudly, making them all aware that he was still standing at the dimensional passage, holding it open with his own unique talents. “Hello! Mauthe Dhoog on the verge of a stroke here!”
    “Hey, guys,” the monster croaked at the approaching Stitch and Emily.
    “How is this possible?” Stitch asked.
    “I know that what Bram wanted me to do was right . . . really, I did,” Dez tried to explain. “And I honestly believed he had been laid to rest . . . but he didn’t seem to stay there very long.”
    “Hello?!” Bogey screeched again. “Me over here performing a very important task!”
    “Just a minute, Bogey,” Emily said. “Is he a ghost now?” she asked her friend.
    Dez shook his head. “I’m not really sure what he is . . .it’s almost like an electrical impulse or something . . . some kind of energy being.”
    The monster nodded. “Electric ghost,” it slurred. “Close enough.”
    “Fascinating,” Stitch commented.
    The sounds of barking dogs suddenly exploded in the chamber, and the new girl approached them from across the room.
    “Hey, if you guys are looking for that creepy demon guy, he’s over there in a few pieces. My dogs didn’t care much for his attitude.”
    They ignored her and continued to stare at the monster that now held the electrical essence of Desmond’s father.
    “I know I should have told you guys sooner,” Dez continued, “but I didn’t know what to say . . . I didn’t want Bram to think that I’d disobeyed orders. And I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t still like having him around.”
    “These are things to be discussed after we have concluded this mission,” Stitch said.
    An awful, searing flash of white light from the dimensional rip finally captured their attention.
    “Not sure how much longer I can do this,” Bogey groaned. The Mauthe Dhoog was now on his knees, stubbyarms extended toward the tear in the fabric of time and space that battled to repair itself.
    “Quickly now,” Stitch said, turning toward the dwindling rip. “Through this passage is our only hope of finding the reason for the attempt on our commander’s life, and possibly locating him.” The patchwork man placed his large hands on either side of the crackling energy rip and started to pull it apart.
    “Where the heck is that gonna take us?” Johanna asked, her dogs starting to whine nervously.
    “Once more unto the breach, dear friends,” Stitch cried as he climbed through the passage. “Once more; or close the wall up with our English dead.”
    And then he was gone.
    “What was that all about?” the new girl asked.
    “Think it was Shakespeare,” Dez said.
    “Sounded like Chuck Norris,” Bogey answered as he got to his feet. “If anybody else is thinking of following him, they might want to get on the bus pronto ’cause this baby isn’t gonna hold up much longer.”
    Emily went next, her fur crackling and standing on end as she forced her way through.
    “Something tells me that I’m gonna regret this,”the new girl said, and followed Emily with her barking invisible dogs close behind.
    Dez looked to the monster beside him, seeing his father behind the dark, reflective eyes. “Are you coming?” he asked.
    “Wouldn’t miss it,” the monster spoke, reaching out with his powerful arms, throwing Dez over his shoulder and jumping through the rift.
    B ram climbed down into the burrow, the musty smell of damp earth filling his senses as he maneuvered himself through the passage into the underground dwelling. It was little more than a hole in the ground, roots of various sizes and thickness sticking from the moist earthen walls.
    Just