The Phoenix Chase by Neil Kleid

Author:Neil Kleid [Kleid, Neil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Media Tie-In, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure
ISBN: 9781839082092
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2023-05-01T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

[Quentin | Taneleer Tivan’s Seventh Catalogue-World | Sirius Five | The Milky Way Galaxy]

“It’s here.”

Kid Omega wiped his brow. He grinned, searching wildly. “I… I can hear it. The Phoenix is in this museum.”

Havok nodded, voice earnest and urgent. “Great. Can you lead us to it?”

“Yeah, definitely. I just need–”

“You need to leave!”

The mutants turned to behold a squat angry purple woman with a flowing mane of electric-yellow hair. Two heads shorter than Kid Omega, she wore a glorious blouse of intricate, interlocking patterns. After a second, he realized that the patterns were the fabric equivalent of the reliefs depicted in the museum’s circular lobby. She clutched an oversized glowing tablet in her gold-gloved, chunky fingers. Tapping upon its surface, the woman sent streams of light and sound fluttering behind as she strode across the gallery in high, golden boots. A sky-blue cape hung about her sloping shoulders, fastened at the neck by a flat yellow disc.

Reaching the duo, she used her free hand to shoo them toward the doors, as if she were scattering a flock of pigeons. “Go,” the purple woman insisted. “You have no appointment or business in these halls, and I am far too busy fending off a gross incursion by a deadbeat freelancer to deal with the likes of tourists!”

Havok raised an eyebrow, and a smirk turned his lips. “You must be Haroona.”

“Haroona Sh’thian, Vice-Senior Adept and Forever Attendant to the Seventh Catalogue-World of our Glorious Curator, the all-knowing–”

Alex cut her off. “Yeah, we know. Look, we need a moment of your time.”

Haroona swiped a hand across her tablet, and the nearest enclosures – including that of the undersized Frost Giant – slid deeper into the room as others rushed to take their place. Eyes down, she manipulated the cases, barely making eye contact with the two intruders.

“My time is precious, Earther, as are the sacred artifacts under my care. At the moment, my focus is divided between the endless privilege of curating and maintaining the exhibits upon display and protecting them from assault by an odious, double-dealing, rapscallion savage. Now, if you will see yourselves out and perhaps return with an appointment–”

Haroona’s voice, melodious as it may have been, jarred Kid Omega’s ears. He kept listening for the Phoenix, trying to track its location in the vast, overwhelming vertical space. Squinting and sighing, the Kid psionically lifted Haroona’s tablet from her grasp, eliciting a short squawk of protest. She attempted to retrieve it, but it flew across the room and slapped into his palm. Swiftly, he searched for the Phoenix Egg, but the screen was presented in a language he couldn’t comprehend. Kid Omega reached out with his mind and built a psychic interface between himself and Haroona – as he’d done with the Starjammer and the buttons on his lapels – using her knowledge to translate the gallery application.

“There,” he announced, triumphantly pointing to Enclosure ZZ’FG-0<2K>07, located in a restricted archive at the pinnacle of the fortress’s left-hand tower. The museum vibrated. Thunder sounded in the distance.

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