The Shadow Worlds (The SCI'ON Trilogy #1) by Nicola Rhodes

Author:Nicola Rhodes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, fantasy, sci fi, alternate universes, multiverse, nicola rhodes, sci fi fantasy, many worlds

Chapter Eighteen – The Red Planet

Whether it was fate or just extremely good luck, was then, and is likely to remain, an open question. Certainly, Bellême could have had nothing to do with it as Johnny and Jez were, for now, far beyond his control. But, could he have influenced events exactly as they happened, he almost certainly would have unless of course, he could have influenced them further still and prevented the landing altogether. One thing is clear enough, that had Jez arrived on the Red Planet, as they later named it, she would have died instantly (as did Johnny, although in his case, it was only temporary) and that, we may conjecture, since it was clearly part of his purpose to send Jez with Johnny, was the last thing Bellême would have wanted.

The fact was that Johnny had now finessed the program further and it now revealed the approaching world as a planet seen from space. It was an easy adjustment to make since the original program he had adapted had been a space flight simulation.

This was pure swagger on Johnny’s part, a completely superfluous addition to the program, since, for the most part, it told them nothing that they did not already know, although Jez approved it because it made the program seem more like a real journey and less like a weird science experiment. Johnny cared less about this; he had done it out of sheer boredom and a desire to show off.

Yet, as it turned out, perhaps fate had played a part in Johnny’s decision, since without this new feature, they would almost certainly have been reconstructed together on the red planet to Jez’s certain demise.

Because when Johnny saw the horrible red atmosphere that surrounded the approaching world, he decided there and then not to risk Jez as well as himself “landing” there.

Naturally, this sparked off an argument, but Johnny could be firm when he deemed it necessary and eventually Jez had to yield

But when Jez saw the sinister planet looming up on the monitor, she thought it might be more prudent to avoid it altogether. She stared at it in fascinated horror.

‘What is it?’ she gasped. ‘That’s never Earth! It looks more like Mars.’

‘It can’t be,’ said Johnny shortly.

‘Why not?’ argued Jez. ‘Maybe the people of this world have relocated.’

‘Very likely,’ said Johnny dryly, ‘because that’s definitely Earth. It can’t be anywhere else. The program doesn’t move us in space, only through dimensions, but physically, we always end up in the same place we left from and the last time we deconstructed we were definitely still on Earth.’

‘But what’s happened to it?’ said Jez. ‘Oh Johnny, I wish you wouldn’t go there, we don’t need supplies that badly and it looks dangerous. What if you can’t breathe?’

‘That’s why I’m going alone,’ said Johnny firmly.

‘Why do you have to go at all?’ Jez persisted.

‘Because – because I do all right,’ snapped Johnny. ‘I’ll come back and get you if it’s safe.’

‘And if it’s not safe?’ asked Jez with bitter sarcasm.

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