The van lifted off the ground to rise into the sky, taking into account the van's forward momentum. 

     Those inside the van felt almost no impact. They saw themselves rising, though. The view through the front windshield changed from the street before them to the tops of buildings, then the entire surrounding cityscape.

     "Are we supposed to be doing this?" Trevor asked.

     "No," Noel replied. "We're not doing this. Cluster," .

     Both Nacy and Estelle undid their seatbelts, then climbed into the back of the van to be with the others. That Estelle truly was a little person, too. She didn't have to stoop at all inside that van. 

     And she had a hunchback. Damn. 

     "Grab me," Noel told Adam, Trevor and Gramps. "My soul weapon is invulnerability. Not just me but anyone or anything that keeps in physical contact with me."

     That's all Trevor needed to hear. He grabbed Noel's shoulder. He stood right next to Nacy. Their bodies almost touched.

     Brock stayed in his carseat/wheelchair, away from Noel. 

     "Adam, I don't feel your touch," Noel said. 

     "That's because I'm not touching you," Adam said from where he squatted, by himself, invisible, in a corner of the van.

     "If this van crashes into..."

     "I'll be fine."

     "You'll be crushed is what..." 

     "I've survived much worse. Don't worry about me." 

     "We need to have you with us, Adam," Gramps said. "We've got to get you to Domitika, as fast as possible. That's what this whole mission is..." 

     "Believe me, I'll find a..."

     "But the odds would be better if..."

     "I'm going to Domitika, Gramps. Today. Count on that."

​     That seemed to end the subject. No one spoke for several seconds. Then, 

     "This kind of feels like we're going up in an elevator, huh?" Trevor asked to lighten things up a little.

     Nothing. No response. 

     "How long do you think it's going to keep going up?" Trevor asked. 

     Again, nothing. No response. It was a stupid question. How could anyone in that van possibly know the answer to that question? Trevor felt like an idiot for even asking it.  

     "A better question would be, what's causing it to rise?" Noel asked. 

     As if in response to his query, someone or something tore the side door of the van completely away from the rest of the vehicle. The door spun wildly as it hurtled towards Earth.

     The someone or something that did the damage now rose in midair, along with the van, towards the heavens. 

     She was beautiful. 

     And, this being a Dann O'Keefe novel, she was also completely nude.

     Her skin was as light and shiny as silver, and her long silver hair swirled around her body all the way to her toes. Her hair caressed her breasts, making her nipples hard. Trevor saw no pubic triangle. The woman saw Trevor staring at the cleft between her legs, and she smiled.

     She spoke. Trevor found it easy to hear her in spite of the fact that icy wind whooshed everywhere, sending everything in the van that was light and not nailed down flying, empty food wrappers and napkins and drinking cups, mainly. 

     "You want to get a good look?" she asked Trevor. She raised and spread her legs until her toes touched her ears. She used two fingers to separate her pussy lips. "See?" 

     "It's getting harder to breathe," Noel said. "Brock?"

     "Right." 

​     Brock hit a sensor, and the clamps that fastened his chair to the van clicked open. A hatch directly above Brock's head slid away to reveal the sky.

     An azure glow enveloped him and the chair he sat in. 

     "The second Brock leaves the van, we go out the door, all of us," Noel said. "Shawnacy's soul power is flight. She has the ability to ignore gravity, and, as with me and my soul weapon, that is true also for anyone or anything she touches. The plan now is for us all to stay clumped together. Are you absolutely sure you won't be joining us, Adam?"  

     "We'll find each other back on the ground," Adam replied. His voice came from very near the van's open door.

     "You're being an idiot," Gramps said.

     "I'm off," Brock said.

     The azure glow that surrounded Brock now became a form of energy, a form of power. Still sitting in the wheelchair designed specially for him, the azure force caused Brock to rise until he hung suspended in the air within the van. Then, ZOOM! off he went, through the hatch directly over his head and into open air. 

CONTINUE