​     She appeared, at first, like an almost microscopic dot at the center of the screen, but then the dot grew until it came to resemble what it was, an entity flying right at the visual scanner. It was entirely black, this entity. Within seconds, her visage filled the screen. She flew towards the compound fast. Within minutes, she'd be on them.  

     "She's shiny," Katy said. 

​     Gramps nodded. "She's the Coal Maiden. She was born of lava, created really, on a planet called Boran D. That's a planet that won't even begin to exist for another six billion years, by the way. Come here, though. I want to show you something." He pulled a weapon from the weapons rack that looked a bit like a rocket launcher and was almost as big as Katy herself. "Here. Take this." 

     Katy thought of a prop, it felt so light, but boy was it huge. She understood immediately that to utilize it she'd have to rest it on her shoulder. Once she did that, she found the scope that would allow her to focus in on a target. The finger of her right hand found the trigger.  

     "I imagine it packs quite a wallop," she said. 

​     "More than you can possibly imagine," Gramps replied. "It's a reality shredder. It's been in existence for centuries, and, in all that time, no one has ever fired it at its' highest capacity. They're afraid to. They're afraid that, if left unchecked, it could shred all of reality, could tear Infini herself to pieces."

     "Sounds like a good weapon to stay away from. And you're giving it to...to me?

Gramps, I've got to tell you, in my life I've never so much as..." 

     "We're going to try and destroy her anyway we can, we'll give our lives to that cause, but if...if we...she's the ultimate assassin, Katy. She was designed and bred for nothing but that. She's powerful beyond all measure. So far, once she's focused on a target, no one's been able to stop her from zeroing in and eradicating it. Once she gets assigned to killing somebody, they die, at least so far." 

     And now she's after me, Katy thought. She's on her way to take my life. Fear washed over Katy to leave her teeth chattering. She studied the Coal Maiden's face on the viewscreen. Shiny and black and jagged, like coal, with glowing red eyes. And a smile. This monster smiled as she whizzed across the American countryside to murder Katy Armstrong. 

​     Katy's finger, without her really even thinking about it, tightened on the trigger of the reality shredder.

​     "Hold on. Don't fire that thing now," Gramps said. "Come over here, please." He brought her over to a cube four feet high with a yellow "X" on top. 

     "Keep an eye on this," he said. "Those are going to be your only two jobs over the next hour. When this "X" turns into an arrow, I want you to aim this reality shredder where it points and pull the trigger. You got that?"

​     Katy nodded. Yes, she understood.

     "If Tindriss actually gets as far as this room, if you're in a position where you can actually look her in the eye, you're dead. Just aim and fire. That's your entire mission in a nutshell."

     "Got it." 

     "I knew I could count on you." Gramps pulled weapons off the wall for himself. He attached a lot of ammunition to his battle uniform. He planted weapons all over. Wherever he was in the room, he wanted a weapon. 

      "You're staying with me, then?" Katy asked. 

​     Gramps smiled over that one. "I'm not leaving your side until we're back with Adam. Count on that if nothing else."  

     "Thank you so much for..."

​     "Oh, you don't...I can't imagine being anywhere else at..."

​     "No. Please. You're putting your life on the line for me. I need you to know how much I appreciate that."

     Gramps blushed. What a fine young lady, he thought. I like her so much. 

CONTINUE