An hour later, they were there.

     Naturia.

​     They passed over a city on the coast.

​     "People actually live here?" Trevor asked. 

     Estelle nodded. "A lot of people. Hundreds of thousands. Mother Naturia created cities out of her own being for anyone to live if they wanted to, rent free."

     "Not only isn't there any starvation left in the world, there's also a lot less homelessness." Noel said.

     "She's a saint, this Mother Naturia," Trevor said. "I'd love it if we could stop and get a look around. What's the name of it, that city?"  

     "New Seatrailia."

     "Of course."

     "The Azure use cloaked spy drones," Brock said. "Here."

     He waved a sensor on the arm of his wheelchair, and the screen switched to a scene of dozens of people milling around a street corner, people from all over the world, from dozens of different cultures. Trevor saw that, if nothing else, this was one integrated society.

     "Wow."

     The neighborhood looked well developed, with the perfect mix of homes and shops. Nothing looked built. Everything looked grown out of the ground. The streets were wide, and the vehicles that traversed them were hovercraft. Driverless. Whoever didn't want to walk in New Seatrailia could just walk to a curb. One of these hovering vehicles would stop, the passenger would climb in, and, apparently, the vehicle would then transport them to wherever they wanted or needed to go.

     "What is this, some kind of recruitment ad?" Trevor asked. "This place looks like Heaven on Earth."

     "This is a live feed," Noel said. "That's the way those people live."

     "And they're not cold? I mean, they ​are at the Arctic Circle, after all."

     "As long as they stay near the surface, no. The ground, Naturia, itself emits enough heat to keep them warm."

     "Free food? Free rent? Why isn't everyone living there?"

     "There's been a lot of immigration."

​     "I'll bet."

     "Klawmaker still with us?" Niki asked. 

     "He's been at our side the entire way," Niki replied. 

     "How much longer have we got before we get to the portal?" 

​     "Twenty minutes tops, although I..."

     The ground rose up to snatch at them...

     because, really, it wasn't ground at all.

     It was Mother Naturia. 

     Trees, grass, and vines as large as those found in South America rose up to grab at the Valid's vehicle.

     "Rise up! Rise up!" Brock called out.

​     "She's rising up with us!" Estelle yelled back, although there was really no reason to yell. They were all in the same van together, after all.

     But, you know, they were excited.

     "She's going to get us one way or another," Noel said.

     They bounced off a huge Naturian vine to get them spinning and breaking their forward momentum.

     A dozen gargantuan vines rose to surround them. The Valid's van came to a complete halt. 

     Klawmaker's voice came over the communicator, "Here are your options. You have two. We can have Mother Naturia take your van apart..."

     "We have a pretty tough van," Noel replied.

     "Or you can follow where I lead. What's your choice?"

     "You're taking us to the portal?" Estelle asked. 

     Noel touched her shoulder. "Shh. Please." To Klawmaker, he said, "You seem to have the upper hand."

     That got no response from Klawmaker.

     "Lead on," Noel said. "Where you lead, we'll follow."  

                                               CONTINUE