Starfall

Chapter 29 - Lotocron 9

Pacifica had no framework in which to demarcate her expectations as Ford fired up the laser and it began to project into the crystal. She had been assured by both Dipper and Ford that this dimension was most likely safe. She huffed at that. Tell that to the bodies of the dead scientists Mabel told her were littered about the last portal they were drawn into. While she trusted Dipper's judgment, and presumably by extension Ford's, she knew Dipper had a bad habit of getting himself into situations that were far outside of his control. His intentions were good and often honorable, but that hardly assuaged her fears. After all, when push came to shove physically, Pacifica was on the shallow side of the dream pool. And while she more than sufficiently made up for it in how she presented herself it would make little difference if some freaky disgusting alien thing wanted to chew her up and spit out her bones. She really was putting her life in Dipper's hands...She must be losing her mind.

Ford shouted over the din, "Stanley! How does the field cohesion look?" Stanley shouted back, "All the numbers are high on the gauges if that's what you want to know." All of a sudden a flash of light pulsed from the center of the crystal so bright Pacifica was rendered momentarily blind to all but white light for a moment. Then as the light started to wink away back to its source. A sphere had formed like a giant twelve-foot spherical mirror. It looked like a silver marble with all of their faces staring back at them. Pacifica instinctively gripped Dipper's free hand with a vice-like tenacity.

Then Pacifica felt the draw. She was pulled into the sphere. Pacifica screamed, but her scream strangely was drawn out and elongated as she hit the surface of the mirror. The strangest feeling of being drawn upward happened before her feet were instantly slammed down upon the ground.

She fell to the ground but quickly scrambled to her feet in shock, her blue eyes wide as saucers, and her blonde hair stood about chaoticly in various directions as the light winked away. She took in her surroundings. Strangely enough, she was in what appeared to be a house. It may as well have been a house on Earth for all she knew. It looked almost familiar in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on.

The stairway hugged the wall with the banister following it up to the second floor landing. She could see doors, most likely leading to rooms or living spaces. Behind her was a grand kitchen with an island counter and a sturdy old-fashioned range built into it. The counters appeared to be some strange polished stone, but the stone appeared almost translucent purple. She didn't know what to make of that. Pans cutlery and tools hung above the island counter from an overhead rack that mirrored the shape of the counter. Hand-crafted barstools stood next to the counter. A small table with two chairs sat nearby as well. Pacifica could see this all through the dim light entering from the porch. The morning light glared a brilliant gold off the porch making it hard to see anything beyond the glass doorway.

She could just make out the cupboards and sink and counter space in the dim light of the back wall. Where was this place Pacifica wondered. She looked at Dipper and Mabel, but they were taking in the foreign domicile with just as much awe and wonder as she was. Stanley Pines after a quick survey of the place just stood by his brother watching his reaction instead of looking around. Mabel spoke first. "Grunkle Ford...Where are we?" Ford looked up through the massive twenty-foot diameter skylight that almost resembled a clock face. "We are on the planet Draconis V within the dimension Lotocon 9."

It was only now that Pacifica realized Dipper was staring wide-eyed at the skylight with the early morning stars reflecting off his dark brown eyes. What had she missed?!? She looked back past the glass pane. There was a moon high in the sky but when she looked closer her hand slipped to her mouth in awe. The moon took up most of the pane, but you could see on the left side of the moon in the region shrouded mostly in darkness was a massive hole constituting roughly ten percent of the moon's mass. It was just gone...blown out like a shotgun to drywall. As she focused closer she could see many glinting sparkles floating in a ring around the moon. She pieced together deductively that they must be the orbiting remains of the debris from whatever had impacted the moon.