Voynich Shift - Season One (COMPLETED)

Leonis, 1:1, 2:13 - Roach Hotel - Kills Even The...

Baby lay beneath the bus seat cushion unable to move without severe pain wracking her body. It was light and then dark before the sensation began to subside. First it was the tip of her tail and then her toes, eventually she was standing, but not without much difficulty.

            The cat limped along the sidewalk, slinking along the brick walls for fear that the terrible noise maker would return and bring her hurt once more. Turning down a dark alley, the fear gave way to hunger and her eyes began to dart about looking for easy meals. She quickly discovered her food lay everywhere; dozens of twitching mice and rats lying about in various places throughout the alleyway.

            Placing her paw on the back of a slow-moving mouse crawling by, she lowered her head, opened her mouth, and picked up the squealing rodent. With a turn she exited the darkness and returned to the bus.

            Two more cycles of light and dark and it seemed things had returned to normal. The cat's prey was becoming difficult to catch, as before, but more and more scarce. Then on the third cycle of light, the agony began.

            Baby tensed as the pain swept over her, the cat's midsection throbbing and tightening until she could stand no more. It came in waves, building in intensity over and over...

            <<*>>

            "You are extremely lucky you are not from this world, Kate," said a man's breathy voice. "And I must say, meaning no offense, young lady, you aren't as light as you appear, or more likely, I am not as strong as I once was."

            Kate felt as if she were floating. "Wha...?" Her eyes slowly fluttered open to find a somewhat familiar scruffy, masculine face only inches away and he appeared to be carrying her. "Am I..."

            "Alive, yes, but time is ticking, Kate. You've been poisoned by the Negexis using a targeted bio-weapon made for this multiverse. It's slow to react to newly shifted beings, however, the longer you are here the more your immunity will break down."

            "Sarge?" Kate asked wearily.

            "Yes, it is I."

"I don't understand. You are from my world, why are you here?"

"To save you. This planet is dead, my dear, and it's not safe for you stay here any longer. We have to get you to your destination, because pretty soon, the only things left living on this world will be rats and roaches...and even they will be gone, eventually," he said, kicking open the door to an apartment.

            "Please, put me down! You are avoiding my questions!"

            "As you wish," said the old man wearing a tattered olive green field jacket. He set the woman down on a bed next to a large window overlooking the dark city. The slowly rising moon shone through the glass providing the only light giving evidence of the metropolis' existence. The man walked over to a dresser and pressed the button on an electric flat-paneled lamp, revealing a wide, reassuring smile.

"You have a Horologium? You shift?"

"Yes."

As the room illuminated ever brighter from the brilliant LED light, Kate squinted. "How did you find me?" she asked and then cleared her throat.

"With much difficulty Ihave to admit my dear child. You and your compatriots have been quite, um, elusive, I should say. It took me several shifts to catch up to you, and it seemed I was too late to save you all. Your traveling companion was unfortunately not immune to the effects of the Negexis' poison. Some are less resistant than others, sadly."