Original, Science Fiction: JACKED, Book One of The Origin Dime Chronicles, Ep. 13
There's a high speed, interdimensional chase scene in this episode! DON'T MISS IT!
Madison popped the dashboard control panel open and began scanning dimensions.
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Jack struggled to maintain his place on the road as his view changed with each new dime. Finally, she selected what looked like the dimension from the day before.
The rabbit plunged forward, first along the purple and white highway, then back onto the road he had driven with Phineas. Jack saw no sign of the Noshers in the rear view.
The jump was successful.
Jack pulled into the same alley they had used yesterday. He stopped the car and set the brake. Then, he just sat behind the wheel, breathing deeply. The image of the nosher guard in his mirror replayed itself in Jack's mind.
"Are you sure I didn't kill it?" He asked. "Because, that's not cool. I mean, he's a guy like me, right, just under the power of a Shadoe? He might have kids, or a wife."
"Right now, we have bigger things to worry about."
Madison brought up a map on the windshield. It showed a half dozen angry red Xes headed their way from various directions. "We need to make another jump, Jack. Somehow, they managed to track us."
Jack started the Rabbit and pulled from the alley. He saw no sign of the nosher tank, but a pickup truck was moving slowly down the block. The driver's face had a familiar, sickly pale color. Noshers.
Jack hesitated, maybe if they didn't attract attention.
Then, he saw it. A second nosher head popped up to the right of the cab. Over its' shoulder was something that looked like a rocket launcher, and it was aiming right at them.
He had less than a second to decide. Jack checked the oncoming traffic from both sides. The noshers were on the left, and a double-decker bus was bearing down from the right. He had barely enough time to punch, the gas, pop the clutch and jet across into the mouth of the alley on the other side.
They passed so close to the bus; they could clearly see the look of panic on the driver's face as the Rabbit narrowly escaped the bus's bumper.
The Rabbit shot down the alley, Jack pressing the gas toward the floor as far as he dared in the narrow roadway. Behind him, a giant hole appeared in the side of the bus, ringed in flame. For an instant, he glimpsed the nosher with the rocket launcher.
Then the rear of the bus blocked his view and stopped, closing off the alley.
Jack's shoulders slumped in relief. The relief was short-lived. A block ahead, the familiar turret of the nosher pirate tank was turning into their alley. They were going to meet it head on, unless they jumped.
Madison randomly selected a dimension and hit enter. "Hold on!" She yelled.
This time the view through the windshield flickered for a moment, then stabilized. Jack almost thought the jump had not worked but there, a hundred feet ahead, was a brick wall that had not been before. He slammed on the brakes and skidded to a halt, inches from it.
Jack put the Rabbit in reverse, and looked over his shoulder. He piloted the car back to the nearest turn and took it. He rolled out onto a street and found a parking place. He needed to catch his breath.
He turned off the key, and the Rabbit shuddered, then died.
"That was close." Jack said. He did not know how much more of this he could survive. A guy around his age sat across the street at a cafe table. A perky blonde girl walked up and sat across from him, smiling.
Jack envied them.
Would he ever have time for something as innocent as a date again? Now that he had found someone he'd like to know better, would it always be like this?
Madison pulled up the map again. "It's not over," she said.
Jack looked up to see that the Xes had multiplied and were closing in fast.
"Now what?" Jack fumed.
"We're not jumping far enough." Madison told him. "They're tracking us, because they're too close to where we land. We need to go farther, and faster."
The windshield map went to static, and Thing One's face appeared. "Hey Jack, heard you're having a little trouble. You have to get out of there fast," he said. The urgency in his voice was unsettling. Jack had yet to see Thing One rattled by anything.
"I know I warned you about the Toll Road, but I think it's the only
way. We got hung up helping in another dimension, and we can't get there fast enough. Our closest team is five minutes out. By then, it will be too late."
"Looks like it," Jack sighed. "All right, tell me what to do."
Thing One faded out and Thing Two took his place. "Okay, I activated the toll button. It should be blinking yellow. I also activated ALICE's weapons. Madison knows what to do. Use them sparingly. It does not help to blow up stuff unnecessarily in dimensions you are trying to save. Just get up to speed and hit that button. Good luck." It was the single most sentimental thing Thing Two had said yet.
"What about the toll?" Jack asked.
Thing Two winced. "Well, there's no getting around it. Since you do not have any volumes yet, you will probably have to run an errand. It shouldn't be too bad. The important part is getting you out of there." The windshield went blank.
"What the hell is a 'volume'?" Jack snapped. "Why can't anybody give complete answers?"
"It's a personal history. They get combined into the Inspirata for each dimension. You haven't written one yet," Madison said.
Jack checked the mirror, still clear, for the moment, “What about you, I thought you grew up Aedapt? You don’t have one?”
Jack looked at Madison; she shrugged. "Don't look at me. The one time we ever took the Toll Road was on vacation, and my Dad had it planned out." She said.
Whoosh, Thud!
Brick dust rained down on the Rabbit's roof, warning them that the enemy had found them. Jack pulled away from the curb and headed up the road, jamming the accelerator down as hard as he could.
A pair of cartoon-looking, purple Humvees was headed toward them and when Jack looked in the rear view, a nosher tank was pulling up fast behind. Madison pressed a button and two pint-sized missiles raised from the hood, like something from a video game.
She grabbed a small joystick and targeted one, then the other of the Humvees.
"Hit your horn," Madison ordered. Jack did as he was told. Instead of the angry honk he expected, the two rockets ignited and flew down the roadway, knocking the Humvees end over end.
As the Rabbit gained speed, a steady beeping started, getting faster until it was a constant tweet. The Toll Road button went from flashing yellow, to solid orange.
"Ready?" Madison asked.
"As I'll ever be," Jack answered.
She hit the button.
At first, it felt as if everything was going into slow motion.
The Humvees tumbled slowly, comically; a puff of smoke from the nosher tank behind them billowed out, and a warped Cannon Ball floated toward their rear window.
Then, with a crack, everything flashed into fast-forward.