Chapter 14

     And what seemed like much, much later, the bedraggled five dashed into the mansion doors, which closed behind them.
     “So you finally arrived,” the Professor’s brother remarked as he approached the entrance from the hallway. “Took you kids long enough.”
     Exhausted, they could only stare speechlessly in reply.
     “Yes, I know it’s about the translator,” he heaved a sigh. “Now that you’re all here, I don’t have time to give you a welcoming party, I’ll need to reset the gateways so those governmental meddlers don’t come barging through here with your hard work.” He groaned. “Then either way I’ll have to go out and convince them that nothing’s happened around here…oh, Lord, what I do for family.”
     Normally, Strufis would have paused to explain that Mr. Delanore was the type to complain profusely while doing everything he could possibly do to help out, even if he insisted doing things his own strange way, but the night’s tribulations had taken a toll on Strufis’s temperament and tolerance. He merely frowned. “Okay, so what do we do now?”
     “You guys should get out of the way,” he pointed towards a hallway where panels of light lit up the corridor, leading along a certain pathway. “That’ll get you to a place you can crash. You all look like you’ve been through the mill.”
     They glared at him.
     Before anyone could retort, he bustled away into another doorway and it closed behind him.
     Wordlessly they followed the pathway to the guest room.

     After some minutes in the room, tensions that they had repressed for their own safety were released, or in Heather’s case, unleashed.
     “I’m getting sick of this,” Heather snapped, her arms crossed. “I really don’t see any reason for us to stay here any longer. I don’t care what the Professor said; we can go back, and we ARE going back. Right now.”
     Drew, lying on the sofa in the corner, groaned, “Don’t have the energy to argue. I just want to sleep, wherever.”
     Anastasia was already snoozing on the floor.
     Phillip responded, “Look, all we need to worry about is if they’ll sense it if we use it. If we warp out of here, there’s no way they can follow us even if they know we’re gone.”
     Heather stormed towards Strufis, in her full sleep-deprived horror. “So are you going to cooperate, or not? Because I will force you if I have to.”
     He had been gazing downwards, contemplating. He scowled. “No need. I’ll do it myself.” He took out the translator and began calibrating.
     Heather stopped, disarmed by his abrupt compliance. “Er, well then…okay?”
     He glared at her. “I am just as tired of this as you are. And you know what? I’m pissed off at Enstrite for putting me, and all you guys through this, and never explaining what the heck was going on. I’ve had enough patience with him, but people have their limits. I can see you’ve reached yours, and I’ve reached mine.”
     He pushed the enter key and the room began to glow, waver and dissipate.