Chapter 18

     “You guys!” Drew, entering the classroom, rushed towards the other three at the lab and whispered hurriedly, “We’ve got company. You’re not going to believe this, but I swear, the guys in black are in the field.”
     “What?!”
     People looked at them from the startled outburst, so they lowered their voices, pretending to be absorbed in their work.
     “How can they have followed us across dimensions?” Phillip asked quietly. “Isn’t this dimensional device the first of its kind?”
     “…The Professor guy really insisted that we didn’t use the translator, so…” Anastasia wondered aloud, “…could he have known this would happen?”
     “But then, he would have told us about it, or at least mentioned it, right…?” Drew looked around. “Strufis? Oh, there you are…”
     Strufis was digging through Phillip’s backpack for a moment before taking out the dimensional translator (he almost mixed it up with the calculator).
     “..What are you doing, Strufis?” Heather asked, frowning.
     “I’m going to go deal with it,” he replied, looking pensively at the device in his hand. “Maybe I can lead them away if I say I have it – I can change into my lab uniform, I brought it, so they’ll recognize – but wait, then they still might come after you—”
     “Wait a second.” Heather glared at him in disbelief. “Are you out of your mind? Why are you even considering going at them by yourself?”
     “Wasn’t I just talking with you about how we’ve got to stick together?” Drew asked him with alarm.
     Anastasia crossed her arms. “Seriously…don’t be dumb.”
     He sighed deeply. “Look, it’s just that…I’ve gotten you guys in enough trouble. You’ve all done too much already. I’m not making you guys get involved in this.”
     “Who said you ever made us do anything?” Heather retorted, grinning wryly.
     “However we got into it doesn’t make a difference now. We’re in on this,” Philip indicated the translator, “until we can settle it for good. And that’s at least until we figure out why we’re stuck in the first place anyway.”
     Strufis sighed. “You guys…”
     The intercome suddenly crackled on. “Attention all staff and students – Code Red. Code Red.”
     There was a brief bemused murmur in the classroom reminiscing the total failure of the previous Code Red drill they had until “This is not a drill. Repeat, Code Red, this is not a drill. Please follow the appropriate procedures immediately.”
     Everyone in the classroom was dead silent for a moment. They looked at each other in bewilderment tinged with mounting anxiety.
     “All right, class, let’s get to it,” Mr. Brambleton commanded soberly, and with some disbelief the students began putting together the barricade.
     Heather headed over for a table in the corner and motioned the rest to join her.
     “Three guesses as to who’s causing this,” Drew remarked grimly as they picked up the table.
     “We’ve got to figure out what to do, and fast,” Heather grimaced. “We don’t know what they’ll do to the school to find us…”
     “I’ve seen Mr. Templehill talk with Professor Enstrite. He’s not crazy, and he knows me a little…I can try to talk to him.”
     “Even so, I wouldn’t put it past them to try to fudge negotiations on purpose to try to get it back,” Phillip warned. “They’ve already come this far chasing us…”
     “What in the world are you guys talking about at a time like this?” asked a girl heaving a chair nearby.
     “Oh, just how all this reminds us of this one scene in a movie,” Anastasia responded glibly. “We were quoting it. Tryin’ to keep the mood light and all…”
     Quickly, the five formulated a plan.