Ryan and the companions waited until the tribe was fully positioned within the chamber before they entered their own mat-trans. Once inside, they prepared themselves for the jump, knowing that a swift recovery on the other end would be a necessity.
As Ryan made to close the door to the chamber, Jak stayed him. “Let me,” he said simply.
The one-eyed man assented and took his position on the floor of the unit.
Jak looked out from the door of the mat-trans, across to where the larger unit stood. Gloria was standing by the door, waiting.
“Ready?” Jak asked. Gloria replied with a brief nod, her piercing blue gaze steady on the albino’s. It crossed his mind that the premonitory dream he had on the last jump hadn’t come true. They were all alive and were traveling on together. “See on other side,” he said simply to the queen.
“You bet, sweetie,” Gloria replied with a grin as Jak closed the door of the mat-trans and assumed his position on the floor, having seen her disappear into the interior of the larger chamber.
The disks on the floor began to glow, and the tendrils of mist that both preceded and came in the aftermath of a jump began to rise and swirl around them.
What neither party could see was the sudden change in the figures on the comp banks. The lights flickered, and the digital numbers on the LCD displays for both chambers began to change, coming to rest on different combinations that would send the parties in different directions.
The fail safe procedure Jorgensen had initiated earlier had been triggered. The Gate would be separated from Ryan’s people, and neither party would land at the new base for the Illuminated Ones.
Jorgensen might have lost the battle, but he had given his people some peace.
At what cost to his pursuers?