“But you …” I stammered. “The fire . . .”
“Oh, that,” Aahz shrugged. “About the time I figured what they were doing, I used the D-Hopper to blink out to another dimension. The only trouble was I hadn’t gotten around to relabeling the controls yet, and I had a heck of a time finding my way back to Klah.”
Relief flooded over me like a cool wave. Aahz was alive! More important, he was here! The prospects for the battle suddenly looked much better.
“What should we do next, Aahz?” I asked eagerly.
“I don’t know why you’re asking me,” my mentor blinked innocently. “It looks like you’ve been doing a fine job so far all by yourself.”
Terrific! Now that I need advice, I get compliments.
“Look, Aahz,” I began sternly. “We’ve got a battle coming up that-“
“Boss!” Brockhurst interrupted. “Something’s going on out there!”
With a sinking heart, I turned and surveyed the situation again.
A new figure had appeared on the scene, an officer from the look of him. He was striding briskly along the front of the formation alternately shouting and waving his hands. Trailing along in his wake was a cluster of officers, mumbling together and shaking their hands.
“What in the world is that all about?” I murmured half to myself.
“Brace yourself, kid,” Aahz advised. “If I’m hearing correctly, it’s bad news.”
“C’mon, Aahz,” I sighed. “How could things get worse than they already are?”
“Easy,” Aahz retorted. “That is the supreme commander of the Empire’s army. He’s here to find out what’s holding up his left flank’s advance.”