The Spectrum Force Volume Three by Heather Ray (ready player one ebook txt) 📕

not worried about your performance. I am concerned for your well being.*

Craig couldn't help but grin. *I'll be fine,* he assured her, *I just need to get adjusted.*

"Craig?" Rachel called, turning back to her missing teammate, "Ready to go?"

He nodded, joining with the group. "What's the plan?"

"We're going to fly into the atmosphere, just to get a better look around," Jocelyn explained. "We'll be looking for a large body of water, hoping it's the Pacific. That's the quickest way back to California."

Craig frowned slightly. "How will we know the Pacific Ocean?"

"There are two oceans near here," Keith explained, "the Pacific and the Indian. Now, there're a lot more islands in the Pacific, since there's the Indonesian archipelago. We're gonna fly over the archipelago, and then keep moving towards the sun. It's early morning in California, so the sun will be over the United States. In fact, it'll probably be directly overhead the East Coast now. I think it's around noon there."

Craig nodded. "Sounds good to me."
Chapter Two

"Hey Craig?"

Craig startled, his gaze lifting from the perfect blue blanket of the Pacific Ocean to his side. He waved at Keith, who had fallen into place beside him.

"What's up?"

"Wanna come to the lot with me? I need to pick up my Baby when we get back."

Craig shook his head. "Sorry, Keith, but I've got practice at nine. Why don't you bring Tammy?"

Keith shrugged, casting his gaze forward to the Yellow Enforcer, who flew several yards ahead of them with the Orange, Green, and Purple Enforcers. "She's... busy."

Craig's eyebrow arched at the tone in which his best friend spoke. "Busy?" he repeated with interest.

"She has a practice session for her Renaissance Drama course," he elaborated, "She's reading lines with Chris."

Craig stared at his friend in surprise. "You're not... jealous...?"

Keith scoffed. "Of Chris Greyson? Get real! What's he got on me?"

Craig smiled to himself. He was quite familiar with Keith's unique brand of arrogance. He usually used it to mask insecurity.

"Listen, Keith... if Tammy had any feelings at all for Chris, she would've done something about it a long time ago," Craig pointed out. "Those two have been friends since way before you met her. So relax... he's got nothing on you."

Keith chuckled. "You always know just what to say. You'll make a great psychiatrist some day."

While Keith couldn't see Craig's masked face, he could sense the shadow that seemed to pass over Craig's soul at that moment.

Keith blinked in surprise at the intuition. "You... okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered, his voice laced with surprise, "Why?

Keith shrugged. "You seem a little... sluggish. If that's the right word."

"Just a little tired."

Keith's smile was perceptible through his mask. "Don't nod off in mid-flight. It can't be good for you."

Craig fell silent again, absently staring at the ocean beneath him. Keith frowned to himself.

"What's eating you?" he ventured, "You're just not... yourself today. Something's on your mind."

"For a change, eh?" Craig cracked. Keith didn't smile.

"No jokes, Craig. Just tell me what's going on."

Craig sighed inwardly. "I... don't want to talk about it. Not right now."

Chapter Three

"What's with you?" a voice said, startling Keith out of his reverie. He turned from the window of the bus, and glanced at Matthew, who had fixed him with a powerful stare.

"N...nothing," he answered. Matthew's eyebrow rose.

"If you were going off to La La Land, why'd you want me to come with you?"

Keith grinned. "Well, Craig has basketball practice, Tammy's working on a play, Rachel had class, and Jocelyn had to go the library."

Matthew smirked. "I get it... I'm your last resort, eh?"

Keith mirrored his expression. "You know it."

Matthew chuckled, leaning back in his seat. "What're you thinking about, anyway? You're not usually very pensive... that's more my department."

Keith bit his lip before turning to his young roommate. "I don't know. Craig's just not... right. Didn't you notice?"

"You mean because he couldn't keep up with you in practice? Maybe he's upset about that. After all, he's a lot more athletic than you."

Keith shook his head. "It's not that. I was talking to him on our way home, and I... felt something. I'm not sure what. I just felt a darkness in him."

Matt's eyes widened in horror. "You think he's under some sort of Denebian spell?" he whispered.

The Red Enforcer's eyes narrowed as he toyed with the idea. "Wow... that never even occurred to me. But, it's not like he's crazy, or evil or anything. There's a sense of... darkness. Like depression."

Matthew considered it for a moment. "Well, we do have limited telepathic abilities. Maybe that includes some degree of empathic power?"

"Empathic?"

Matthew grinned. "How'd you get into college, anyway?"

Keith jabbed his elbow into Matthew's rib. Matt grunted, smiling in amusement before he explained. "Empathic. Like... sensing one another's feelings instead of thoughts."

Keith nodded. "It's possible. We should probably ask Spectra about it tomorrow."

Matthew grimaced. "Jeez... these five a.m. training sessions are gonna kill me. I feel like a dead weight afterwards, and when we finally get home it's time to start the day."

Keith rose to his feet as the bus slowed to a halt. "Well, can you think of a better time of day to practice?"

"Yeah... during my Organic Chemistry lecture?"

Keith chuckled as the pair stepped off the bus and began walking along the sidewalk. "The bane of your existence, huh?"

Matthew scoffed. "I'd rather face one of those Phlegnin all by myself than next week's lab exam."

The pair laughed together as they quickly approached their destination. Keith's face lit up with excitement as he entered the small building, and stood at the desk.

"Can I help you, sir?" the attendant inquired.

Keith grinned as he handed over a data sheet. The attendant glanced at it quickly, and punched some keys on the computer.

"You're late," she noted, "You were supposed to come by on the 28th."

He shrugged. "Some things came up. But I'll pay the extra fee." And with that, he slid a platinum card across the desk.

Matthew smirked. "It's nice to be the son of a company president, huh?"

"It's got its ups and downs."

The attendant then handed Keith another sheet of paper. "Just fill this out, and I'll send for it."

Keith quickly filled out the form, and he and Matthew stepped out of the building, and onto the curb.

After a few minutes, Keith's smile lit up. "There's my Baby!"

Matt chuckled. "This is definitely

one of the 'ups'."

Both men watched as a steel gray 1997 BMW Z3 pulled along the curb. A driver stepped out of the small convertible, and held the driver's side door open. "Have a nice day, Mr. Maloy, and thank you for choosing Scletcher Auto-Storage."

Keith tipped the driver and slid into the leather interior. He immediately pressed a button, automatically lowering the material cover.

Matthew shook his head as he sat in the passenger's seat, and watched as Keith meticulously examined the car.

"How's my Baby?" he cooed, "Miss me?"

Matthew couldn't hold the laughter in any longer. "You're nuts, Keith!"

Keith smiled insanely, shrugging his eyebrows. "Absolutely!"

And with that, the small convertible zipped onto the street.

Chapter Four

"She's not still

in the bathroom, is she?"

Rachel sighed deeply, pausing her routine to take a sip from her water bottle. "She's got to be done soon," she breathed, "I think she's got a study partner coming."

She then noticed the books cradled to her roommate's chest. "You don't have a research paper already, do you?" Rachel asked with a slight frown.

Jocelyn shook her head. "No, but I figured I'd get some vital research done for us."

"Us?"

Jocelyn laid her burden on the couch, selecting one book to show the leader of the Spectrum Force. Rachel shook her head as she took the book.

"A photo collection of the Earth from NASA?"

"Absolutely! Spectra was right... we really need to be able to navigate the planet. What if Phaedra decides to attack, say... Tokyo, Washington, London, Paris, Sydney, and the Hague all at once? We'd need to split up, and then zip to other locales at light speed to help each other out, right?"

Rachel swallowed another long sip of water. "Right."

"So, how do we do that without knowing where we're going? We need to be familiar with the topology of Earth. With a bit of study, we should be able to recognize different island clusters, shorelines, mountain ranges, cities, and forests... all from a great distance."

Rachel nodded her consent. "Good thinking, Jocie."

Jocelyn smiled, taking back the book and sitting on the couch. She watched as Rachel then stood in a fighting position, and began slowly repositioning her arms.

"What are you doing?"

"Just brushing up on some karate Keith had shown me," she responded, lunging forward to deliver a punch to the air.

"I thought you kick-boxed."

Rachel smirked as she launched a powerful front snap kick. "Why limit myself?" She then returned to a tiger stance. "Besides, I've got