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

In just under an hour, the six individuals slowed down their transit, and transformed back to human form, each enclosed in a colored aura to provide oxygen and warmth and to protect them from the inhospitable environment of the gaseous giant. They gazed down at the red giant in awe.

Jocelyn broadcast to the team. *We can't speak to each other. There's no air to carry our words between us. We'll have to use telepathy.*

*This is... oh wow!* Tamara reacted, *We're so far away from Earth that we can't even see it!*

*We are the first humans to ever see Jupiter close up,* Matthew noted reverently.

*Yeah,* Keith responded, *Too bad our mission isn't sight-seeing. We still haven't found the Great Red Spot.*

*Let's circle the planet,* Jocelyn recommended, *We can't miss it.*

The group moved together, circling around the massive orb until a rather large brown and white elliptical storm came into view.

*Jeez,* Craig gawked, *I had no idea it was so... big!*

*When you think about it, a Hyperspace Portal has to be huge, or else large interstellar ships can't pass through,* Jocelyn commented.

*Huge is an understatement,* Matt added, *This thing can hold an entire planet

!*

Rachel began descending toward the storm slowly. *Let's take a closer look.*

The six sailed down into the violent storm, gathered tightly together in a rainbow cluster. Once they passed about two miles of harsh winds, the storm died down fractionally, and from above the Spectrum Force could see a silver metallic ring about four miles thick and about 5,000 miles in diameter. Rachel held out the control, and pressed the red button. Instantly, the area inside the metal ring converted from white-brown gases to a black surface.

Tamara began to giggle silently as a thought occurred to her. *Guys, this is so 'Stargate SG-1.'*

The team shared a brief snicker as Rachel pressed the white transmit button. Concentric white circles moved from the outside of the ring into the center of the black space, creating an almost dizzying effect.

*The Portal's ready,* she reported, *Keith, you go first. Then after five seconds, Jocelyn goes in, and then so on. I'll bring up the rear. Okay?*

The Spectrum Force nodded. The Red Enforcer glided closer to the black surface, and finally plummeted through the center of the portal.

Five seconds later, the Orange Enforcer followed. Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple followed suit, and then the black surface vanished, allowing the white and brown gases of Jupiter to once again pass through the empty center of the metal ring.

The tapping of heels against cold marble echoed in the spacious chamber.

The empress circled the obsidian podium, hands clasped thoughtfully behind her back. Ruby eyes stared into the opaque pyramid that sat boldly on the raised surface, a self-derisive smirk on her lips.

When she finally broke the silence, her voice dripped with mockery. "Oh great Diadem... gateway into a universe of primal energies... why isn't there anything in you?"

She stepped away from the object of analysis, arms folding. I always knew that stupid fairy tale had no base in reality. It still astounds me that both Gaius and Acheron are so willing to chase myths and legends to the end of the cosmos.

She huffed disdainfully. "Men."

If the legends had

been true, her hours of intense examination would have wielded something... some kind of sensation that the stone housed infinite elemental power for her to tap.

Snorting with annoyance, she marched away from the podium. "I'll make that peon suffer

for dragging me here..!" she growled.

Just as she approached the exit, a chime indicated someone wished to be granted entrance. "Enter!"

The door slowly slid open, and just outside the chamber stood an officer wearing the deep green tunic of the Sciences. "What?" she hissed.

The man swallowed, his every effort forcing his body to maintain his attentive stance as he prepared to relay the message.

"My Empress, our ship has detected the use of the Hyperspace Portal in this system," he related, "but we could not detect a ship. We believe the Star Riders have come."

The empress stared at the scientist for a few moments, her eyes narrowing. "No...I doubt the Riders could be spared from their current mission, even to save Lord Gaius. But Spectra..."

Her face collapsed into a bitter snarl. The messenger stepped back, making room between himself and his queen. "Spectra no doubt sent those six humans that somehow managed to destroy my Phlegnin."

Phaedra forgot about the messenger completely, her eyes closing as she withdrew into contemplation. "There must be something here," she reasoned, "Something worth keeping Gaius from the front of the war. Something worth sending backup... even at the risk of leaving Earth undefended." Her eyes slid open, piercing gaze falling upon the "Diadem" that, come to think of it, Lord Gaius didn't protect with quite the fire Phaedra knew him to possess. "Something... something still on the planet..."

Phaedra's face lit up into a cold grin of anticipation. Very sneaky, Gaius,

she admitted, A deception truly worthy of a Denebian Lord. But you forget that the Monarchy have mastered the art of foul play.

She then addressed the scientist who still lingered in the room, awaiting his instructions. "Can you still detect the humans?"

"Our energy sensors are attuned to the Star Riders unique wavelengths, but only when those energies are in use. These... 'humans' with the Star Riders' powers descended toward the planet, and then disappeared from our sensors. We conclude that they have stopped using their powers."

The empress huffed. "No wonder it took this squadron decades to find Gaius! You are ill equipped to handle much of anything, aren't you?"

The officer bit his tongue.

"Get out of here," Phaedra hissed, "Summon Mor'se. Tell him I will deal with this latest development."

"This is so funky

!" the Blue Enforcer declared, staring at the horizon, "This planet's got two suns!"

The Spectrum Force stood together in the dense foliage of the planetoid, covering the terrain on foot as they searched for any signs of sentient life. After several hours of diligent marching, all they had uncovered was the peculiar trek of the suns through the sky.

"This binary system is so incredible," Jocelyn breathed as she gazed into the cloudless, rich blue sky, "The suns are in such perfect synchrony that when one sets, the other rises. The darkest it gets is twilight!"

"That's good," Tamara decided, "Then we won't have to deal with prolonged darkness. So no worries about draining our stored power, or of Phaedra launching an all-out attack."

"We'd better not assume that," Matt noted grimly, "If Phaedra came here to find the Diadem, then she probably knew about the binary suns. She must have figured out a way to compensate for it."

Craig suddenly frowned. "Matt's right. If Phaedra was able to take down that Gaius guy, she must have developed some kind of attack strategy... a damn good one."

"We... definitely need... a plan," Keith panted, heavily sitting on a fallen tree trunk. He cradled his head between his hands, his shoulders heaving as he sucked in gulps of air.

"Oh, poor baby," Tammy cooed, only half-mocking. She sat beside him, her arm draped around his shoulder, "Still nauseous?"

Matt couldn't help a wry grin. "Keith Maloy, Fearless Speed Demon and Terror of the Turnpike, is the only one of us who got sick in that portal!"

Keith grimaced. "Dude, I don't wanna know how fast we were going! And that Hyperspace Portal thing bent space-time... ugh... just thinking about it makes my insides flip..."

The Green Enforcer began to snicker mercilessly. "Just be sure to take your mask off before you hurl, or things'll get sticky in there!"

Craig frowned curiously, his hand reaching to his neck. He gingerly slid his fingers along the molded armor, from the side of his face all the way down his opposite arm. "I don't think this armor has any seams. If Keith has to toss his lunch, he'll have to un-Sync."

Keith whimpered pathetically, resting his head on Tamara's offered shoulder.

Jocelyn giggled. "Un-Sync? Is that the official term?"

"Definitely not. Sounds too much like a boy-band."

That comment won the Purple Enforcer the surprised stares of her entire team.

"Whoa, did I hear Rachel Castaneda crack a joke

on a mission?" Keith muttered, "Guys, I think the heat finally got to her."

The team fell