Eternal Horizon: The Chronicle of Vincent Saturn (Eternal Horizon: A Star Saga Book 1) by David Roman Page A

the Princess!” Exander said and leapt up. With that one swift jump, he was on top. The big man wrapped his huge arm around Gaia’s waist, jumped, and landed beside his brother.
    “Amazing,” Vincent whispered, staring in awe and trying to grasp the unimaginable.
    “What’s amazin ’ is we gotta climb,” Spaide muttered as he grabbed the first rung of the rusty ladder that led to the top of the foundation.
    Vincent didn’t respond. He stood there, mouth agape, deciding whether he should pinch himself or not. The trick Exander pulled at the tavern was nothing compared to the inhuman stunts he just witnessed. But what about Spaide and Gaia ? he pondered. They seem to be normal.
    “ Well? ” Exander called out, awaking Vincent. “Come on, caveman.”
    Vincent quickly climbed the ladder, eager for an answer. “How did you do that?” he asked the very second he reached the top. “How did you jump like that?”
    The brothers exchanged looks. “Once you earn our trust, human, we’ll tell you,” the big man said.
    “Right…” Vincent grunted.
    They crossed the base and entered a gate that opened into a stairwell scarcely lit by a purplish light. A grinding sound thundered through the building and was occasionally followed by a thudding noise. Before they began to ascend, Exander put his forefinger next to his lips. “And you,” he said pointing at Vincent, “no more trifling questions.”
    The stairs were continuous, each floor similar to the other: a door at every landing, victims of a century-old corrosion; cobwebs beneath the ceiling holding famished arachnids; and walls covered in graffiti and murals. One of the murals was a magnificent masterpiece portraying a robed Xenian man floating in the sky, arms spread as if he were about to embrace the viewer. His eyes were fixed in a determined frown, sparkling with electricity. One half of his body radiated a light blue aura, and the other was ablaze. The background was divided as well: a serene landscape beneath the light side and a devastated city under the other.
    “Nice…” Spaide said and reached into his pocket. “I have to take a picture of this.”
    “As is the message behind it,” Gaia added.
    After they reached the twentieth floor (give or take), Exander kicked one of the gates, opening their path into a room filled with machines that were the source of the awful noise. “Through here,” he said, entering.
    Gears, generators, and robotics were in every corner of that warehouse. The wires stretched, twisted, disappeared from view, ran alongside the walls, and entered the soaring ceiling and into the machines. Pipes—some of them dozens of feet in girth—protruded from the floor and the walls, releasing steam and vibrating from time to time. The companions made their way down a maintenance aisle between all of this apparatus.
    “What’s all this?” Vincent shouted to Spaide, gesturing towards the machinery.
    “The generator rooms, water mains and so on!” Spaide answered. “They power up the city above and the rest of this buildin’…” The machines silenced them as they slipped between two metal panels after Exander.
    Vrooom ! Vrooom ! Vrooom ! the machines churned, followed by, Ta doom! Ta doom! Ta doom!
    Vincent’s headache was coming back stronger than ever, like a monster awakening inside his skull.
    At last, they came to a stop.
    The opening in front of them was sealed with metal bars; a small control panel was to the left of it.
    After looking around and seeing no other way, Exander turned in place. “ Spaide? ”
    The Dirsalian got down on one knee, pulled out a small pocket knife, and began carefully digging in the panel. He was doing that task for perhaps a minute or two, but it seemed like an eternity to Vincent.
    Vrooom ! Vrooom ! Vrooom ”
    Vincent placed his hands on his temples in an attempt to numb the pain.
    Ta doom! Ta doom! Ta doom!
    And then it began again—the images, same noise, different place…
    He was