by Eurostar
In the Jet, Exile is still at the controls when Disco Stave joins him as the ship's co-pilot, while Rhyme Guardian has temporarily left to check on the Trout.
"What's up?" asks Disco Stave.
Exile turns his head toward him, then smiles. "Well, there are some discrepancies between my data and what I have seen at the base... and also why I can't read your mind."
"That's my reality-warp power," explains Disco Stave. "I can give you the illusion that my mind is empty."
"Ah, but what about Albino Chameleon? I didn't tell the Rhymer, to keep from burdening him with more problems, but I know he's a villain."
"He was," said Disco Stave. "When one of our teammates died during a mission, he passed his power to Chameleon. The power now forces him to use it for good."
"Who died?"
"Why should I tell you?"
"Well... fair," says Exile. "But my source said that Doug Silver was your mentor, not one of the actual members. Assuming Brain Tech died and was replaced by Albino Chameleon, there's still one more unaccounted for."
"Nope."
Exile furrows his brow in thought. He turns to Disco and says, "You mean... Silver is one of you? The chief, secretly acting as one of the members?"
"I didn't say a thing." Disco Stave smiles. "I only want to make sure we are not the bad guys. General Forrest asked us to protect his mission, because the CIA said that there was a group of metavillains ready to attack the camp. The two youngsters have explained everything to me, and I know now that it was all a misunderstanding. I hope you now know the same."
"The CIA... and General Forrest," Exile muses. "Maybe it's not a misunderstanding after all..."
"What do you mean?" asks Disco Stave.
"Well, we'll see... for now, back to the mission."
Meanwhile, in the back of the Jet:
"Mark, this is your moment," says Rhyme Guardian.
"Okay, chief. Just like in the old All-Adventurers Squadron days," says the underwater hero, smiling as he dives into the exit opening of the submersible.
After a short swim in the warm water of the hidden lake, the sight of the massive starship leaves the Trout breathless. In the dark, dense water below him, the surface of the ship glows. The size is immense. Rounded like a planet, the size of an asteroid, with a towerlike section extending from the transparent dome at the top, the starship is far beyond what Mark Harris had imagined. Millions of lights dot the metallic surface, encrusted by a coral reef that survives here in the Antarctic only thanks to the high temperature emitted by the ship.
These... these corals are species extinct since the last Ice Age... this is the only place they have survived! thinks the Trout, swimming near the surface of the starship.
"Mark, do you hear me?" the voice of Exile says inside his mind.
"Loud and clear, Exile," the Trout responds using his mind. "I'm exploring the surface, but I can't find any door. There is a thick crust of corals, at least three feet deep everywhere, except where the lights are. We must open an hole to enter. Tell Spark to prepare his ice-tube from the ship to this spot, and tell Rhyme Guardian to come and use his orange energy.
Mere minutes later, a big tube created out of ice by Spark, goes from the Jet to the starship. Inside, near the ship's surface, all the heroes stand behind Rhyme Guardian, who says:
"It's now my turn,
I'm the star of the show.
My energy will burn,
A hole in the ship, like so!"
A big flash of orange energy Rhyme Guardian's hands hits the encrusted surface of the starship. The metallic shell opens like an egg. Rhyme Guardian, followed by Exile, Sente, Disco Stave and Spark, enters the ship, while the Trout goes back to the Jet, where Marvino and Vendia are waiting with their dog.
Inside the ship, Spark says about the Trout, "That guy's pretty useless, don't you think? To enter the ship, we had to open an hole."
Rhyme Guardian responds, "If he COULD have found an aperture, it would have been better. I hope this place is deserted, but while we could have entered unnoticed, opening a hole will have alarmed the central computer for sure. We have to expect the worst."