The boat slid through the calm water of the harbor as Tan stood on the bow, and Luca at the stern. Jack slowed the yacht as it came alongside the dock, then used the bow and stern thrusters to edge the boat sideways until it nudged against the weathered wood of the dock. Tan and Luca jumped to the dock, each with a coil of rope to tie the yacht off to dock cleats. Luca was done first, having practiced this with his father when they used to go sailing. Tan took longer, but under Jack’s instruction had practiced doing this while still out to sea. Luca ran down to Tan’s position and checked his knot. “You did it,” said Luca. Tan stood and stretched. “It feels good to be on land again.” The sky was clear and the sun warmed Tan’s face. The hurricane had finally made landfall, and ten hours later there was no sign of the storm left in the skies. Tan glanced around the marina. But, there was plenty of signs of the damage the storm had done here on the mainland. Trees were fallen, power lines were down, and few masts stuck up out of the water where boats had sunk at their moorings. Luca jumped back onto the boat. “Come on, we have to get all our stuff, we’re never going to see this boat again.” “Fine with me,” said Tan. “I remember now why I got out of the Navy.” Luca wasn’t listening and had already gone up the steps to the helm. Tan took another glance around the marina. It looked abandoned. People were probably dealing with the damage at their homes first before worrying about their boats. Tan stepped back onto the boat and followed Luca up to the helm. Jack had already shut the engines down and was shoving his things into a backpack he’d found in one of the closets. Tan also had a backpack he’d found, but it was already packed, mostly with what food he could carry. They would hike up the coast to the next gate where Jack said he could just barely feel the presence of one. “Hey Jack,” shouted Luca. He’d gone below to get his stuff. “You want your guitar, right?” “Yeah, can you bring it up,” Jack shouted back. Tan caught a movement from the corner of his eye and looked out the windshield to the end of the dock. “Jack, we got a problem.” Jack looked up at Tan, then followed his gaze out the window. Two large Sherata tigers were at the end of the dock staring at the yacht. “Oh crap, we’ve already tied the boat off.” Tan nodded slowly. “I know, it’s too late to run. Somehow they must have been following us along the coast.” “It’s the A.I.’s,” said Jack. “The Sherata must have intercepted our calls back to my grandfather. I’ll bet that’s how they found us the first time.” “I’ll hold them off as long as I can,” said Tan. “You and Luca get the boat untied and head back out to sea.” Jack shook his head. “You got lucky the first time, now there’s two of them, they’ll rip you apart.” “I know, but you boys will get away,” said Tan. “There’s another way.” Jack turned to the stairs where Luca was packing. “Luca, get up here, quick.” Luca bounced up the stairs with his backpack in one hand, and the guitar in the other. “What’s up?” “There’s two Sherata outside,” replied Jack. Luca’s eyes widened. “What are we going to do?” “The only thing we can do,” said Jack, lifting a key from his pocket and holding it out to Luca. “There won’t be anything left of me but ashes after this. Take Tan to a safe world, then go home.” “Now hold on,” said Tan. “I don’t know wh…” Jack waved hand and Tan’s eyes went blank. “Hey, what did you do to him?” demanded Luca. Jack threw a curious glance at Luca. Luca seemed almost angry. “I threw him in my V.R. game module, it’ll take him a few minutes to figure out how to get out.” Luca looked at the key and shook his head. “I don’t want that key.” “It’s my fault all of this happened,” said Jack, tossing the key on the table. “Take care of Tan, he didn’t deserve for any of this to happen.” Jack turned away from Luca and went to the door. “Goodbye, Luca.” Luca shouted after Jack. “Wait, what are you going to do?” Jack stepped outside and closed the door behind him. He hurried to the bow of the yacht where the Sherata could see him. The two Sherata tigers roared as they leapt into a run towards the boat. Jack lifted his arms out to his sides as balls of pure energy formed in the palms of his hands. He only had one shot at this. He could try to throw the energy balls at the two Sherata, but they were just as fast as an Aeden and would likely dodge the attack, then he would have thrown away his only chance to save Luca and Tan. The Sherata reached the bow and together jumped into the air from the dock. Jack closed his eyes and in a flash of brilliant light, the yacht disappeared. The two Sherata landed in the water where the boat had been a moment before.