But Joxx still had much to learn.
They were led down a ramp, and at this point, some of those shackled to them lost their footing. The chain snapped, and all but three people in their group were dragged down the gangplank, bloody and battered. A woman and her two daughters were the only people now connected to Hunter and Joxx. The two girls were just in their teens and were clinging to Joxx now, even as he was trying to stay on his own feet.
Somehow, their little group reached the bottom of the gangway. Here they found another phalanx of huge soldiers in unmarked uniforms. They were holding ray sticks, which were used like electric prods. Anyone not moving fast enough down the tarmac was jolted by the mere touch of these instruments, some to great injury, others even to death.
Hunter and Joxx and their group managed to move fast enough for the cruel guards. They were pushed along into a larger stream of people moving along the hot, dusty runway. Wails and cries mixed with the screaming wind of Xronis Trey. The woman holding onto Joxx was nearly in rags, feet cut and sore, mouth dry from no water or food. She was so hysterical she couldn't speak. The same for her teenage girls. They were holding on so tightly to Joxx, he was becoming very nervous. Another part of Hunter's plan.
Finally, they reached the huge processing station. Here each person was stopped, quickly unshackled, and told to strip off their clothes. Anyone who hesitated had their clothes ripped off them and then was beaten as well. Anyone with baggage had it confiscated on the spot. Everyone was then body-searched and handed the drab prison garment. Joxx's personality was not one to take such brutality easily, and he unwisely chose to resist the guards searching him. He was slammed to the floor and kicked all the way to the next stop in the processing station for his action.
When the guards finally departed to beat someone else, Hunter helped Joxx to his feet. It was here that the woman's wails grew ungodly. She was clutching so tightly to Joxx, her knuckles were bone white. The same for the two girls. There was so much crying and orders being shouted and general chaos, it was impossible to speak or hear. It became a little piece of Hell. And that's when something inside Joxx just snapped. In that instant, he changed. He put his arms around the three weeping females and pulled them close to him, protecting them from the madness.
"Don't worry," he told them softly. "I'll take care of you."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, two enormous guards in red uniforms appeared. Without a word, they began pulling the two girls from Joxx's grasp.
The girls began screaming again. More guards appeared. Other girls nearby were being carried away, terrified by whatever awaited them. These two with Hunter and Joxx were going to be next.
Joxx began fighting viciously now. Using the broken end of the shackles as a weapon, he hit guards across their faces, their stomachs, their groins with the heavy metal chain. The girls were wailing at full pitch as Joxx fought with more than a dozen guards. But in the end, it was no use. More guards arrived, and the two girls were literally picked up and carried away, never to be seen again. Their mother collapsed on the floor, a heap of wailing and tears.
Joxx went nuts. He whirled around with a fever in his eyes, selected the nearest guard, and descended on him like a madman. He was able to knock the soldier to the ground and began battering him with his chains without mercy. The guard fought back tenaciously as the deportees scattered, but Joxx did not let up. He was pounding the man's face with one hand and tearing at his clothes with the other. Hunter watched the beating without moving a muscle. Joxx managed to rip the man's helmet from his head and started beating his skull into the floor. Blood began splattering and then some pieces of scalp. A world of frustration was gushing out of Joxx now. Unfortunately for this guard, he was on the receiving end of the long overdue psychological purge.
Hunter counted down ten seconds and then saw a squad of soldiers making their way toward the disturbance. Another half dozen soldiers were heading at them from a different direction. A searchlight blinked on from somewhere; its strong beam quickly focused on Joxx. Inside the huge assembly building, holding tens of thousands of people and hundreds of guards, all attention was now riveted on Joxx as he continued beating the daylights out of the unconscious soldier.
The two squads of guards arrived at about the same time. Still Joxx did not let up. The soldiers turned their electric prods on him. He was poked and zapped and beaten with the sticks, but he did not stop his pummeling. Finally, the soldiers drew out their huge blasters.
One guard raised his weapon and put it right to the back of Joxx's head.
He began to pull the trigger….
Freeze!
Their location did not change. They were still in the same holding area and the guards were still just a microsecond away from blowing Joxx's head off.
But everything had stopped.
Everything became frozen.
This was how Hunter arranged the ending of the long mind ring trip.
Joxx was stunned for a few moments, but he quickly caught on. He punched the dying guard one more time, though it was like hitting steel. Then he stood up and brushed himself off. He was bleeding from head to toe.
"Weren't you going to help me at all?" he asked Hunter.
Hunter ignored the question. Instead, he pointed to their mind rings. "We're coming to the climax of this trip. This is the end — except for two more scenes."
Joxx let out a long sigh of relief. "I am loath to admit it," he said, trying to wipe some of the blood from his eyes, "but I've seen some incredible things — an amazing history of what went before. Yet even still, I ask again the first question of this nightmare you've brought me on: How can the people running the Empire now — and the Emperor himself — be to blame for these things, as you claim? You have to admit yourself, the events you've shown me — though thoroughly tragic — all happened thousands of years removed from us."
It was the question Hunter was waiting for. He reached inside his pocket and came out with two more mind rings. He handed one to Joxx.
"Put this on," he told him.
Joxx looked back at him in horror.
"You want me to put on a mind ring while I'm already in a mind ring? It's impossible! It's dangerous…. It's…"
Hunter didn't let him finish. He jammed the ring on Joxx's head.
"Believe me, it will be OK," he said. "I've become an expert in these things too."
Flash!
Joxx was still sweaty from his beating the man in the transfer station. And now suddenly, he was very cold.
He looked around for a few moments, totally confused.
"Here? Again?" he finally managed to say.
"I'm afraid so," Hunter told him.
They were back in Kelly's Hollow. It was the same morning as the ambush, but about an hour before the slaughter on Boxley Road. The sun had not yet come up, the skies were dreary and dull. Same scenario. Just told from a different perspective.
"But why? Why back to this point?" Joxx asked Hunter.
"Because there are two things here that probably wouldn't have made much sense if you had seen them before," Hunter explained. "It took me a half dozen trips to figure out exactly what I needed to see to make it come together, and still, it's a bit of a blur."
He turned Joxx around so he was facing toward the stream. Lying in the mud in the middle of the hollow was not the man-made pancake-with-wings that Emperor Jimmy had described to them. Instead, there was a much larger space vehicle, one with many blinking lights, weird hieroglyphics running all over it, and not just one but several multicolored auras surrounding it.
It was also shaped like a saucer.
Joxx nearly fell over again. "What the hell is that?"