This was quickly turning into the strangest dream ever.

　　Right about now, Elizabeth thought, would be a very nice time to wake up.

　　The little clockwork box glowed in soft and steady pulses, as if it was trying to pull her in using some strange hypnotic spell.

　　 "It`s an inter-dimensional rift maker", declared Barnaby, frizzling with pride. "I call it an Omnaria!"

　　"I see", said Elizabeth, even though she very clearly didn`t.

　　Fortunately the professor was in the mood to explain . . .

　　"The principle behind it is extremely simple really. Since we live in nine-dimensional space, it follows that if other universes exist in parallel to our own - which according to the Xorothian Paradox they must do - the dividing lines between them - you can think of these as walls if you like, even though they`re not much like walls at all, more like jelly as a matter of fact - should be located geo-simultaneously. And so this means that re-channelling the power from the Quistone to focus the approximation wave will slowly diminish the coalesence factor that binds the jelly together, thus producing a hole, quite literally, between any two given parts of the spatial field".

　　"Ooooo-kay", Elizabeth mumbled (which was easier than shouting: "Help, I`m stuck with a crazy old loon!")

　　"And it`s portable too", added Barnaby, picking up the box and giving it a bit of a shake. "Look - it`s even got a handle!"

　　Tiny droplets of understanding began to sprinkle Elizabeth`s mind. "So, what you`re saying is that this machine - "

　　"The Omnaria", corrected Barnaby, setting the box carefully back down on the floor.

　　"Sorry, this . . . Omnaria . . . made some sort of hole in the world where I live . . . and I came through it?"

　　"It`s called full-dimensional boundary jumping", said Barnaby, straightening up his glasses. "The main problem I`ve had has been getting the possibility cushion to fall in the right place, because if you miscalculate the co-ordinates then all manner of things can happen. That`s probably why the Omnaria brought you here. There must have been an anomaly".

　　"An anomaly?"

　　"Some kind of mistake. It`s very temperamental. In fact, the last time I tried to get it to work the only hole it made was in the bottom of my - "

　　It was at this precise moment that Elizabeth`s head exploded, filling the cave with a multi-coloured storm of confetti.

　　Or rather, that`s what she thought had just happened. In reality she simply went blank for several moments.

　　"I know you`re not real!" she blurted out, as soon as she came back.

　　"I`m sorry?"

　　"None of you. You`re all made up. Everything here is just a dream and the moment my alarm goes off you`re going to disappear".

　　Aelgren and Izzario looked at each other in complete and utter surprise.

　　"Erm . . . I know this is a lot to deal with", said Barnaby, very slowly. "But you`re not dreaming Elizabeth".

　　"Yes I am".

　　"No. You are not".

　　"I am and I can prove it!" Elizabeth hopped off the stool and wrestled Barnaby`s mug of tea from his hands. "Doctor Colohan`s a dream doctor and he says that when I`m having one of my nightmares I have to remember that I`m the one in charge and that I can make it do what I want. So if I say that this is really a dove . . . "

　　Elizabeth tossed the mug into the air, fully expecting it to grow a pair of wings and fly happily about the room.

　　Instead it clattered to the floor, splashing orange gloop all over the place. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

　　"Are you feeling all right lassie?" wondered Aelgren.

　　"Perfectly fine", insisted Elizabeth, as best she could manage with a hand clamped over her mouth.

　　She steeled herself for another go. "Okay, so how about this?"

　　Elizabeth started to blink. By which was meant that she started to blink as if blinking involved squeezing her eyes shut so tight that it felt they might pop, before opening them so wide that she looked like a startled lemur doing an impression of a fish.

　　"What are you doing?" Izzario asked.

　　Elizabeth blinked` again. "You can`t blink in your dreams", she explained. "So this is what I do to try and wake myself up. Doctor Colohan told me all about it".

　　"And does it work?"

　　Elizabeth stopped blinking. The room was exactly the same as it was twenty-one seconds before.

　　"Not really", she said.

　　Everybody was staring at her now as if she was perfectly mad.

　　Barnaby half-smiled, sympathetically. "You`re not dreaming Elizabeth".

　　Very reluctantly, Elizabeth said: "So all this is actually real?"

　　"Actually actual".

　　The starburst of a million suns went off in a flash of panic. "But I don`t have time to be stuck in another universe. I need to get home - I`ve got school in the morning!"

　　Elizabeth`s heart broke into a gallop. "Whatever you did - that machine - the Omniwhatsit".

　　"It`s called an Omnaria", said Barnaby, peevishly.

　　"I don`t care what it`s called. You have to get me back!"

　　"Ah, well, you see - "

　　"I have to go".

　　"But the thing is - "

　　"NOW!"

　　KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!

　　The blast hit the bunker so hard that the walls shook and the table jumped into the air.

　　"What in skull`s teeth was that?" yelled Luella.

　　Barnaby leapt across to one of the pipes on the wall, turning the tube into some kind of periscope. He squashed his face into the rubbery peephole, twisting his head from side to side.

　　And when he spoke again his voice was dry and fearful.

　　One word: "Blackcoats".

　　Izzario sprang to life, grabbing his staff. "They`ve found us? How many are there?"

　　"Enough to storm this place several times over. We`re under attack!" The rumble from another explosion sent a shower of rocks and stones clattering to the floor. "Emergency evacuation procedures: Get ready to run. Aelgren, bring my instruments - and don`t forget the Omnaria!"

　　"Got it", Aelgren shouted.

　　The bunker turned into a flurry of activity as all at once the group scattered in several directions and began to snatch up bits of equipment.

　　"What`s happening?" screamed Elizabeth.

　　Barnaby skittered back and forth, spinning dials and fumbling with levers. A few moments later a section of wall slid apart, opening the way to a dingy escape route.

　　"GO!" the professor ordered.

　　Luella was through it first, followed by Elizabeth, with Aelgren and Izzario coming up closely behind. Barnaby hurried them along, waving his arms like a high-speed windmill. At the request of another lever the wall grumbled back together as a crooked spine of glowing lamps appeared in the roof.

　　Elizabeth stayed as close to Luella as she could, but even with the lanterns it was hard to see where she was going. Aelgren, who was hauling more baggage than an overworked packhorse, puffed and grunted and complained from the back of the line.

　　The tunnel came to an end at the foot of a deep cylindrical well. Barnaby led everyone up the ladder and out to a frozen glade. The sides sloped towards them as if they were standing in a crater and at the centre was a tree so huge it could have held up the sky by itself.

　　But the thing that grabbed Elizabeth`s attention the most was the airship.

　　And not in a good way.

　　The tatty old bag at the top of the tree looked more like a patchwork quilt than a balloon, and the gondola beneath it was the most ramshackle thing that she had ever clapped eyes on.

　　"What`s that?" Elizabeth heard herself say, as the others went streaming towards it.

　　"She`s called the Odyssey", Barnaby yelled. "I built her myself. Do you like it?"

　　Elizabeth sensibly held her tongue.

　　She climbed the steps to a makeshift, rickety platform.

　　"Get in", hustled Barnaby, untying the ropes holding the camouflage sheet in place.

　　Elizabeth plunged into the capsule, where Aelgren was panting like a dog on a hot summer`s day. "It`s amazing . . . just how quickly . . . you can get out of shape", he puffed.

　　"Truly remarkable", muttered Izzario. "Anyone would have thought that all these years of eating pies and sitting on your backside would have turned you into a First Rank Lorathian".

　　"Ach, you`re only as fit as your stomach", Aelgren grumbled, forcing the seatbelt over his furs.

　　"In which case you`ll outlive us all".

　　ZING!

　　Elizabeth squealed as something struck the gondola . . . and squealed twice as loud when she saw the armed men come out of the forest. Their oversized pistols, black tunics and swords made them look like a river of beetles.

　　"I have a very strong feeling", said Izzario, gripping his chair, "that now would be a good time to leave . . . "

　　Further snaps and bursts of gunfire spat at them from below.

　　"Excellent idea", Barnaby agreed. He dived into the pilot`s seat and began fiddling with the controls. "Release the anchor line!"

　　A pair of propellers on each side of the pod clanked and thrummed to life.

　　Luella grabbed hold of a knotty cord, gave it a mighty yank . . . and with an immediate lurch the Odyssey shot wildly into the air, sending Elizabeth`s stomach into dizzying spins that trapeze artists could only dream of.

　　Before she knew it they were floating far above the fray, the blat blat blat-ing of shots now just the super-value crackle of her choccopops at breakfast.

　　Higher and higher and higher they rose, floating majestically above the frozen forest.

　　Elizabeth flopped in her seat, allowing a feeling of immense relief to wash throughout her body.

　　It lasted for one hundred and thirty-two seconds precisely.