Free Rogue by Mark Frost

about to make their move. They’re going to use those monsters to launch a full-scale invasion at us any day now. And by that I don’t mean just
us
—I mean our
world.
According to the Hierarchy, these things plan to wipe human beings off the map and take over again, and if they’re right about that…our best and only chance to stop them starts and ends with Dave.”
    “What can Mr. Dave do that’s so super-special?” asked Nick.
    “He can bring the full weight of the Hierarchy down on their heads. He can call in the freakin’ cavalry.” Will immediately glanced over at Jericho. “Pardon the expression.”
    “Wouldn’t have been my first choice of words,” said Jericho.
    “Let’s call it
Wak’an Tanka,
then,” said Will.
    “Now you’re talking.”
    “Why can’t you warn the Hierarchy yourself?” asked Elise. “What do we need Dave for?”
    “I don’t know how to begin doing that,” said Will. “I don’t even know where they are. Dave never told me.”
    “Dude, just try going outside and yelling.”
    “Just for the sake of argument, Will, what happens if we
don’t
save your old pal Dave?” asked Ajay.
    “A seriously above average chance that we’ll face the end of all existence as we know it,” said Will.
    What Will
didn’t
tell them, what worried him more than anything, was that he hadn’t heard a whisper from Dave for months now, and no matter how hard he tried he hadn’t been able to reach him through the mental connection they’d developed. The only reason he believed that Dave could still be rescued was blind faith in the man’s ability to survive, but that didn’t push the idea that he might be leading them on a one-way mission to disaster far from Will’s mind.
    “Okay, so providing that we are somehow able to locate and extricate your dear dead friend Dave,” said Ajay, pacing with his hands behind his back, “from whatever sorts of dire circumstances may have befallen him in this dreadful other dimension, have you given any thought as to how we’re all going to get ourselves…back
out
?”
    “Yes,” said Will. “The Carver. It works both ways, in and out. I think.”
    “That’s a relief,” said Nick.
    “So just the five of us,” said Elise, standing up. “In some lethal, extra-dimensional location, looking for a dead guy, up against a legion of pissed-off demonic beings and their army of monsters.”
    “Sounds like a fair fight,” said Nick.
    “Well, if you have anyone else you’d like to bring along,” said Will, “I’m open to suggestions.”
    “We shouldn’t take anyone else going in,” said Jericho. “The smaller the squad the better. Element of surprise, fewer bodies to keep track off.”
    “There’s a lot we’ve got to do to get ready for this,” said Will. “It’s going to take weeks to prepare, in secret. We’ll have to be ready to drop anything and go at a moment’s notice, and we ever give them the slightest hint of what we’re up to we’re probably all dead.”
    That quieted everyone.
    “So who’s in?” asked Will.
    Nick and Elise raised their hands. Then Jericho raised his, which surprised Will. Jericho saw his look.
    “Adult supervision is required for any extended field trips,” said Jericho dryly. “School rules.”
    “You don’t have to do—”
    “Hold on, Will,” said Ajay; then he turned to Jericho. “This will most likely require you to use your powers and, perhaps, turn into a bear, yes?”
    Jericho looked annoyed. “If I had to guess.”
    Ajay raised his hand. “If he’s in, I’m in.”
    “One other thing. Even if we make it in, the Knights will probably be ready for us when we come back out,” said Will. “Dave told me there’s ‘no time’ in the Never-Was.”
    “So you think that means we’d come out, back into our world, a split second after we go in,” said Ajay.
    “Possibly.”
    “Okay, that’s way weird,” said Nick, holding his head.
    “Oh, really?” said Ajay. “But the rest of