Free The Many Worlds of Dean: Book 1 - Mars by Eric Hodgkinson

stories below. His new friend
appeared to take no notice of his discomfort. The platform slowed
and came to a calm stop at the bottom level.
    Heart beating rapidly, he continued to
follow the unflappable alien on shaky legs. They approached one of
the outer walls and entered through a doorway of what could only be
a restaurant. Quillitonoxic waved in greeting at another alien and
then walked over to stand next to a tall table. Dean looked around
and saw several tables with chairs of various configurations and
several more tables with no chairs at all. He walked over to stand
next to one of the latter with his guide.
    “From the scans we took,” Quillitonoxic
suddenly said, “it is obvious your species consumes animal flesh as
well as plant matter. My species only consumes plant matter. While
this establishment serves flesh for some of our off world visitors,
I find it disgusting and have no desire to observe its consumption.
I hope you will not force me to do so.”
    “Vegetables will be just fine,” Dean
replied.
    Quillitonoxic bowed his head slightly and
said, “Wonderful. Then I will take the liberty of ordering for us
both.”
    The same alien his companion had waved to
earlier approached the table and Quillitonoxic ordered two of
something his translator apparently couldn’t translate and that
Dean had no hope of ever being able to pronounce. Once the alien
waiter had departed, Dean asked, “What was that you ordered?”
    “I ordered us a dish consisting of a tuber
braised in a sweet berry sauce. It is my favorite meal that they
serve here. I was unsure what type of beverage you would find
pleasing, so I ordered you plain water”
    Dean smiled gratefully and said, “That
sounds just fine.” He paused for just a moment and then asked
cautiously, “May I ask you some questions now?”
    “I was hoping to conduct you on a tour
first, but I suppose you must be greatly curious. Proceed with your
questions.”
    “Well, I assume that metal arch in the
middle of this building is what brought me here. What is it?”
    “You refer to The Path. Surely you must be
familiar with it. You did, after all, access the one on your own
world.”
    “Ah…yeah, let’s just say it was an accident
when I went through the arch. No one even knew it existed until I
found it,” Dean explained.
    “I see; I can certainly understand your
confusion then. What I don’t understand is how you were able to
operate The Path without first accessing the information stored
within it.”
    “You’re referring to the four encrypted
files it was broadcasting?”
    “Of course,” Quillitonoxic said.
    “We were only able to decode the first file.
And, I have no idea how I was able to operate it.”
    The alien offered a remarkably human smile
with something like sadness in its eyes as it said, “That could
prove to be quite problematic for you.”
    “How so?”
    “Each device is assigned an address. One of
those files you could not decode possessed the address of your
device. Without that address, you will be unable to return
home.”
    “I can’t go home?”
    “I’m afraid that unless one of your species
can decode the files and then happens to be able to find you and
give you the address, you will never be able to go home. And, I’m
afraid the odds of your being found are astronomical. There are
over a quintillion instances of The Path throughout the
universe.”
    As Quillitonoxic finished delivering his
dire prediction, the waiter returned and set a plate in front of
each of them. Unfortunately, Dean’s appetite had just completely
abandoned him.

Chapter 20
     
    Once they had finished their meals - Dean
had only eaten a little of his even though it was really quite good
- Quillitonoxic had led him directly to the arch Dean had arrived
through. As he approached, Dean was able to see that the device
truly was identical to the one he had found on Mars. He took note
of the fact that there was an area of floor missing under the
device. The