Warp Riders

The Portal whirred, opened its fans and the vortex swirled into existence. Out fell Deikan and Grym, onto another patch of alien ground. It was dry and dusty, and stretched on for miles and miles, with huge flat-topped mountains in the distance.
The Portal was in the middle of a vast desert with only one features; a long line of hot, black rock with white lines painted down the middle. The Portal was in the shade, under a large flat rock jutting out of the ground.
"Nice place, but a bit dry," commented Deikan. Grym shrugged and stretched out on the sand.
"I grew up in a place like this. More lava, though," he said. "Any idea when the Portal will open again?"
"Well, I'd hazard about a day, but no one can read the countdown on these things. The numbers are never the same twice. If they even *are* numbers."
Deikan looked over to Grym, who had his head on the burning sands. He walked out of the shade and crouched down next to him.
"There is a rumbling noise, approaching fast," Grym muttered. "Sounds unlike any animal I have ever heard."
"Well, it's not an animal then," sniffed Deikan, and peered off into the distance. Grym stood up and swivelled Deikan's head to face the other way.
"What else could it be, then? Hmmm?" Grym said.
"A machine," said Deikan.
"Mash-een..?"
"It's a, well, like a Portal."
"Hmmm, I didn't know you Norns could make such... mash-eens."
"Oh, nothing as complex as a Portal, of course," mumbled Deikan, squinting off into the distance. A cloud of dust seemed to be rising in the distance. "But simpler things, like coconut pickers, drink mixers..."
He trailed off as Grym stared at him. He coughed slightly, and Grym gave him an odd look.
"Coconut pickers? Drink mixers?" Grym asked.
"Hey, I grew up on a giant beach. What else would we need?"
"I assume that weapon of yours doesn't do any of that, though, unless you have very vicious coconuts."
"It's not from my world. Came from a Warp Wars veteran."
"Warp Wars?"
Deikan sighed and scuffed the dust with a foot. "According to Czek, they were fought between two worlds, called Azon and TechWorld. One of the founding worlds, TechWorld, according to Czek. Anyway, the TechWorld soldiers had these devices that allowed them to choose their destination, called, um... com-somethings. I can't remember. Apparently they could be plugged into the Portal and then it would work properly."
Grym was quiet again, his head flat on the dusty ground again.
"It's getting closer," he said. Deikan nodded and gazed off into the distance. The dust cloud was much bigger now, and seemed to be moving towards them.
"I can hear it from here," he said, "and I think I can see it too."
He stepped over to the edge of the black rock and held out his hand in the BeachWorld symbol of peace and friendship; a fist with thumb extended upwards. The dust cloud approached ever faster and then screeched to a slow halt. Deikan could see it was a travelling machine of some kind, with four wheels at each corner. It had an open top, but the front had a shield of glass over it.
Sitting in one of its seats, behind yet another wheel shape, was a Norn. He had bright yellow fur, and blue hair with bright red stripes. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, a loose shirt and combat jeans. We waved amiably to Deikan.
"Hey, dude! Need a lift to the city?"
"Rad, man! Goin' that way?" Deikan replied smoothly.
"Sure, bro! Your scaly homie can chill in the back seat!"
"Awesome, dude!"
The Norn grinned, Deikan grinned back, but Grym looked blankly at them both.
"What are you talking about?"
"Get with the lingo, lizard," said the Norn. "Name's Hectic."
"Cool," said Deikan, and leapt into the seat next to the driver. Grym sighed and climbed in as well.
"Watch them claws on the seat, bro. This car's my baby," said Hectic. Grym shuffled around a bit. "Can't say I've seen you around, dudes. Where are ya from?"
"Used the Portal, man. Tripped the light fantastic," replied Deikan.
"Oh, a web surfer, eh? Hoppin' from world to world? I can dig, we get some travellers. Most end up in the city, mind," said Hectic, and pushed his foot down on the accelerator. The car revved up and shot forward, leaving tyre marks on the road.

"So, you get a lot of Warp Riders in this city?" Grym asked. Hectic shrugged.
"I guess so, though it's hard to tell what's a lot, you know? We might get a tiny amount compared to what you get, see?"
"Well, how many a year, then?"
"About two or three hundred, dude."
Deikan choked. Capillata only got about three a year, at most. Many of them had been Grendels.
"So," said Hectic, ignoring the silence, "where are you headed? Or are you hanging here?"
"We're looking for someone who fell through a Portal," said Grym. Hectic took his eyes off the road for a moment to stare at him.
"Lost someone? Through a Portal?" "Yes," replied Grym.
Hectic hummed and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He turned to look at them both and chewed his lip.
"This is a bit bad, homies," he said at last. "They could be anywhere in the Warp. Just the two of you can't search the whole Warp."
"We can try," said Deikan. Hectic sighed heavily.
"I'm sure you guys are real nice, but I think you've been out of circulation, if you know what I mean," he said. Deikan and Grym looked at him blankly. He sighed and tried again. "What I mean to say is that you are from less... advanced worlds, comprendé?"
"I wear skins and carry a knife. I know I'm primitive," said Grym. "Go on."
"Well, you dude probably can't program your Portals, like I can't program my VCR," said Hectic, feeling far more relaxed. Deikan wasn't exactly sure what a VCR was, but he understood.
"We need a machine," said Grym. "Deikan tells me they are called com... uh..."
"Computers?" Hectic exclaimed. "Man, you homies are weird. I mean, you're a lizard with a knife, but you know about computers. Damn," he added, for good measure.
"The Warp Wars soldiers used those, um, computers," said Deikan. "When they fought against Azon."
Hectic nodded. "Well, dudes, I have bad news. Seems that the lizards, present company 'cepted of course, have somehow started roughing up the border worlds."
"Border worlds?" Grym asked.
"Well, being outlanders, you dudes wouldn't know. Y'see, when ya make a Portal work with a computer, it can store links through the Warp. This is TechWorld, man, and we're headin' for Tech City."
"TechWorld?" Deikan said, drawing his gun and showing it to Hectic. "Then you'd know what this is."
"Damn, man!" Hectic yelled out, flinching. "Don't wave that thing at me! Where'd you get that, anyway?"
"A Warp Wars veteran. Retired on my world."
"Well, that thing's dangerous."
"I know," said Deikan gravely. Hectic frowned and chewed his lip again.
"Where was I? Oh, yeah, links," he said. "Well, the border worlds are the ones with only one link to TechWorld at most, or maybe only route through another world. A bit backward, not much population. They produce food for us here."
"Can't you grow it yourself?"
"Where, man? Look around, it's desert all the way! But anyway, these worlds have been overrun with Grendels, and they're nothing like what my old man faced ten years back. They're still a bit primitive, yeah, but they've got better stuff, not to mention sheer *numbers*, homies! Thousands and thousands of them!"
"I did not know of this," said Grym. "It sounds... distressing."
"Well, they got a draft on back in my home town, and hopefully Tech City'll be a bit more lenient to me. My sister chills there, anyway."

Tech City was more than Deikan had imagined. Huge towers of shining metal glinted in the desert sun, and hundreds of Norns milled around the streets. Stalls and shops sold all kinds of food, some Deikan had never seen before and other types which he recognised with fond memories.
"Hey, what's that?" Deikan said, nudging Hectic. The Norn turned to look and chuckled.
"Dude! You really don't get out much, do you?" Hectic laughed. "That's an Ettin. They're a bit rarer than you or me, but more common than Scales in the back. Very good at machines. They're the only ones who can make computers."
The Ettin gave them a chilly stare with glassy red eyes until Deikan turned away. Hectic chuckled.
"Yeah, they ain't the friendliest of folk, true enough. Tend to prefer the company of machines. Most of them hang on on MechWorld."
"MechWorld, TechWorld... Too many echs..." Grym muttered. Hectic laughed out loud.
"Yeah, some borderworlders get 'em mixed up, and the Ettins take offense when some farmer turns up, followed by eight tons of grain."
"Eight tons? That's an awful lot for one farmer."
"There's thousands of border worlds, each with a population in single figures. Makes for a loada farmin' land. Man, where have you guys been all your lives?"
"Capillata. It's a small world, sort of like a building."
"Never heard of it, dude. Must be a lonely corner and all."
"What's that over there? A volcano?" Grym asked. Hectic laughed out loud.
"A volcano? What are... you-" he trailed off as he saw the huge billowing plume of smoke in the sky, choking the glittering skyscrapers.

Chapter 2

Chapter 4