The transition through the spatial gate was instant.
One moment, Ash and Sovereign Orrin Reyes were standing in the dim, humming cavern of the ancient alien base deep within the Earth's mantle. The next moment, the heavy, cosmic-energy-rich air of Earth was violently replaced by the thin, freezing, and dusty atmosphere of Mars.
Ash took a breath. The air was incredibly thin, pulling at his lungs with a weak, pathetic effort. The gravity here was a mere fraction of what he was used to, making his newly dense, Layer 333 body feel almost dangerously light, as if he might accidentally push off the ground and float into the pale pink sky.
He extended his spiritual sense. It swept across the red, rust-colored dunes, searching for the familiar, comforting hum of ambient cosmic energy.
Nothing.
