“This room, Sah.” Vac showed him in. Gagged and tied to chairs were a number of people in white coats and two in suits.
“Oh Vac, was this really necessary? Please untie them.” Tom pulled a chair up to the conference table. Two soldiers stood neatly to attention behind him.
“They are unsubs, sir.”
“Not really.”
“You did say this one tried to kill you, Sah.” He untied the man’s hands and removed the gag.
“I’m sorry about this, Monty.” Tom beckoned the freed man over to the table. Errorcode rubbed his wrists and gave a rueful glance at Vac. “My men seem to be a bit over-enthusiastic as far as military matters are concerned… don’t I know that other guy? Vac, please release him, and the rest of these people.”
“Sah.”
“So, who is this, Monty?”
“Mr Nishi from the Nishant Corporation, sir.”
“Of course. I didn’t recognise him in that strait-jacket.” Tom approached the angry man. “I really am sorry about this, Mr Nishi. Please come and sit down.”
“This is an outrage, Smith. You will be hearing from my lawyers.”
“I expect so.” Tom sighed. “Is there any tea available, and perhaps a chocolate digestive?”
“I’m leaving now.” Mr Nishi had his hand on the door.
Vac politely steered the man to the table and forced him down into a chair. “Not so, Sah. Mr Smith asked you to sit down, and until he tells you to go, you will do what he says.” As he tried to get up again, Vac pushed the chair under the table so that the arms held him in place. “Please don’t make me tie you up again, Sah.” He beckoned a soldier to stand behind the chair to make sure it stayed in place.
Mr Nishi shrugged. “You might tell me why I’m being held here.”
“Probably,” Tom stared at him in irritation, “and you can tell me what the feck is going on in this crater.”
Nishant and Errorcode exchanged glances. “I suppose we could cut him in..?”
“I suppose so, Mr Nishi. I guess that since Badloser has gone, the company share portfolio will need some restructuring.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Nishi leaned back in his seat, banging his head on the soldier’s gun. “What if we revalue shares by issuing a one for a hundred deal? That way, we don’t have to count so high, and we can reclaim all the fractions of a share for ourselves. That will give us the majority shareholding over Badloser’s dependants.”
“Good thinking, but what about all those small shareholders and their life savings and retirement nest-eggs?”
“Do I look like I care?”
“Excuse me.” Tom regained the conversation. “Never mind shareholding and all that bollocks, what are you doing with that stuff outside?”
“Stuff? Stuff?” Nishi was incensed. “That isn’t ‘stuff’, that is a rift, a fast travel link to somewhere else; it could possibly go as far as the outer planets in the solar system!”
“We’ve even managed to send people through it!”
“And what did they report back?” Tom shifted his gaze to Errorcode, who slipped down a bit more in his seat.
“They didn’t actually report back. But we know they were okay; they were properly suited up for space and everything…”
“So you don’t really know what it is?”
“We are fairly sure it’s a portal, a tear in space to allow us to conquer and mine new worlds without having to build a load of ships and die of old age because of the enormous distances involved. We’re sitting on a fortune.” Errorcode slipped down even further as he realised the weakness of his notion.
Tom rolled his chair back, narrowly missing the guards’ feet as they jumped out of the way. He peered out of the window at the phenomenon. “It looks a bit weird to me. Is it my imagination or is it getting bigger?”
“I believe it has been growing, sir,” said a bearded man in a white coat.
“What rate?”
“Exponentially, sir. We first discovered it as sort of shimmering doorway, but when we dug down, we found there was more. The deeper we dig, the more of it there is.”
“I see, and those bits of rock or whatever coming out of it?”
“They seem to dissolve when they hit something similar, and that rock disappears too.”
“Cancelled out perhaps?”
“I suppose so, sir.”
“Oh dear oh dear.” He looked back outside. “Who’s that?” A human figure strolled casually out of the light.
“Ah good,” said Nishi. “One of our ‘Phenomenauts’ returning I would think.”
“Vac, would you send a couple of guys to escort our traveller over here? Give him a cup of tea first; he must be thirsty. Perhaps he will be able to enlighten us as to what we are dealing with.”
“Got any biscuits?” The traveller smiled around the room.
“I’ll be blowed.” Tom put his hands on his head. “So you’re Rannie. We’ve not met but I’m Two-Dan, er, Tom Smith.”
Rannie grinned. “I thought you’d be in on it somewhere. Who else would open up something as dangerous as this? What on Glenforbis are you doing?”
“Not me,” said Tom. “These guys found it.”
“It needs closing. I’ve brought my Star along, where’s yours?”
“I haven’t got it any more. I lost it when I died last time.”
“That’s a shame. Are you still doing that? I would have thought you’d learnt by now.”
“I try not to, but when the universe is out to get me, it gets me if I tried… or some such song.”
“I get the picture—I’m a believer anyway, but we really need to close this rift before it buggers up all four universes. So you really haven’t got your Star?”
“No, and I don’t think we have Suzanne’s either, and who knows where Kara is. Last time I saw her, she killed me.”
“I wish she wouldn’t do that.” Rannie grinned again.
“You wish, what about me? So here I am, in yet another body in another universe…”
“You don’t look too bad.”
“Thanks, but that doesn’t alter the fact… Hang on, I know that sound. Vac…”
“Sah.”
“No shooting under any circumstances, do you understand?”
“Yes, Sah. Shall I tell the troops?”
“That’s what I meant.”
The sound in the room continued without anything appearing. The technicians searched vainly under tables and in cupboards for its source.
“You.” Tom pointed at a bewildered girl in a white coat. “Do you have a handbag?”
“Here, sir.”
“Tip it out on the floor over there.”
“Sir?”
“Do it.”
“But… hey.”
Vac took it gently off her and upended the contents. Various bottles of perfume, make-up, handkerchiefs, plastic bags, strange cylindrical objects and packets of mints dropped out. “That perfume.” Tom pointed. “Spray it on a tissue and put that on the floor.”
“Of course, Sah.” Vac complied unquestioningly, and stepped backwards. As they watched, a large silver cylinder materialised on the spot. “No shooting,” Tom reminded the startled troops.
The hatch opened and four people emerged. One of them did a double-take when she saw Tom, and then threw herself into his arms.
Closed Door Policy
T
om stood by the column of plasma pouring out of the rift. In the crater with him were Errorcode, Rannie, Caryl, Suzanne, Kara and Allan, and a good contingent of black uniformed troops with their guns ready. “Tell me again then what happened here.”
“As far as I can see,” Rannie said, “And correct me if I’m wrong anywhere Kara, er, your majesty.” Kara nodded absently. “We have here four universes connected.”
“I can believe that,” Tom agreed.
“And it seems to me that the four stars are the
keys to connecting and also sealing these rifts.”
“So why do we need to do that?” Errorcode still appeared unaware of the danger they were in.
“The life of each of the universes is being neutralised by the others.” Rannie continued with her explanation. “The whole interaction is like a full balloon in one universe, and a negative suction balloon in another…” she paused to let the concept sink in.
Tom tried to grasp the idea. “I think I understand.”
“…times four times three times two.” Tom lost it again and his head hurt.
Rannie tried to clarify. “Instead of there being a positive and a negative, think in two other directions, making four; we can call them A, B, C and D. Universe A exerts minus B, minus C and minus D on each of the other three, universe B exerts minus A, minus C and minus D on the others, etcetera. If we don’t do something about it, everything will neutralise everything else.”
“So why haven’t we seen this before?” asked Tom, completely giving up on the concept.
“Your other self in this universe, the one killed to allow you to take over his body…” she glared at Errorcode. He shrugged. “…was mucking about with a time machine someone had left lying about while they were being dead.” She glared at Kara.
“Thoron emissions in the plasma field,” said the android apologetically.
“Anyway, he shouldn’t have meddled, but because he was effectively you, he had full access to the controls and tried to make the jump to one of the other universes; perhaps looking for the Suzanne you found.”
“Cylinders come and go, but twats endure for ever,” muttered Tom.
“That’s precisely what happened, sir,” added Errorcode. “You, or rather, he was determined to keep using the rift, even when the Cylinder disappeared. As you say, it must have detected that its owner had been reenergised and returned to its original location. I knew it was wrong, and had to stop him, which is why the CPD authorised the poison that killed your original body, Mr Smith. I had no idea that you would make the jump from the other universe and effectively reanimate the body. You will appreciate my distress…”
“Of course, it must have been very disappointing for you.”
“I remembered that old programmers’ saying, ‘take opportunity by the for-loop’ and sent that assassin to get you while you were still confused. Unfortunately…”
“Fortunately,” corrected Tom.
“Yes, sir, fortunately you beat him off and I had to dispose of him before he could tell you who hired him. Then you made things more difficult by passing that edict about killing the staff if anything happened to you; clever.”
“I was pleased with it.”
“So our next idea was to keep you busy and try to close the rift ourselves. I called up our nuclear deterrent. I thought that if we could drop enough explosive into its maw, we could destroy the fabric and it would shut down.”
“So what happened with that? Obviously it didn’t work.”
“We had outsourced it, sir.”
“Outsourced what?”
“Outsourced the nuclear deterrent, sir. You would not believe the amount of paperwork I had to go through to get them to respond.”
“Don’t tell me; to the Nishant Corporation?”
“Yes, sir. It required three of our executives, a password out of the Virtualbend Oven and a following wind. I think I managed to send the correct commands but nothing happened; so much for our deal with them.”
“Yes, I’ve still got to work out what to do with Mr Nishi.”
“I could deal with it, Sah.”
“We will speak later, Vac,” said Tom. “We have much catching up to do. So where are we now with this, Rannie?”
“Ready I think. We have all four Stars here. It looks like the way to close the rift is for each of the owners to return to their respective universes and fire them up simultaneously. Does that make sense?”
Caryl took her arm from around Tom, and stretched. Her face was set. “I’m ready for my universe.” She gave him a hug. “I really don’t want to leave you, but I know I have to. Will you think of me some time, alone on my Island of the Moon?”
“All the time.” Tom would not release her. “Are you sure I can’t come back with you?”
“It won’t work.” She smiled at him, her eyes full of tears. “There is only one of you now, across the four universes. You no longer control any of the Stars, so to try to come through could kill you.”
“I’ll risk it.”
“What, at best to spend the rest of your life on that island? And if you did die, what hope have I got? One day I’ll work out a way of coming back and finding you. Really gotta go.” She tore herself away from him and dived into the rift. On an island a universe away, she rolled out on the stony ground. She sat up and stared at what the portal into the other universe had become; a copy of the phenomenon in the Fourth Universe, a column of whirling plasma. She gazed around at the island, now fully recovered after the departure of Antarn’s troops. “Heaven,” she breathed, “and Hell for me without my man.”
* * *
“That’s Universe One dealt with,” said Rannie. “Now you, Suzanne, for Universe Two; I believe you have someone waiting for you there?”
“Yes.” Suzanne nodded. “Sorry about the life, Two-Dan. I really thought you were the one, and we had some great times, but that was until I met Hawk.”
“No problem.” Tom took her hand. The Suzy in Caryl’s universe was my soul-mate, not you after all. We were young…”
“And foolish…”
“Of course, and the one in this universe turned out to be useless. Still, perhaps rehab will work on her and then Monty can sort her out. Good luck with your life.”
“You too.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and was gone.
* * *
“And now you, Kara.” They were back in the conference room by the Cylinder. “You still have your Star inside you, I presume, so it shouldn’t be a problem to close the rift from Universe Three. Do you understand?”
“I have to boost the energies, slimeball. Expanding weak galaxies reverses the enhanced isolinear processor.”
“Oh for Phoist’s sake Allan, can’t you sort her out?”
“I can try another reboot, but I’m afraid she’ll kill me if she regains her normal character and realises what I’ve been doing to her.”
“It’s a risk, but if you can’t get her to use the Star, we’re stuck.”
“I understand. For the greater good.”
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,” agreed Kara.
“Do you know what I think,” said Tom, regarding the High Shenh of the Third Universe. “It looks to me as though her cliché suppressor has failed. You should check for a spare unit. Dump it into the re-gen booth with her; the repair systems will do the rest.”
“Will do. Come on, your majesty. Let’s get the Cylinder operational.”
“The crystal duct laptop is already active, worm.”
“Very good.”
* * *
“That leaves me then,” said Rannie, fishing her Star out of her own bag. I’m here for the duration after that, because this is where I live. Is everyone ready?” She left the room and marched towards the rift. Tom hurried to keep up with her and motioned that the others should stay back. “Right, stand away.” She leaned towards the swirling column of light. “Oh here goes. Let’s see what happens.” She pushed her Star into the swirling plasma. It was sucked greedily out of her fingers. “Quick, get back.” They retreated to what they thought might be a safe distance, and waited. Nothing happened.
* * *
In Universe One, Caryl finished her countdown. “Nothing ventured...” She pushed her Star into the breach. It was tugged, but not strongly. She let go and it dropped to the ground. “What’s wrong?” She tried again with the same result. “Phoist! What do I have to do? How far in does it go? Looks like I’ll have
to carry it.” She stepped forward into the plasma and was quickly enveloped. It certainly did not appear to be another universe; she was held there in the swirling air. “What now? I wonder if Antarn blowing his way through damaged the structure. How the hell would I fix that?”
* * *
In Universe Two, not far outside the remains of the City, Suzanne held the Star and Hawk held her. Another column of plasma showed tantalising glimpses of the other portals and the stars of other universes.
“If you’re going in again, I’m coming with you.” Hawk was adamant.
“No problem. That’s about the time we agreed. Ready?”
Hawk nodded.
“Right, hang on.” The pull on the Star was powerful. Suzanne felt herself being tugged into the maelstrom.
“I’ve got you,” shouted Hawk. “Let it go now!” The Star disappeared. The girls sat down on the grass.
“Let’s hope that does the trick.” Suzanne lay back and watched the gyrating pillar. “Give us a kiss then.”
“A pleasure.” Hawk put her arms around her friend. “Will you miss him, Tom I mean?”
“Yeah, I will. We went through a lot together, but I’ve got you; I’ll get over it.”
“Hang on, shouldn't something be happening now you’ve got rid of the Star?” Hawk was staring at the complete lack of change in the Rift.
“Bugger. I hope nothing’s gone wrong.”
* * *
In the grim darkness of Universe Three, Allan sat Kara into the control console and keyed the reset commands. This time he obeyed the command, ‘Do not disturb the possession this clock’, and gave plenty of time for the static discharges in Kara’s head to dissipate. He took a deep breath as the message, ‘Reboot efficacious, you may now confiscate the patient’ appeared. Kara did not move. He shook her. “Your majesty, are you okay?”
Her eyes flickered open; she looked confused. “Čo tu robím? Čo sa deje?”
“Bugger, I forgot to set the language. It’s reset to default.”
Into the Fourth Universe Page 23