by Chloe Garner
“Then the man in the place called Kansas realized just how profitable a venture this could be for both of us,” a deep voice said. A large foreign terrestrial entered through a hidden door in the wall, skin oozing a pink slime that never seemed to manage to drip down to the floor. Young ducked his head. Troy stood.
“I’ve heard of you, young man,” the foreign terrestrial said. “If you don’t behave yourself, believe me, every person in this room is dead.”
“I generally don’t behave,” Troy said, putting his hand slowly into his pocket and drawing out his phone. He put it on the desk, dialing Jesse without looking at it.
“I’ve given you your warning,” the foreign terrestrial boomed.
“Rutger?” Malcolm warned from behind him. Jesse answered the phone on the first ring.
“Hey, Jesse,” Troy said. “I need you.”
“Someone open the door,” Jesse answered.
*********
“You Palta and your grand entrances,” Kalthar said.
“Palta?” Conrad mouthed at Troy. Troy shook his head. Not now.
Jesse stepped into the room, peeling a long strip of membrane from his arm and slapping it onto the wall.
“Do I know you?” he asked the pink man, going to lean against another wall. He took in the room casually.
“Hey, Troy,” he said.
“Hey, Jesse,” Troy answered.
“This is the foreign terrestrial who started the entire circus?” Senator Greene asked, standing. “I must say, I’m disappointed we haven’t met before now.”
“I’m not sure I’d call it a circus,” Jesse said. “Avalanche, maybe. We’ve been accused of starting avalanches before.”
“You brought him here?” Young asked. “Why would you bring him here? After all the damage he’s done.”
“You know the best way to divide your enemies?” Jesse asked, still watching Kalthar with a passive expression. “You tell them that they’re both working with you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Troy said.
“Doesn’t it?” Jesse asked with a faint smile. “You flushed him admirably, Troy. Thank you. Though a Wob-wob. Wouldn’t have guessed that one.”
“He’s the one working with Donovan,” Young hissed.
“Donovan is a man with a great sense of potential,” Kalthar said, taking a step closer to Jesse. “He sees that when the faucet is set to drip, you get much more water if you turn it all the way on.”
“Yeah, but who really wants a full flow of sewage, no matter how much someone is paying you to hold onto it?” Jesse asked.
“Sewage?” Greene asked.
“You think you get paid to take refugees in this universe?” Troy asked.
“Two points to that man,” Jesse said. “No, if someone is paying you to hide someone, it’s because someone else really wants to find them… and they have a lot of money. There’s only one class of people who traditionally fit into that group.”
“Criminals,” Conrad said.
“Bingo,” Jesse answered. “Kalthar and his gang… they really are a gang. Which would be cool, if gangs were cool. But they really just never are. Anyway, Kalthar and his gang specialize in finding quiet corners of the universe where fugitives can comfortably live out their days. This is a good one, you guys have got going on here. About as backwater as it gets without being downright rustic.”
“Should I be offended?” Troy asked.
“You’ve done rustic,” Jesse answered. “You tell me.”
“You’re the bad guy,” Young said. Jesse frowned, finally looking away from Kalthar.
“Really? You haven’t gotten past that? Your political process disappoints me, if you’re the cream that rises to the top.”
Senator Greene sniffed.
“Who told you that I was dangerous?” Jesse asked Secretary Young.
“I would,” Troy observed.
“Not helping,” Jesse said.
“Kalthar informed me about your ambitions,” Young said.
“And who told you how to hold me prisoner?” Jesse asked. “Not that you could, Kalthar. You bought a bag of goods, with that intel.”
“He did,” Young said slowly. Jesse nodded.
“And who convinced you that you needed to flush out Cassie in order to really protect your plans?” Jesse asked.
“You knew about that?” Troy asked. Jesse sighed and turned to lean his back against the wall.
“Troy,” he said, his voice mock dismay. “How many times do I have to do the magic trick for you to believe that I’m going to be able to do it, next time?”
“One more time, at least,” Troy answered with a sigh. Jesse grinned and looked back at Kalthar.
“I am the son of Eno-Lath Bron. My father was a great man in many places in the universe, and he stopped you and your kind more times than anyone can count or know about. As he did, I place my mark on these people. You will not have them.”
“She said you’d be soft,” Kalthar said. “I’d begun to doubt, but you should never expect a Palta to be wrong.”
“You can disarm it,” Jesse said. “I mean, I’ve already done it for you, but you should go ahead, so that it doesn’t blow up on you when you flee.”
Something high-pitched that Troy hadn’t noticed before stopped. Jesse smiled.
“And… now you flee.”
“You have no weapon,” Kalthar said.
“I have knowledge beyond the depths of your tiny pink mind,” Jesse said. “I may not carry a projectile launcher, but I always, always know where to find someone who does.”
Kalthar disappeared.
Jesse smiled.
“And with that, I’m going back to annoying a twenty-three year old girl in a lab in Kansas. See you for dinner tomorrow, Troy?”
“Sounds great,” Troy answered.
Jesse vanished.
The room was silent.
For a long time.
And then Greene, who had never resumed her seat, turned to look at Troy.
“I think nothing happened today, what do you think?”
He stretched his mouth, willing words to formulate.
“I think you’re right,” he finally said. She nodded, then pointed a finger at Secretary Young.
“You put it back. All of it. Get rid of the horrible man running my base, and put it back the way it’s supposed to be. If you need help remembering what that looks like, you talk to this young man here, or Colonel Peterson at jump school.”
She waited.
“Okay,” Young finally said. She smiled brightly at Troy.
“And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m already late for my next meeting.”
Malcolm stood and opened the door for her, casting one quick look over his shoulder as he left to wink at Troy.
And it was over.
*********
They drove home. Stopped in Kentucky on the way back and hit up a Walmart for toothbrushes and new underwear, then were on the road again before dawn the next day.
“You know you can’t go back,” Conrad said at one point on that long drive.
“What?” Troy asked.
“I’ve seen your contract, and that’s the one thing you can’t do,” Conrad said. “You can’t go back to the way things were. And it’s not just that. I don’t think you could, even if they let you try.”
Troy didn’t have anything to say to that, so he didn’t.
*********
Two weeks went by. The changes were subtle, but they happened. You couldn’t turn around a base the size of the portal installation overnight, but Donovan seemed to be losing his grip on control. Certain people showed the signs of panic, but mostly things went on mostly like they had been.
It would take time.
And then Cassie called.
“I need you,” she said. “I’m at the portal room, and I’m leaving today.”
“That sounds final,” Troy said, concerned, as he stood up from the couch and went to his room to find cloth
es.
“It’s a big day,” Cassie said. “You can be here in twenty minutes?”
“Yeah,” Troy said. “I’ll see you soon.”
*********
The portal room was bustling, as it usually did. Cassie was leaning against a wall, watching the operations with a critical eye. It was the same expression she would have used, as a human, watching everyone, knowing their jobs at least as well as they did, and being clearly aware of when they didn’t do them right. Troy smiled to himself.
And then he noticed Olivia.
The woman looked like she wanted to be anywhere else.
“Heard you had quite an adventure,” she said without looking at Troy. Troy wondered which part of which story someone had told her.
“Yeah,” he said.
She glanced at him once, hostile.
“I don’t want to be here, but she promises it’s going to be quick.”
“You’re coming with us?” Troy asked.
“She should be there for this one,” Cassie said, playing with a metal ball in the palm of her hand. A few minutes later, Jesse arrived.
“The gang’s all here, then,” he said as he got close. “Didn’t think Cassie was the entourage type.”
“Special day,” Cassie said, pushing herself off the wall and claiming a section of open floor.
There was the jolt.
And they were in darkness.
“Lights,” Cassie said, and somewhere, dim lights turned on, illuminating dark walls and a gray floor.
“Charming,” Olivia said.
“Yup,” Cassie answered. “You may as well come out, here.”
“What?” Troy asked.
“What’s she doing here?” Jesse asked.
“She’s been here the whole time,” Troy said, glancing at Olivia.
“Not her, genius,” Cassie said. “The one you can’t see.”
“She can’t be here,” Jesse said.
“I’m Palta,” Cassie answered. Jesse straightened.
“Exactly. That’s exactly why she can’t be here.”
There was a gap, and then Jesse shook his head.
“No. It’s too risky. You were tied to the house, and that’s where you have to stay. I’m sorry.”
“If this is a joke, it isn’t very funny,” Olivia said, crossing her arms.
“Mab, meet Olivia, Troy’s girlfriend.”
“Ex,” Olivia said, cold.
“What?” Troy asked.
“She’s already met you, and since you can’t meet her… What is the etiquette, there?” Cassie asked. There was a gap.
“Cassie, this is a bad idea,” Jesse said.
“You worry too much,” Cassie said. “She’s isolated.”
“We’re in hyper-modern tech, here. All she has to do is make the jump…”
“She has no signal generation,” Cassie said. “Here. You can even be her custodian.”
She pulled a small box out of her pocket and handed it to Jesse.
“Guys, we need another clue,” Troy said.
“Right,” Cassie said, motioning with her arm at empty space next to her. “This is Jesse’s daughter, Mab, the one who tried to kill me…” she paused. “Fair enough. She didn’t ever try to kill me. She just did a very convincing job of a fake attempt to kill me. The one who turned me Palta.”
“There’s no one there,” Olivia said flatly.
“You can’t see her,” Cassie said. “She saved herself as AI and coded herself so that only Palta can see her.”
She paused.
“I know what I’m doing,” she said finally.
“What’s she talking about?” Jesse asked. Cassie grinned.
“I’m in charge here. Please keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times.”
She started walking. Jesse was watching the empty space hard.
AI.
Daughter.
Troy wasn’t sure where to start with that.
“Cassie,” Jesse said.
“Cassie,” Troy echoed. She turned, still walking.
“All will be revealed,” she said. “Come, now.”
“You brought us here,” Jesse said. “This is where Cassie killed you.”
There was a pause, as Troy and Olivia drifted between were Jesse still stood and where Cassie was disappearing around a corner.
“Cassie, we shouldn’t be here,” Jesse called. “We need to go. Now.”
Cassie’s laugh drifted back around the dim hall corner and Troy and Olivia came back to stand with Jesse.
“There’s no going back from here,” Cassie called. “It’s all forward.”
Jesse ran his finger over his arm, looked around, tried again. Looked at Troy.
Shook his head.
“We’re locked in here.”
“We’re what?” Troy asked. “Where are we?”
“We tracked Mab here, when Cassie was still volatile. Before she became Palta. That last jump. We came here, and Cassie went through another genetic shift to become Palta, and then she killed Mab.”
“Who is Mab?” Olivia asked.
“My daughter. She saved a copy of herself at Cassie’s house on Earth, so that she’d get a chance to explain herself without everything going on in her head to mess with her decisions, and… Well, apparently Cassie found a way to make her portable.”
“You have a daughter,” Troy said.
“I had a family, Troy,” Jesse said. “Yes. Mab escaped, but she wasn’t the same, after.”
He looked at the empty space next to him.
“I don’t have the tools.”
“Onward,” Cassie’s much-fainter voice called.
“We should go,” Jesse said. “There’s nothing to do but face whatever happens next.”
They started walking, Olivia drifting behind them by a few steps, her arms still crossed like she was cold.
“Is this a trap?” Troy asked Jesse confidentially.
“Nothing else it could be,” Jesse answered. “Did you know this was what she was planning?” he asked the empty space that was Mab.
Troy waited. Jesse nodded and continued walking.
“What did she say?” Troy asked.
“Oh. That she knew that this was some kind of final moment for something, but that Cassie was never clear on what or why. She wouldn’t have gone along with it, if she’d known we were coming here.”
“What happened after Cassie killed Mab?” Troy asked. Jesse glanced at him. Apprehension?
“I left.”
“What?”
Jesse nodded.
“She was Palta.”
As if that explained anything.
“So?”
“She asked me to go. I left.”
“You took an order. The first and only order in your entire life, and it was to leave Cassie here on her own?”
“I tried to come back,” Jesse said. “But I couldn’t get in.”
“And now we’re stuck here,” Troy said. “She was never the same, after she came back.”
“No,” Jesse agreed. He looked around. “Believe it or not, there’s a lot of material here to work with. With enough time to focus, I could break us out and get us back to Earth.”
“So why aren’t we doing that?” Olivia called up to them.
“Because she’s Palta,” Jesse said grimly. He looked at them. “Look. If I could give you what you needed to get back on your own, I would. If I could leave Mab with you to help get you home, I’d do that. But you can’t get out of here without me, and I…” He looked helpless. Troy didn’t think he’d ever seen Jesse at a loss before. “I have to go with her. She’s Palta, and whatever it is she’s doing, I’m a part of it. I have no choice.”
“I’ve got your back,” Troy said. Jesse gave him a brief smile.
“Means more than you think.”
“This way, ladies and gentlemen,” Cassie called.
They walked on.
They came to a final turn and found themselves in a large, e
mpty room.
“I’ve been here before,” Jesse said. “This is where you trapped me while you were fighting Cassie,” he said to Mab.
There was another pause as the invisible, inaudible woman spoke.
“Cassie?” Jesse asked. Cassie was standing with her hands on her hips, watching them with an odd, detached curiosity. Jesse turned and Troy did as well, watching as the hallway behind them slowly disappeared behind a sliding wall. It had the air of finality to it.
The wall slid closed, the air pressure in the room changing just enough to make it clear how significant the barrier was to them leaving, and Troy slowly turned back to Cassie.
“Yes, I brought spares,” she said. “That wasn’t part of the deal one way or the other. You can do what you want with them.”
“Cassie?” Jesse asked again. She grimaced at him.
“What? I brought him. I did what you told me to do. All three of us are here. Now you do your part and let me go.”
Jesse actually looked agitated, looking back and forth between Cassie and the space where Mab was.
“Fine,” Cassie said. “Jesse, meet Midas.”
Jesse looked with a start over at Mab, then shook his head quickly at Cassie.
“I don’t understand.”
She laughed.
“Oh, darling, I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that. With your on and on and on about knowing everything and being two steps ahead of everyone and everyone else is a five year old compared to you.”
“Cassie,” Jesse ordered.
“Here,” she said, motioning at the wall she was standing in front of. There was nothing remarkable about it, other than that it might have been a slightly darker shade of black than the other walls. “This is Midas. The man who would rule five dimensions, if he could figure out how.”
“Dimensions?” Troy asked. “There are dimensions?”
“Yes,” Jesse sighed, staring at Cassie. “There are places where the dimensions intersect, and where you can cross them, if you know what you’re doing.”
“Parallel… dimensions?” Troy asked. It was silly, but the idea of N-space being true, of infinite parallel dimensions… It had been such a core, heavily-argued theory for so long…