OTHERLANDER: A Long Way From Home

by T. Kevin Bryan

  “Yes, Professor, nothing slips by you.”

  “But surely being here for only a month could not have had this effect on you?”

  “A month?”

  “Yes, Albright, I followed you through Mairead Fhada only by a few hours. Today is my twenty-sixth day here, by my reckoning.”

  Albright nodded.

  “I have been wondering if the door that opened to another ‘where’ might spin you off into another ‘when.’” Albright scratched his beard.

  It was all so disconcerting. Daniel could see the eyes and the smile of his young assistant, but the rest had his mind on tilt. He was almost afraid to ask but then swallowed and gave voice to his question, “How long have you been here?”

  Albright sat very still, counting. “Thirteen, no, fourteen years,” he whispered through cracked lips. “Yes, fourteen long years.”

  “But how?”

  “I have had a long time to think about many things, the door, certainly being one of them.”

  Daniel interrupted. “If I came through the door, let’s say two hours after you and you have been here 14 years, does that mean every hour in our universe is 7 years here?”

  Albright nodded. “I can hear the paper that you will read before the Archeological Society, “The Dog Year Universe.”

  At this, both men chuckled.

  Albright’s laugh trailed off into a wheeze.

  Daniel leaned forward with concern.

  “I’m all right, doctor.” Albright recovered. “What I wouldn’t give for a spot of tea right now.”

  “Earl Grey?” The American asked.

  “Of course.”

  “With a splash of milk?”

  “The sine qua non of tea,” said Albright.

  “Yes, without milk, it’s not tea.”

  The two prisoners sat quietly for a moment.

  Then Daniel broke the silence. “I’m realizing that I was thinking of our universes as being symmetrical. Fixed.”

  “Go on.”

  “Our own planet moves along its orbit in our solar system. And our solar system moves in our galaxy. Our galaxy moves within the universe. It stands to reason that wherever this planet is, it must also be within its own solar system and galaxy and universe. To really understand how time works between the two universes, one would have to know the position of both relative to each other.”

  “Yes, I see where you’re going,” Albright said. “But if the universe is all that exists. Then this planet is somewhere within our universe. Unless, of course, we’re dealing with a parallel universe.”

  Daniel nodded in the flickering candlelight. “About that, If our universe is parallel to N’albion’s universe, then it might be like parallel streets running alongside each other. But to cross over from one street to the other, you would need a path to get there, a perpendicular street.”

  “Yes, and the stone circle is the perpendicular: the path from Earth to N’albion.”

  “Exactly. But the streets may be moving at separate speeds more like parallel train tracks with the trains moving at faster or slower speeds. If you jumped from one train car on one track to the other, you would land in a different numbered car depending on the relative speed and direction of the trains.”

  Albright settled back and gave another little cough.

  Daniel could see the man was getting tired. He sighed, “We can hypothesize all night about this, err, it is night isn’t it?

  “Yes,” Albright said.

  “Well, we may never fully know.”

  “After fourteen years in this hole, I do know something.”

  “What is that?” Daniel asked.

  “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for He is with me.”

  Chapter 80

  Daniel considered the aged man that sat before him. The man that had been his young, robust, handsome assistant only a few short weeks ago. Reduced to this through the tortures of years under the cruel hand of Darcon and the likes of Mordis.

  “Albright, I never knew you to be a religious man.”

  “I wasn’t, and I’m not sure I am now.” He sighed. “As I said before, I’ve had plenty of time to think about many things.” Albright paused as if he was unsure if he should go on. “One of the first realizations was that I had wronged you.”

  Daniel was taken aback. “Albright?”

  “No, Dr. Colson, please let me finish. I stole your research. Like a common thief. At first, I rationalized it: How I worked so hard for you, all the late nights. In my mind, it was my research. But that was a lie. You did the work, and it was brilliant.” Albright smiled. “And that is where I realized I had gone wrong. I hated you for your brilliance. My pride would not allow me to see it.”

  Albright continued. “What God did here in this dungeon was gracious. He showed me that there was someplace darker than this prison cell.” Albright looked at Daniel. “My heart.”

  Daniel didn’t know what to say. The old-young man continued.

  “Dr. Colson, please forgive me. Forgive me for hating you, forgive me for stealing from you and causing you this horrible mess.”

  Immediately, Daniel responded, “My dear Albright, of course, but it is I that need your forgiveness. I treated you as a servant, or worse, a slave and not as the talented colleague you deserved. It was my pride that caused me to chase after you. Blind to the damage it would cause my family or anyone else. I was reckless and stupid. Please forgive me.”

  Daniel reached and grasped Albright’s hand, and they shook.

  “Now, let’s put our heads together and find a way out of here,” Daniel said with a gleam in his eye.

  Chapter 81

  In the dim light of the dungeon cell, Albright smiled. “I have only one thing to say about your idea of escape… Rats!”

  “Rats?”

  “Yes, Dr. Colson. Rats.” Albright held his makeshift candle aloft, filling the cell with its flickering, pale yellow light. “Look around, Doctor. The walls are stone. The floor is stone. The door is solid timber. Yet we are surrounded by our furry friends.” Albright thrust his candle’s flame toward the nearest rodent. It squeaked in pain and scurried away, its tail a little singed.

  Daniel wasn’t impressed. “So, we share the cell with vermin…”

  “Shh,” Albright hushed Daniel. “Watch.”

  He pointed toward the singed rat as it skittered to the far wall and made its way along until the rodent came to the corner and then with a squirm disappeared.

  Albright smiled. “For months, I wondered how I could be sealed in a closed cell but still accompanied by a host of rats. Where could they get in? I began watching them carefully and sure enough finally found their ingress and egress.”

  The men scooted to the corner where the rat had performed its disappearing act.

  Daniel examined the area and for the first time, realized the floor was paved with large flagstones. He searched and found a small hole at the corner of one large stone impossible to detect without the aid of the candle’s light.

  “Place your fingers in there, Dr. Colson.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Trust me.”

  Daniel warily reached in nervous about receiving a rat bite. He was able to get only two fingers into the hole.

  “Now, pull!”

  Daniel gave a little tug.

  “Pull, doctor!”

  Daniel strained and felt the stone give way, unseated from its place.

  Albright reached and grabbed the flagstone and lifted. The stone scraped up and fell over with a resounding thud that sounded like a bass drum.

  Daniel flinched.

  “Don’t worry, Dr. Colson, the guards never come no matter the racket I make.” Albright motioned. “Look.”

  Where the flagstone had once been was a hole almost two feet in ragged diameter. Daniel peered into the black hole. It was impossible to see a thing.

  “Listen,” Albright said.

  Daniel stilled himself
and turned his ear to the gaping hole.

  The distinct sound of rushing water reached him from somewhere far below.

  “A river?”

  “Yes. It flows out of the mountain. The fortress is built over it. The fortress retrieves fresh water from there, and it is the sewer as well. Before I was thrown in here, I saw where exited from under the mountain and flows into the forest.”

  “Sounds like a long way down.”

  A rat peeked its head over the edge of the hole, and before it could climb onto the floor, Albright gave it a swift kick, and the rat dropped with a squeak into the black abyss.

  Daniel and Albright stared at each other listening. Then finally, they heard a faint splash.

  “It is a long way down,” Albright said.

  Chapter 82

  The moon hung low in the night sky. Thomas and Thorn had flown through the day and into the night. Thomas leaned over in the saddle, to gaze down at the dark forest that stretched below them for miles. Solid but for the dark river that curved through it like a giant black snake.

  “That’s where you found me; isn’t it, Thorn? I remember crossing that river.”

  Thorn growled in answer.

  “Then we must be close. We better be careful.”

  Thomas squinted into the distance and could barely make out a glow at the far edge of the forest. “That could be firelight. Take us down, boy.”

  Thomas hung on tight as Thorn dove and glided down to the forest. He skimmed silently along the treetops until he found a small clearing to land in.

  Thorn’s head swung from side to side, his bright eyes searching for any hidden dangers in the surrounding underbrush.

  Thorn growled.

  “It’s okay, boy,” Thomas said as he slid from the saddle. They had been in the air so long, walking on the firm earth seemed strange to his feet.

  Thomas peered into the forest, then spoke to Thorn over his shoulder: “I’ll have to walk from here. But I don’t think it’s that far.”

  Turning, Thomas took the dragon’s triangular head in his hands and looked into his big friend’s solemn eyes. “I want you to stay here.”

  Thorn rumbled his disapproval.

  “No, you’ll just slow me down.” The small boy squared off with the huge dragon. “You’re not made for walking, and you’re too big to get through those trees. Besides, I need you rested and ready to fly when I come back with my dad.”

  Thomas gave Thorn’s large head a pat, then turned and moved toward the trees. Thorn shuffled after him.

  “No.”

  The dragon stopped.

  Thomas began again.

  Thorn followed.

  Thomas stopped and glared firmly at the dragon. “Thorn, I said no!”

  The dragon stopped.

  “Sit!”

  The colossal dragon plopped on his haunches.

  “Stay!” Thomas ordered, staring down his big friend even as he backed toward the edge of the forest. “Good dragon.” With that, he turned and stepped into the shadows.

  He was instantly swallowed up by the forest, and Thorn was left sitting alone, whimpering.

  Chapter 83

  In the dungeon, Daniel sat back considering the hole that had been revealed after dislodging the large flagstone and the dark drop to the river far below. “Even if we were able to get out of here, we still don’t know how to open the stone circle. We have to find the right constellation.”

  “Yes,” Albright said, “We know the door may be opened by the combination of astrological time and walking the correct pattern within the stone circle. A timed combination lock if you will.” Albright’s eyes regained some of their old spark. “But there is another way. Doors can also be opened with keys.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “When I came through the portal, I was taken captive and like you forced to work on the solution to open the door. In my research, I came upon an ancient text that contained this verse.”

  Albright looked as if he were reading from a page that wasn’t there as he pulled it from his memory:

  “When the veil is thin

  and the Warrior is armed

  walk the path of the Creator.

  But be warned.

  Destruction awaits he

  who steps to the right or left.”

  A rat rustled somewhere in the darkness.

  Daniel reflected on the verse, then said, “We know the ‘veil being thin’ is the time of Samhain or October in our world. Celtic lore speaks of a thinning of the wall that separates worlds during that season. And the ‘path of the Creator’ is the pattern that must be walked: The Celtic Trinity Knott.”

  Albright agreed, “Yes, yes, and we know that to open the door of Mairead Fhada in our world, the constellation Orion must be positioned low in the October sky.”

  “So, the ‘armed warrior’ is Orion, the Archer,” Daniel said.

  “Yes, but this world does not have the constellation, Orion. I believe there is another way for the Warrior to be armed.” Albright leaned forward, a smile spread across his face like the Cheshire cat. “A key.”

  “A key?”

  Albright reached into the folds of his threadbare shirt and retrieved a folded parchment. He continued as he unfolded it on the stone floor. “I came across this in my searching in the early days of my arrival.”

  Daniel illuminated the parchment with the candle to reveal a drawing of the Trinity Knott intertwined with a dragon crafted into a circular pendant.

  The same pendant that now hung by a gold chain from the neck of Thomas.

  Chapter 84

  Albright and Daniel replaced the flagstone. Then Albright, exhausted, lay back right where they were sitting, wished Daniel a goodnight and was snoring within seconds. Daniel listened to the rats scratching somewhere in the darkness. Every time he tried to get comfortable on the cold stones, pain from his recent beating would shoot through his side. Besides that, his mind was spinning. Finding his young assistant in his present condition was inconceivable. But he was here, and he couldn’t deny the facts before him. His young-old assistant.

  Now what? Another prison break? What else could he do? He had to get out of this hole and take Albright with him. He pondered the existence of another way to get through the door that was the stone circle and back home. In all his research on earth, he had never come across the reference to a key. This strange pendant engraved with the symbol of the Trinity and a dragon. How would they find this key?

  Well, first things first. Get out of this hole with Albright alive. Then home. Oh, to see his Caroline and Thomas again. Would they ever be able to forgive him? If Albright could, then perhaps his wife and son could too.

  Chapter 85

  “Dr. Colson. Wake up,” Albright urgently whispered.

  Still disoriented, Daniel attempted to focus on the person leaning over him.

  “Albright?” Daniel cast about the dim cell lit only by Albright’s candle. “Is it morning?”

  “No, but I am afraid that we need to make our move now. I’ve heard a lot of movement and voices in the halls. Something is afoot, and it is best we don’t wait around to find out what it is.”

  Daniel sat up with a grimace. His ribs still ached. “Are you sure?”

  “No, I am not sure. If by sure you mean psychological confidence, but now is as good a time as any.”

  Daniel couldn’t think of any good reason to disagree with Albright. And he didn’t like the idea of sleeping in this rat infested hole another night.

  The men moved to the flagstone. Daniel heaved it up, but this time carefully set it on the floor so as not to make a sound. Albright reached into the black hole that had been covered by the stone and retrieved a coil of rope. Daniel stared dumbfounded. “Where did you get the rope?”

  Albright pointed to his head of matted hair. “You don’t think I grow it like this for style, do you? Fourteen years of hair growth weaves into a pretty sturdy rope. I doubt it’s long enough, but it will have to do.�
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  Albright secured the end of the rope around a jut of rock inside the inner edge of the hole then handed the line to Daniel. “I think you should go first.”

  Daniel hesitated, then took the rope and shimmied through the small hole. It was precarious work as he slid down and felt his feet dangling in space. “I don’t know. Are you sure about this?”

  The all too familiar sound of keys jiggling and the creak of the obstinate lock stopped his question.

  “Go, Dr. Colson! Now!”

  “Albright!”

  The timber door swung open with a groan.

  “No time for discussion!” Albright shouted.

  Two guards stepped into the cell closely followed by Mordis Saldan. They lifted torches high, flooding the room with light. There was a shout from Mordis. Albright pushed Daniel through the hole.

  “No, I won’t go without you,” Daniel protested.

  “Godspeed, my friend,” Albright whispered.

  And with a final shove, Daniel fell into the abyss.

  The rope burned through his hands, only slowing his fall by degrees. He looked up one last time to see Albright peering down silhouetted by torchlight, and then he smacked into the ice-cold water of the underground river.

  He plunged down into its depths, finally striking his back on the rocky bed. Daniel thrust off the bottom and shot toward the surface. He felt his lungs would burst, and then he surfaced sputtering and gagging carried along by the swift choppy current of the river.

  “Albright!” Daniel shouted through the whitecaps of the river, then another wave smacked him in the face filling his mouth with water.

  He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard a shout and a splash. The swift current carried him along, and he couldn’t worry about Albright now he had to focus on not drowning.

  Soon, ahead of him, he could see light. The mouth of the cave. The river carried him along closer and closer to the mouth. Daniel could now make out huge stalactites and stalagmites in the cave. At one point, his thrashing awakened a colony of bats that burst from their resting place and swarmed over his head toward the cave’s opening.