The Place Beyond

by Ryan Lohner

  Unlike a few moments ago, Jane forced herself to look in his eyes. “I don’t know, there’s still one old standby,” she said and thrust her knee into his groin. It was one piece of advice her mother had given her on dealing with boys who wouldn’t take no for an answer, and she was quite thankful for it now. She grabbed the knife back and swung wildly at him. But he jumped back, out of range of her unskilled swipes, and by the time one of them got close, he had reactivated his armor and it struck hard against an unyielding surface.

  Reeves now looked furious, the freckles disappearing into his red face. “So that’s the way you want to do this, huh? I’d say I was disappointed, but truth be told, this way is actually a lot more fun.”

  * * *

  Jim had watched the whole thing while still struggling to get up. He felt just like he’d taken a particularly bad tackle. Luckily, that had actually happened to him a few times and he’d learned to apply mind over matter: the idea that all that was keeping him down was that he didn’t want to get up hard enough. And that certainly served him now, as seeing Jane in such a bad position was plenty of motivation. He wasn’t actually aware of any movement on his part, but soon enough he looked down and saw that he was again on his feet.

  He took a step forward, half expecting to just fall right down again, but was relieved to find that he didn’t. More steps followed, until he was right next to Reeves. Apparently the man was in full tunnel vision mode and did not react to him, so Jim said, “Excuse me,” in the most intimidating tone he could manage. In general he didn’t like having to resort to it in his football games, preferring to just let his skills do the job of scaring the other team, but he’d still put some work into it in front of a mirror, like he imagined every sports player did at some point. He doubted how effective it would really be in this situation, but if he was going down, he was going to use every weapon in his admittedly meager arsenal first.

  Reeves’ head whipped around to him, and he said, “Oh, right, you.” He then began bringing his gun up, while still holding on to Jane with his other hand. Jane, meanwhile, was trying to push that knife through Reeves’ armor, apparently the only thing she could think to do. And with that, Jim had an idea. He grabbed Reeves’ gun arm with both hands and pushed it away from himself. He was still weak from the shot, but what he had in mind didn’t require much in the way of brute strength. Sure enough, Reeves was soon pushing back against him, with a quite impressive amount of force for just one arm, and he probably could have beaten Jim if the contest had gone on much longer.

  But that wasn’t what Jim had in mind. As soon as Reeves was focusing all his effort on moving his arm sideways, Jim suddenly switched directions and forced it down. The unexpected shift gave him a few seconds where Reeves was caught totally off balance, which he used to push his adversary’s hand toward the spot on his belt he’d just seen the man touch. And it had just the effect he’d hoped: the outfit’s armor mode turned off and the abrupt lack of resistance caused the knife in Jane’s hand to shoot right into his guts. Reeves took a step back, an uncomprehending look on his face, and toppled to the floor.

  * * *

  Jane let go of the knife and backed away, her hands over her mouth. Whatever the man had just been trying to do, the sight of him slumping to the floor, blood seeping from his stomach, and all because of her, was too much for her to take in right now.

  Distantly she heard Jim saying, “Come on!” And looked to see him holding out his hand. She took it and went with him as he led her some distance away.

  After a while they stopped and Jim asked her, “You okay?”

  Jane managed to squeak out, “I think so.”

  Jim gave a brief, sardonic laugh. “Better than that guy, anyway. So, new problem: we’re lost in the middle of a place that’s probably crawling with more people just like him. So, what do we do now?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Matt refused to give up on Jane and Jim. Whatever they’d all said back in the cell, he still felt a good share of the responsibility for them all being here and couldn’t bear the thought of them getting killed because of it. And with the fear of being discovered again keeping him from lashing out at Bram verbally, he was able to devote more brainpower to figuring out the problem. At last, he hit on something and quietly asked Bram, “People here have a way of communicating long distance, don’t they?”

  Bram replied, “Sure. Sub-dermal implants in the ear.”

  Matt blinked and said, “Not quite what I was expecting, but it’ll do. So I guess this is the really important question – how do they work?”

  “First you say the name of the person you want to talk to, although you can also just mouth it. That comes in handy in situations like this. The jaw movement is close enough for the implant to pick up, and it sends a signal to the one that person has. It can get problematic if people have similar names, but with good enunciation, it works pretty well.”

  Matt smiled. “So the signal itself isn’t specific. It can go to anyone?”

  Now Bram seemed to catch on. “As far as I understand, yes. Why, do you people have them, too?”

  “Not quite.” He pulled out his cell phone. “We have these. Probably pretty unimpressive to you, but it does the job. And it may be a long shot, but if these implants you’re talking about use a similar network, it may be able to patch in, and I can call them.”

  Bram replied, “Best not to get your hopes up. I’m not even sure I just explained it properly. Science was never my strong suit.”

  “Well, it’s something. And there’s only one way to find out.” He flipped the phone open and waited tensely as a message about searching for service played. But after about ten seconds, he got some bars and accessed Jane’s newly acquired number. “Here goes nothing,” he said, and hit the dial button.

  * * *

  Jane barely had time to consider Jim’s question before she felt a buzzing in her pocket. “No way,” she said as she pulled her phone out and saw Matt’s name listed as the caller. She accepted the call, and said, “Is that really you?”

  Matt’s voice came back, a bit difficult to hear as he was clearly trying to be as quiet as he could, and there was slight static. “Yeah, turns out we can use these here. It’s kind of complicated. I’ll explain later. So, where are you?”

  Jim was now gesturing that he wanted to listen too. Turning on her speakerphone certainly didn’t seem like a good idea with who knew how many other soldiers wandering around, so instead she let him put his head next to hers. As creepy as it felt at first, it was better than watching him sulk. “Only one of them came after us, and … we got away.” She still didn’t want to think about what she’d done. “After that … I’m not sure. It went on for a bit, though.” She turned to Jim and said, “Were you keeping track of where we went?”

  Jim grinned. “Absolutely. I needed some way to contribute.” Off her look he went on, “That wasn’t a joke.”

  Jane looked him in the eyes. “You already did. Thank you.”

  Matt chimed back in. “Well, whatever that was about, could you tell me, so I can tell Bram?”

  Jim rattled off the number of turns they had made, as well as the few times they hadn’t made one and kept going straight. “Anything to throw them off,” he said. Jane was quite impressed; she doubted she would ever be able to remember all that, even if she hadn’t been … otherwise occupied mentally. It seemed playing sports had actually given him a head for some things.

  Throughout the list, she could faintly hear Matt repeating the directions. There was another slight pause when he was done, and then Bram’s voice came through. “Is this working?” he said hesitantly. “It’s rather primitive compared to what I’m used to.”

  Jane rolled her eyes. “Yes, we can hear you,” she said. “So, can you tell us how to get back to you?”

  “I certainly can. Trouble is, we’re not exactly operating in a vacuum here. There are still patrols through the building, they’ll definitely be looking for us now, and there
’s no way to predict where they’ll be. So you see the problem?”

  Jane sighed. “If we meet any more, we’ll have to run again, and that’ll put us off course.”

  “Absolutely right. So, you’ll have to keep an ear out. If you hear anything, just stop. And then … well, I don’t know quite what these things can do. Could you blow into it for a bit, just lightly?”

  Jane shrugged, and did so.

  Bram replied, “Good, it makes a quite distinctive sound on this end, and shouldn’t attract attention on yours. Just do that if you run into trouble, and talk to me again once you’ve avoided them.”

  Jane couldn’t help saying, “Assuming we do avoid them.”

  Bram replied, “Yeah, I was assuming that. And I’d advise you to do it, too. A positive attitude can make a surprising difference sometimes.”

  “Whatever, it sounds simple enough,” said Jim.

  Jane sighed. “You had to jinx it, didn’t you?”

  * * *

  But as it turned out, they only needed to deal with a patrol once. It was quite a tense few minutes, where Jane felt horribly exposed simply pressed against the wall, with no better place to hide if the soldiers should come their way. The whole time she heard their footsteps getting nearer, though she didn’t dare sneak a look. But either they changed direction or it was just some trick of the hallway’s echoes, as eventually the sound stopped completely, and she and Jim found themselves alone once more.

  There were also two times when Matt and Bram had to move, and if anything, that was even worse. Despite being in no danger herself, she now had to just stand there and hope that things would be okay. Neither time was actually even as long as the one she and Jim had gone through, but it felt so much longer as she had to just wonder if they would be caught, leaving her and Jim trapped, alone and lost, wandering around until they were inevitably captured themselves. They looked at each other a couple times during this period, but neither said a word. Not only were they worried about making things worse by attracting attention to themselves, but they both instinctually understood that they both didn’t need a conversation right now, and it would do nothing to make them feel better. She was very thankful for that, as before now she wouldn’t have thought the dumb jock capable of that kind of empathy.

  But in the end they got through it and were reunited. Jane was quite surprised when Matt ran up and hugged her and just awkwardly said, “I … missed you, too.” Though she did find she actually greatly appreciated the physical gesture.

  Jim held his hands up. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

  Jane sighed. “Oh, don’t ruin the moment,” though with rather less rancor than she’d felt toward him before. They wouldn’t be going steady any time soon or anything, but he’d proved himself a capable team member in her eyes.

  When they were done, Bram went back to business. “And now, if you will, let’s get out of here already. Well, Neserene first, obviously.”

  On their way there, Jane went up to Matt and told him about what had happened with Reeves. “What if he’s dead?” she continued. “What if I killed a man? I know he was a bad man, but all I ever wanted was a normal life, with a good husband, maybe a couple kids. I’m really freaking out here.” She stopped there, not trusting herself to be able to keep her voice down.

  Matt had listened to it all with understanding in his eyes, but only said, “I’m sorry, Jane. That’s really all I can say. I won’t insult you by saying I understand, because I don’t. And I hope I can get through this still not understanding it. But … I’m sorry.”

  Part of Jane was disappointed, but she had to admit she couldn’t really have expected anything better. “Thank you.”

  Bram suddenly stopped short and pulled them all back. “Well, the fun continues. The room with the Neserene is right up ahead, and I do not like our odds of getting in.”

  * * *

  “What do you mean?” Matt asked.

  Bram stared at him hard. “We’ve had good luck so far, so you may have gotten a bit of a false impression of what these guys can do. With all the training that’s gone into their heads, if you don’t catch them completely by surprise, they’ll kill you before you can hit the ground.” He turned to Jane. “If Reeves hadn’t wanted more than just killing you, make no mistake, he would have done it.”

  Matt was naturally shocked at that, but also found himself again hung up on a certain part of Bram’s first statement, and he decided this was as good a time as any to broach the subject that had been bugging him for a while. “In their heads? What do you mean?”

  Bram looked at him blankly. “Seriously?”

  Matt just slowly nodded, now getting a bit annoyed.

  Bram sighed. “You really are way behind us. Those soldiers are trained by subliminal programs. You watch it, and all the knowledge about whatever you want is implanted straight in your brain, like you’ve known it your whole life. In this case, I’m guessing it’s in the finer points of several armed and unarmed combats. Call it a hunch.”

  Jim asked, “So, how many are we talking about?”

  “From what I saw before ducking back in terror, about ten. Apparently they had the idea that this would be a high priority for you. I’m sorry, but there’s no way we’re getting in there.”

  Jane said, “Wait a minute. So the things we need to live past a week in this place are not an option at all?”

  “That’s what I’m saying.”

  She threw her hands up. “Every time I think this day can’t get any worse. So what now?”

  Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Matt said, “We can’t stay here. Even if we would have gotten out fine, that’s not an option anymore.” He took a moment to glare at Bram. There was plenty of blame to go around here.

  Bram didn’t flinch. “Like I said before, all this really was your only shot. But you’re right; we can’t stay here either. So the only thing that comes to mind now is you come with me. Back to the resistance.”

  Jim, clearly having trouble keeping his voice down, said, “And die in a week, of about the most painful stuff I’ve ever heard of? I’m not seeing how this is a good plan.”

  Bram replied, “It’s not. But maybe there will be another opportunity to get our hands on some Neserene in the next six days. Or even get you back home. Hold on to that hope, because it really is your only chance.”

  Matt wanted to argue. But as soon as any thought entered his head, it evaporated. He had to face the simple truth: there was no easy way out of this anymore. And so he simply nodded, and Jane and Jim followed. They were now on borrowed time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  With everyone together again, at least the rest of the way out of the building wasn’t very hard. Bram could now devote his full attention to keeping them away from more patrols and he seemed to have a preternatural sense about it. Matt supposed he had done this kind of thing many times before. Along with his finding a few more air vents to get past problematic areas, he soon led them to a small, brightly lit room. Matt was confused at first, but as soon as he opened his mouth to ask what was going on, Bram quickly turned to them and put a finger to his lips.

  Bram then put two fingers to his throat and pushed, in a way that Matt couldn’t help but think looked uncomfortable. He winced, but was then surprised to hear Bram say, “Street level” in a completely different voice. The light momentarily got brighter and then returned to its usual level. Matt was again about to ask what this was all about, but then he turned back to look out the door they came in, where he could see a very different view than what should be there. Rather than the same hallways they’d been going through until now, there was a large room, and then transparent doors through which he could see the outdoors. It could almost have been a city from his world, with a street and buildings behind it. He realized they were at the building’s exit.

  As they all moved forward, Matt asked, “What was that?”

  Bram replied, “Teleporter. You don’t have those either?” He was back to his u
sual voice.

  Matt, Jane, and Jim all shook their heads, though Matt then said, “We’ve had the idea, though. Moving things instantly from one place to another.”

  Bram actually smiled a little. “Good, that’s a load off my job for once. It’s the only way any floors in here are connected. Makes for a handy security system – bring in anyone whose voice isn’t recognized by the system, and they can’t get out again without your help. It’s why they don’t worry too much about people getting inside any of the teleporters, as you could probably tell by how we didn’t have to get past anyone to get here. Luckily, we’ve gotten our hands on some voice samples. They don’t last long once they’re implanted, but the source recordings can be duplicated as many times as we need. Surgery’s a pain, though.”

  Jim shuddered. “Yeah, I can imagine. I saw a kid hit in the throat by a football once. Not something I want to see again.”

  Bram blinked, taken completely off guard by the interjection. “Whatever. Point is, there’s the door, so there’s just one more thing I’ve got to do before we get out of here. Stay back a moment.”

  He stepped toward the door and paused a couple of feet away. Part of the wall next to the door extended towards him in a way that was startlingly familiar by now, with a circle-shaped set of small holes in it, looking surprisingly like a regular intercom. Bram breathed into them and it promptly retreated back. A few seconds passed, and then the door opened. “Come on!” he said, and ran forward at a speed that made it clear time was a priority. The three all got the message and ran after him, after which the door closed behind them. But Bram kept going, so they still followed, unable to take in any of their surroundings until he stopped in an alley a minute later. Matt was oddly disappointed to see that it appeared indistinguishable from something he could easily find in any big city in his world.