by Ryan Lohner
None of the three were in a position to ask questions, having gotten quite winded from the run. But Bram didn’t seem fazed at all and now predicted what they were thinking. “Same surgery that inserts the voice module also puts in trace amounts of saliva with the DNA of someone who can open the front door. It’s pretty gross if you think about it. I try not to.”
By then Jim was able to speak again; being a football player clearly had its advantages. Through his puffing he got out, “Well, it’s nice that we’re out and about and all. Except we’re stuck in a strange universe, we have six days to get out of it, and we have no idea how we’re going to do that.”
Bram side-eyed him. “Who are you, the narrator?”
“No, it’s just that we’re so screwed that I still can’t quite wrap my head around it.”
Jane, now recovered herself, said, “Oh, shut up. Okay, wise leader, what’s the plan?”
Bram again looked amusingly surprised. “What are … ah, I’m just letting that go. Like I said, we go back to the resistance. There’s an entrance not far from here. Not many people like to think about what goes on in the low level.”
He gestured around, and while Matt had earlier been preoccupied with their predicament, he could now see there was a level of garbage and filth around them that seemed a bit above average.
“It can’t all be like this,” Matt said.
Bram chuckled. “Nah, this is one of the good parts of town. This close to an important building, like the one the corridor’s in, they put up some pretense of cleaning up the area. Everywhere else …” He shook his head. “Everything stays where it’s thrown. Well, time’s wasting.” And he walked off, not even bothering to gesture to them.
Matt looked at Jane and Jim, shrugged, and set off to follow him. “So, how is that possible?” he asked. “I mean, before long it would just mean no one could live anywhere, right?”
Bram said, “Oh, we’ve come up with ways to take care of it. Specially designated drop zones, mostly. I’ve heard that out in the country, they use the rivers. I guess they’re really confident in how much processing their drinking water goes through.”
Matt certainly noticed the smell getting progressively worse as they moved on. Far more than the amount of refuse visible would seem to account for, in fact. When he asked Bram about this, he replied, “A lot of stuff’s been made to rot now. Another way it works. Unfortunately, the smell stays for a while.”
“You don’t seem to mind it,” Jim grumbled, rather high-pitched as he rubbed his nose.
Bram shrugged. “You live out here as long as me, it gets so you barely notice it. But don’t envy that. It’s actually the worst part, as far as I’m concerned.”
* * *
Jane had long since given up trying to figure out how long they’d been walking. Everything looked the same, just one dank, squalid street after another: occasionally with the bonus of half-rotted debris scattered around. But the worst part, even more than the smell, was the feel of the air. It felt … sticky against her skin, somehow. Like it actually would take effort to move through it. She imagined that if she ever got to take a shower again, she would see pounds of oil spilling down the drain. But no, that just got her thinking about showers in general, not a very good idea right now. During that phase when she had tried to fit in with her brothers, they had imagined stories set in other universes with glamorous heroics. If only they could see her now. If she ever did get back, she was so going to shove this in their faces; it didn’t matter if she had any chance of being believed.
They didn’t see many other people about, and the few they did see avoided them, briefly peeking out of windows before heading back inside. After the first couple of instances of this, Bram said, “People tend to keep to themselves here. Don’t get attached, and there’s one less person who’ll hurt if something happens to them. Or worse, do something to you themselves. And with things the way they are, odds are pretty good that’ll happen. It doesn’t mean they’re bad people. They’re just in a situation that would make anyone do those things. At least that’s how I deal with what a couple … friends of mine have done.”
No one felt much like talking after that, so they just silently continued trudging through the banality of the average person’s life in the city of Krell, trying to think of anything but how little time they had to “enjoy” it.
None of them knew quite how long it took, but finally Bram spoke again. “Well, we’re here.”
Jim said, “What do you mean? I can’t see an entrance anywhere.” It was true: they were just on a desolate street like all the others they’d walked down, with nothing unusual in sight.
Bram had a quite condescending tone as he replied, “And what kind of secret headquarters would it be if anyone could see it from outside?”
Jim looked suitably abashed; even Jane had known better than to say something like that.
Bram walked to a seemingly random part of the street and stomped repeatedly, in what Jane soon realized was something like Morse Code, though from what little of that code she could remember, it made no sense. Of course, nothing said the code had been created the same way in Krell. After a few seconds, she abruptly felt like her stomach was dropping through the floor as reality itself seemed to shift around them. The buildings, the street, and the garbage all distorted, stretching and squashing in odd patterns until the effect became quite nauseating. It was like seeing a transit corridor open up from the inside.
Then everything mutated into an entirely new form, though it was several seconds before Jane could make any sense of it. Eventually it settled into a stark concrete room with a single door. And, she was quite thankful to see, a bucket in one corner, because her stomach still seemed to be going through whatever had just happened. But both Matt and Jim beat her to it and had a bit of a fight to use it that Jim won. Matt went next, and Jane was barely able to hold it in when her turn finally came. She then turned away, suddenly conscious of how unladylike she had just been and wanting as little to do with what had just happened as possible. “A little warning, please?” she choked out at Bram.
He had the grace to look embarrassed. “Yeah, sorry. I forgot about that part. It’s been a while since I brought any new people here. See, the teleporter we used to get to the street is the latest model, quick and painless. For our headquarters, we have to make do with an earlier one, before they figured out how to make it easy on the digestion. It takes a few trips before you can start handling it.”
Jane now saw that Bram looked slightly green himself, though nowhere near how Matt and Jim, and, she was sure, herself, looked.
Jim said, “You mean we’ve got to do that again to get out of here?”
Bram nodded gravely. “If there was another way, we’d use it. Unfortunately, there isn’t. Anyway, welcome to headquarters.”
Chapter Fourteen
“So, no fancy name for it or anything?” asked Jim.
Bram gave him a level stare. “As a matter of fact, no, wise guy. We’re a little too busy trying to survive to come up with one. Look, just come with me.”
They followed him through the door, which Matt was surprised to see was just a hole in the wall. He’d gotten surprisingly used to doorways that melded into part of the wall when closed. Outside was a hall lit by one of those floating balls he’d seen when this all started. He couldn’t help saying, “It was those things that really got me interested in following this thing up.” Another thought hit him, and he went on, “Well, that’s not really true. I would have kept looking for Dave. But they sure didn’t help with my curiosity.”
Bram said, “Another thing you don’t have where you come from, huh? I’ll have to make a whole list. They’re called luxium orbs. Each one is self-sustaining for months. Lucky for us, since this whole place is underground.”
That brought them all up short. “What, you mean, all of it?” said Jane.
Bram nodded. “We are now completely closed off from the surface, except for the teleporter. And t
here are some major safeguards on that, let me tell you. It’s the only way we can be reasonably sure no one finds this place.”
Matt said, “But that doesn’t make any sense, though. How did it get built? Where’s the air coming from?”
For once, Bram didn’t seem annoyed at all. Matt supposed it was because they were finally on a topic even people from Krell might find weird.
“I joined up after it was built, but I’m assured from the older members that it took some doing. They had to start blind, setting an opposite end of the teleporter underground and pulling things out, and at the same time they sent support structures in so the whole thing didn’t collapse. I’m not sure myself about the air thing, all I know is the place works, and trying to figure it out makes my head spin too much to want to know any more. But our leader is the kind of guy who can pull it off. That was a big part of what got me on board.”
Suddenly Matt had the sensation of countless tons of rock above his head, ready to come crashing down. “Just how deep is it?”
Bram shrugged. “That’s another thing that’s never mattered much to me, as long as it works the way it’s supposed to. For instance, this hall we’re in was set up in case one of the general’s people ever did find their way down here. The door ahead would seal, and we’d gas them.”
He pointed overhead, and Matt could make out a series of holes in the ceiling.
“It’s nasty stuff, but luckily, you’re with me.”
Somehow that didn’t provide much comfort.
They reached the door at the end of the hall and Bram slapped it using an open palm. Catching the others’ looks, he said, “Try to hit this thing with your knuckles and you won’t make that mistake again.”
“Booby-trapped?” asked Matt.
“No, it just hurts like hell. And now if you’ll all be quiet for a second …”
A voice came from the other side of the door. “Password?” It sounded female.
Bram just laughed a bit before saying, “Oh come on, Lilah, open up.”
The door opened, revealing a tall black woman with a giant smile, wearing a grey pullover suit. Matt realized that this was the first time he’d seen anyone in this world out of armor.
“That is correct, sir,” she said, and then turned to look at them. Her expression drooped. “Dare I hope they’re more useful than they look?”
Jim coughed. “We’re standing right here, actually.”
Lilah turned her gaze to him, though it wasn’t quite as hard as Matt was expecting.
“Absolutely. And considering all this nice young man did to get you here, I’d like to know what the results were. You can understand that, right?”
“I suppose,” Jim muttered.
She turned back to Bram. “Well?”
Bram shook his head. “I’m sorry. Turns out they’re just some random kids who stumbled into this whole thing.”
Lilah put her hands on her hips. “Seriously.”
“Yes.”
Suddenly the smile was back. “Not quite what I was expecting, but we can’t exactly be choosy, can we?” She turned back to Matt and the others. “So, you’re from a whole other universe, huh? I’d certainly like to know more about that, but first I suppose you’d like something to eat.”
Matt didn’t know what to say. Everyone he’d met so far today had been clear at a glance, at least, as much as he’d seen of them. But this woman just confused him. Even the kind of mood she was in right now eluded him.
Thankfully, Jane spoke up. “Actually, yes. Thank you.”
Lilah gestured behind her and said, “Right this way.”
Matt had unconsciously braced himself for another long walk, but while the door opened onto a perpendicular hall with several other doors in it, Lilah led them to the first one on the right. “Right in here,” she said and opened it for them.
The new room had five benches, occupied by a few other people. Lilah led them to the side and another door, where Matt picked up a smell of food. That was the most he could say about it; it seemed like so many different smells mixed together that none could be picked out. At least it was an improvement over outside.
“Hey, Sam!” she called, and an old, but wiry-looking man wearing an apron came out.
“New customers, huh?” he said. “Heard about our glamorous lives and couldn’t resist?”
There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye and Matt decided this was the first person he’d met in Krell who he could wholeheartedly like.
“Actually, it’s a bit more interesting than that,” said Lilah. “I don’t have the whole story myself, so why don’t you take it from here, kids?”
Matt, Jane, and Jim just looked at each other for a few seconds. Then Jim said, “One of you go first. I’m just off to the side in this thing so far.”
Matt elected to start. He didn’t want to take too long, because Lilah’s statement had gotten to him and he was feeling quite hungry. But Lilah and Sam having little understanding of the world he came from necessitated several stops along the way. On occasion Jane butted in, while Jim stayed completely out of it. Matt didn’t know which he found more irritating.
When the story was done, Lilah and Sam looked remarkably composed. Well naturally, Matt thought a second later. They were from this place, where a parallel universe was just a fact of life. He’d noticed Sam look a bit disappointed as he revealed how little use he and the others could actually be, but just like Lilah, he seemed to quickly get over it. And now that Matt was finished, he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “So can we eat now?” Then he winced as he realized how rudely he had come off.
But neither Lilah nor Sam seemed fazed by it. “Naturally,” said Sam with a bright smile. “Just have a seat and I’ll get you something.”
“Wait a minute,” said Jim. Matt was on the verge of an outburst until he continued, “What exactly is the food here? Because, no offense, but I’m guessing you don’t really get much in the way of gourmet.” Then he just wondered how that hadn’t occurred to him. Peckishness had a way of focusing the mind.
Sam gave a little chuckle. “Better than you might think, young man. See, I’m a janitor at a place called Jasper’s. My whole life given to that place, no one ever noticed me, or thought to tell me what a good job I was doing. No, I was just something no one wanted to look at, so they could pretend it wasn’t there. Well, one day, one of the boys from this place here comes in looking for somewhere to hide. He’d gotten careless and General Spencer’s men were after him. I looked at him, and I saw a scared kid, full of potential that might get snuffed out, just like mine was bit by bit. Well, I just decided then and there that I wanted to help him, and others like him. And of course, maybe stick it to those people who thought I was nothing, while they enjoyed how clean I made the place.
“Anyway, I’ve still got that job. Which is lucky for these people, because anything the customers send back that’s supposed to get thrown out, I bring down here. Or maybe something fresh, if I think I can get away with stealing it. It’s worked out pretty well so far, if I say so myself.” He beamed at them like a proud father.
Lilah was now smiling again, too. “Oh, this guy will go on if you let him. So, Sam, to get back on topic, what’s on the menu?”
“The usual fixings. Corn, noodles, broccoli, onions.” He turned to Matt’s group and said, “I honestly don’t know why they bother to put them on the plates sometimes with how much comes back untouched.” Then his smile grew bigger. “Or if you’re in the mood, quite a big supply of decapus. Some spoiled brats ordered it, and then they decided they didn’t like it after one bite. Their loss. I’ve always thought the things are quite a treat.”
“Never heard of them,” said Jim.
“Oh, you don’t know what you’re missing,” said Sam. “Ten tentacles, suckers, squirt ink?”
Matt got it, so he stepped in and said, “Yeah, we have something similar.” He was getting hungrier by the minute, and this was the last thing they needed to get sidetrack
ed on right now. “I think I’ll have some of that.”
Jane seconded the choice, while Jim said, “No thanks, I’m not feeling quite that hungry. Just the sides, please.”
Matt was surprised, but decided not to make anything of it. If he actually somehow wasn’t hungry it was none of Matt’s business, and if he was but was pretending for whatever reason, that was his own problem.
“All right, I’ll be right back,” Sam said and walked back through the door.
Lilah sat with them as they waited. She now looked more serious than ever before as she said, “I promise, I’ll do whatever I can to help you. And I can say the same for everyone else here.”
Matt appreciated the sentiment, but she had actually just killed the mood, as he’d managed to at least not have the idea of his impending horrible death at the front of his mind for the last couple of minutes. Still, the last thing he wanted right now was to antagonize any of these people, so he just said, “Thanks. And I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say we’ll do whatever we can to help. Though I don’t think it’ll be much, honestly.”
That was when Sam arrived with the food and Matt saw that “decapus” indeed looked exactly like octopus, at least when it was cut up on a plate. He supposed it was some evolutionary descendant. He’d never had octopus before, but right now he wasn’t prepared to be picky. And though the squishiness could be hard to get past, he found it pretty good once he managed it.
Jane seemed to be enjoying hers as well, and she even said to Jim, stuck with just rice and corn, “Jealous?”
Jim took a bite before saying, “No, in fact. Those things look disgusting, and I’m perfectly fine with this.” He returned to his food with a smug grin.
Lilah said, “We actually have a fighting technique named after them. The decapus squeeze. Very hard to pull off, but pretty effective if you can manage it. Maybe you can learn it if we have time.”