Gunfire started pelting just outside the little alcove they stood in and in the spot where Anna had just stood. Kent pulled out his weapon again and took cover. He fired twice and yelled out to Liszt and Nik, “I’m going last so I can cover you two and I don’t have any more tricks. You two have got to go.”
Nik looked over at Liszt, who was shaking his head staring at the portal. “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…” the scientist was repeating. Kent fired a couple more shots and looked at Nik and yanked his head toward the portal, strongly indicating that he should get moving.
Nik went over to Liszt and took his hand. “We’ll go together. Come on.” Liszt was still reluctant. Nik had to pull on his hand, but he came. It was like leading a reluctant toddler. It could be done, but it wasn’t easy. Liszt didn’t seem to be thinking very clearly at the moment. Kent continued to trade fire with some unseen assailants, keeping himself between the gunshots and Nik and Liszt.
Nik almost had Liszt there and Kent turned quickly and shouted, “Go, Now!”
Nik grabbed Liszt’s hand firmly in and launched himself toward the portal. Out of the corner of his eye, he registered Kent’s head exploding and heard a loud, low pop sound coming from the direction of the shooters. In moments he was somewhere else, and was hurled forcibly away from the portal. The last thing he saw before passing out was the strange sight of only half Dr. Liszt behind him on the floor and Dr. Anna screaming.
Blink.
_____
Blink.
“Smith.”
In a moment, he was there. “Yes, Nik. I’m here.”
“Kent is dead.” The voice Nik heard was hoarse, ragged.
“I guessed as much. How are you feeling?”
“I have a headache and I’m thirsty again. My leg hurts and, everything else is sore. Did someone use me for a punching bag?”
“I think you were hit by an explosion. We felt a bit of it over here, but it literally hurled you through. I think Liszt got the worst of it.”
Liszt. “What happened to him?”
“It’s not pretty, Nik. I don’t even really know how to describe what came out of that portal behind you. Anna’s really messed up right now and we need her to be able to function.”
Nik shook his head. “What about the portal? Are they coming after us?”
“Oh, I’m sure they’re coming after us, but they destroyed that one. That’s why we need Anna. We need to figure out how this place works.
This place? Nik pulled his head up and looked. It must be the cave Kent had been talking about. There were rocks on all sides, but the hallway was well lit and the floors were level. And one more thing.
There were mirrors everywhere.
Adjusting and Discovering
Smith knew time was running short and he needed to figure out something soon. Wherever this cave was, it was enemy territory and the enemy was looking deadly today. Nik wasn’t looking like he would be of any help any time soon and Anna…she was a mess.
Smith wouldn’t wish the sight of what happened to Liszt on anyone, but Anna had worked side by side with the man for years. As far as Smith could tell it was a platonic relationship, but the two were close.
Smith decided on the only course of action he knew. Soldiering on.
“Anna,” he said, coming up behind her shaking form. She had found a corner and had her arms folded, facing inward. Facing away from the covered remains of her friend.
No response. He had to break into that shell she was building. He knew what to do with a fellow agent, or before that, a fellow soldier, but Dr. Anna was no soldier. She hadn’t signed on for this. She wasn’t conditioned to see the effects of war firsthand.
Smith wasn’t sure if he himself was conditioned to see what had happened to Liszt. There are things that should just not happen to a person, and Liszt...it turned his stomach just thinking about the analyst and what had happened to him between one world and the next.
Smith put his hand on her shoulder, and said the name he knew lay beneath the anonymity the Agency provided.
“Marie. Marie Hannah Anderson. I need you.”
She reached up with her opposite hand and squeezed his palm. For a few moments, they stood there, he trying to relieve her grief, and she trying to forget what she’d seen. The shaking calmed a bit, and she turned toward him. A little. Her eyes were red, her face consumed with the pain of grief.
“Marie? They’re going to come here sooner or later. Probably as soon as they can. I need you to help me figure this place out.”
She gripped his hand even harder, steeled herself and cleared her throat. “No more Anna,” she said. She paused a moment and repeated herself. “Please Smith, don’t call me Anna anymore. There’s no more Liszt. And I need to remember who I am right now. Who I am without a badge.” She looked straight into his eyes, the pain inside her reaching into him.
Smith nodded. “I can live with that. Marie?”
She sniffed a bit and nodded, beginning to walk over to the closest portal device. “Do you see this conduit?” she asked, referring to some wiring coming out of the side.
Smith followed where she led and said, “Yes. I see it.”
Anna—now Marie—pointed, her finger following the conduit as it joined other wires. “It all joins together and leads somewhere. Where?”
Smith nodded, “Now that’s a really good question.” The two left Nik and the body behind and began following the conduit bundle until it all converged in a box in the ceiling. One single yellow wire came out of that box and continued down the corridor.
“I would guess that would be a router station. We keep on following the yellow wire, I think,” Marie said.
They followed until the yellow wire became three and then multiplied again as they passed other corridors or side caverns. It wasn’t long before they found themselves at a door with a window looking into a large room filled with consoles. Smith tried the door, and it opened.
They walked in and found screens everywhere describing various departure and landing positions and a lot of symbology that did not look familiar to Smith. “Do you have any idea what to do here?” he asked.
The former Anna shrugged. “I think I could figure it out if I had enough time. How much do you think we have?”
“Minutes or less,” Smith answered.
Anna/Marie got a determined look and started playing around on one of the consoles.
Smith decided to let her at her task and started looking around, keeping his gun at the ready. The room was fairly large and well-lit and there were two doors on the opposite side from where they came in. He walked up to the one on the left and checked inside. That one was a rest room. He moved on to the other door and opened it to find a hallway with doors on each side leading around a corner. Great. More checking.
He started walking towards the first door when another door down the hall opened with a click. Smith slipped up beside the door and flattened himself against the wall next to it. The next thing Smith saw were hands holding a clipboard coming out the doorway. Smith grabbed the closest hand, pulled it forcibly out the door as the person belonging to the hand stumbled out. Smith put his leg out to trip him and slammed a shoulder to the floor.
He heard a “whuff” and a groan from the man he held down with a knee in the small of the back.
Smith placed the barrel of the gun next to the man’s ear. “How many others are here?” He asked.
“It’s just me,” the man said into the floor. “Everyone else was called away for an emergency. Smith? Is that you?”
Smith relaxed and let him up. “Okay. Get up. Just checking.”
“For just checking that hurt a lot.” The other man sat up and Smith swallowed as a man who could have been Liszt’s twin got up from the floor. “I mean after you cold cocked me earlier I wouldn’t put it past you.”
Smith paused. The man didn’t know he wasn’t the Smith from this world. He thought for a second about keeping up the charade, but time was
of the essence.
“I hate to break it to you, but I’m not the Smith you know. As far as I know he died on my world about fifteen minutes ago.”
The other man—Liszt?—looked shocked. “And was it my guys who did it?”
“Yes. At least that’s what he thought was happening.”
The guy looked spooked. “All those guys who left are coming back here soon,” he said. “This is their home base.”
Smith thought he detected something in the tone of voice. “So, what’s your name here, bud? Are you Liszt or some other name?”
“Franz, but I’ve gone by Hoppy for years. And my name is my name. We don’t have code names in the technical services department.”
Ah. Hoppy for the last name of Hoppenweiler. Check. “So, tell me about what happens when these men return. What’s got you on edge?”
Franz, or Hoppy as he wanted to be called, lost some composure. “These guys are sending this world to hell in a handbasket and I have to work with them. Wall, Street, and Smith were the only ones left standing in their way. My best friend Marie was left as a sitting duck in an operation run by some of them.”
He looked up at Smith. “If they come back, I don’t think I’ll be around much longer. They know I have a history with Marie, and even if I try to keep my head down and play the good soldier I think it’s only a matter of time before I’m expendable. I can’t get off base, and even if I could I can’t escape from The Agency for long.”
Smith made his decision right there. It was pragmatic really. At this point, the options were limited. “Do you think you could lock this base down? Keep anybody from coming in here?”
Hoppy shook his head. “Not by myself. There are too many variables and too many outside controls. My former partner could have done it in a snap.”
Smith grabbed Hoppy’s elbow and pulled him along. “There’s someone you have to meet. I don’t know if we can lock this thing down or not, but either way, this place is about to explode.”
_____
Nik knew that Smith and Anna had gone away, but he was still working on being able to sit up without throwing up. The initial shock of being hurled forcibly through the portal was beginning to wear off, but was not happening as quickly as he’d like.
“What do you think?” A female voice whispered several yards away.
“I don’t know. Can we trust any of them?” That one sounded like a boy. Teenagers. As a high school teacher, Nik was very familiar with that timbre of voice. There was the question of what a couple of teenagers were doing in a place like this, but then for what it was worth, what was he doing there?
The pair was obviously spooked or they wouldn’t be trying to hide from him. Nik wondered what he looked like to them. The whispering was a little obvious.
“I can hear you,” he called out. The next thing he heard was the sound of scampering feet. He hoped he didn’t scare them too far away. He made the effort to open his eyes and look around. It was the same as before. He was in a cavern filled with mirrors—perhaps better called portals now—and the machinery that was necessary to support this place. The kids weren’t visible but he knew they were there.
He leaned forward, put one hand on the floor and another on his knee and struggled to stand up.
He called out to the air, “It’s all right. I’m a high school teacher in my town. Besides, look at me.”
Nik pushed up on his knee and lost his balance, slipping and landing on his butt again. An awkward teenage boy materialized from behind a nearby outcropping of rock and hurried over.
A girl popped out as well but stayed well back from Nik. “Braden!” she called out insistently. “What are you doing?”
The boy turned briefly to talk to his friend before continuing. “I’m going to help him Jodi. It’s the right thing to do.”
He reached Nik and helped him to his feet.
Nik reached out to shake his hand. “Thanks, Braden. I appreciate the kindness there.”
The young man—perhaps 15 or 16 years old—shrugged a little and mumbled, “You’re welcome, mister.”
Although it wasn’t said in an unfinished way, Nik’s teacher instincts took over. “Davidson,” he supplied. “My name is Nik Davidson. You can call me Nik if you’d like.”
The boy nodded a little “Ok. Nik...Mr. Davidson? Can you tell us where we are?”
Nik frowned a little. How best to answer that with the little information he had? He noticed the girl was edging closer.
“Well, Braden,” he answered the boy as he leaned on him, “As far as we know this is Grand Central Station for portals that can transport people from one dimension to another. I honestly don’t know why there are so many here, and I’m almost entirely sure this is not my home world anymore.”
The teen looked frozen in place. The girl came closer. “What did he say?” she asked.
Braden looked lost in thought. She came even closer. “What did he say, Braden?” Braden sat down so she looked up at Nik. “What did you say?”
Nik smiled at her to try to break the news gently. “I told him that I think I’m not on my own world anymore. I think he might be thinking the same thing. Do you?”
“The door,” she whispered.
“What door?” Nik asked.
“We were spelunking a cave,” she answered.
“And we found a door in the cave that didn’t belong there.” Braden finished. “It didn’t feel right but we weren’t paying too much attention at the time.”
That must have been the cave that Kent was telling them about. That explained how they arrived, but Nik was still wondering which world they came from. He didn’t know how to answer that question at the moment. He considered asking who the president was, but he was beginning to question everything he’d heard on his little jaunt to the other side of his bathroom mirror. He decided one question ought to cover everything he needed to know.
“Braden, fill in the blank. I throw my hands up in the air sometimes….”
Braden looked confused. “Um...saying Hey-O? Gotta let go?”
“How about the name of the President?”
The girl (Jodi was it?) piped up, “Everybody knows that. Barack Obama.”
The answer was good enough for Nik. He decided right then and there the two kids were from his version of reality. “Okay. Sorry for that. So you walked in?” he asked. “No portal?”
Jodi answered. “When we went through the door it felt like walking through a bunch of cobwebs. We explored a bit and came back and then couldn’t get out. We didn’t even know what they were until we saw those guys going through.”
That caught Nik’s attention. “What guys?”
The two kids looked at each other. “Well there was this one guy. I think I just saw him leaving?” Nik only nodded to keep her talking. No use in confusing these kids with the doubles right now.
“Anyway, we saw him come in through a portal and then after he came in he left again. A little while later there was an alarm sound and a whole bunch of guys came down the hall with all sorts of guns and went through the same portal as the other guy.”
Nik had a thought that was suddenly worth exploring. “Can you show me where that portal is?”
The girl nodded fast. “Yes sir. It’s not that far.”
“Good.” He nudged the boy. “Braden, would you be so good as to bend over and pick up that gun next to the backpack for me?”
Braden hesitated, as if shocked that an adult would ask him to pick up a firearm—admittedly an awkward question to ask, but then went ahead and got it. While facing that direction, he noticed the stained towels and the covered figure several paces away. He looked questioningly back at Nik.
Nik held out his hands. “We had a friend who didn’t make it through the portal in one piece. It was very messy. Trust me, you don’t want to look.”
The kid didn’t look convinced and Nik didn’t want to waste the time to convince him. “Tell you what. You brin
g the gun along. If I need it, I’ll ask you for it.” He turned towards the girl, leaving the boy to process that thought. “Lead on. I want to see where this portal is.”
She started walking and Nik followed. He spared a glance to see the teenage boy holding the gun awkwardly down and away, but following behind Nik as well.
The place was impressive. Built in a cave, obviously, the walls were lined with mirrors that were all roughly the size of a door—about seven feet tall and two and a half feet wide. Many jutted out at odd angles due to the shape of the cave they were in. Sometimes they would have just enough space to walk through between two mirrors. There was support machinery behind mirrors at various intervals with wiring conduit everywhere. With cave offshoots going every which way, it seemed a person could get lost in the labyrinth of reflectivity.
Luckily for Nik and his aches the kids were right, it was a fairly short walk. They rounded a corner, took an offshoot, rounded another corner and Jodi pointed at a mirror with a red light lit up on the top of it. The other devices in the vicinity didn’t have any sign that they were anything more than mirrors at the moment. The light was part of a device that appeared on all the mirrors present. It reminded Nik of the devices that Kent had placed on the mirror in the warehouse, but in this case, more integral to the portal.
Braden caught up to them a moment later, gun still held awkwardly pointed down towards the floor. It was increasingly obvious that he had never handled a gun before and being around the thing made him very nervous. “What’s so important about seeing this portal?” he asked Nik.
“At first, curiosity. But I thought of something on the way over here.” He paused a moment, taking a breath. “I believe that the second group of guys you saw leaving are responsible for our friend not making it through the portal alive.”
He let that sink in a moment while the two kids started to get a frantic look in their eyes.
“What can we do?” Jodi asked. Braden looked down at the object in his hand.
“If we can shut this thing off, I think it would be a good idea,” Nik said.
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