by Jake Bible
“Geological chaos,” Tressa said.
“Geological chaos that is increasing exponentially,” Bloom said. The globe paused on the location of the Russian bubble. “Unbeknownst to anyone, the Russians began mining close to their bubble two years ago.” He held up a hand as mouths opened to ask questions. The mouths closed quickly. “One year ago, almost precisely when the trouble here in Wyoming occurred, the Russian’s bubble started to collapse in on itself, cutting their base off from our time. Being the Russians, they had a backup plan in place.”
The globe spun slowly and several of the red dots turned into red Xs.
“They moved on other countries’ bubbles and took them over. Starting with Korea then China then Japan. Once they secured those, they moved on to the Southern Hemisphere before returning to the Northern Hemisphere. As you all know, tech is unreliable long distances Flipside so none of the bases had any warning the Russians were coming.”
Bloom pointed at the ten combots that stood off to the side of the group.
“Japan, Korea, Argentina, Australia, India, the Netherlands, Iran, Brazil, China, and the U.S.,” Bloom continued. “Those are all that survived. The smaller countries, the ones that relied on international support to maintain their bubbles, were wiped out and the Flipside bases were overtaken.” Bloom grimaced. “I misspeak. All bases have been overtaken, but the ones I named, as well as a few others, managed to get personnel out and to relative safety before the Russians killed everyone. The treaties stated that if there was ever a collapse of a base then the country afflicted was to go to the next base. And the next. And the next until they could find help. Your West Coast was only a destination if there was a collapse on a global level. Which there was. One by one, survivors from each country began to arrive. I had made the call, due to our limited resources, to send our ships directly to the last resort location. I’d gleaned from the Russians that we were not the first base to be overrun. Once we established defenses, we sent an envoy to come speak with your people. That was when I met Ms. Lakshmi Lawrence and she told us everything we had feared was happening. She also was the only person that was aware of what you call the micro-turns, with the help of your unique artificial intelligence system.”
“Brain,” Cash said.
“Yes. That,” Bloom said. “I’m afraid I do not fully trust that Brain, but I do trust Lakshmi. We told her everything we knew, she relayed it to Brain, and that is how we know the Russians’ mining is directly affecting the bubbles. Brain does not know how or why, just that there is a direct correlation. Brain also was able to deduce what we believe are the Russians’ motivations for their actions.”
“Getting rich off past resources,” Tressa said. “Trust me, my father considered—”
“World domination in our time,” Bloom stated. “The mining of resources was so they could build up their munitions and supplies. The taking of the other bubbles was so they could then attack countries from within and there would be almost no way to stop them. The fact is, security set up in our time is designed to contain and neutralize any zoological encroachment from Flipside. No one, including us and you Americans, ever thought a foreign power would be able to use the bubbles against us.”
“I’m going to have to ask,” Ivy said. “Apologies for the interruption, but how can the Russians accomplish all of that? Within the bubbles, tech works, but is still iffy. Outside the bubbles? As in traveling the globe and launching full-scale military operations? No way.”
“You met the Russian combots, yes?” Bloom asked.
“Yes,” Ivy replied.
“But you haven’t had time to study them. We have. Or, more precisely, Lakshmi and Brain have,” Bloom said. “The Russians have developed shielding tech that keeps the control systems of machines intact and free from atmospheric and temporal interference. It is considerably more complicated than that, but in essence, the Russians found a way to go global while we were all focused locally. Getting caught by surprise was the least of our problems. They nearly wiped us out with tech they should not have been able to transport across the distances that they did.”
“How’d you get your tech here?” Cash asked.
“We stole from them,” Bloom said with a grin. “Lakshmi and her techs have been working around the clock to duplicate the technology and incorporate it into our own machines. A happy accident was she also discovered how to wipe clean and repurpose the Russians’ own combots.”
“Good thing,” Ivy said. “We weren’t going to last long with the amount of teeth that kept coming at us.”
“Yes, about that,” Bloom said. “Packs of teeth, as you call them, are not the priority.”
“Gonna argue there, Commander,” Cash said.
“We have evacuated the West Coast and are moving everyone inland here,” Bloom said.
“Oh,” Cash replied. “Russians?”
“A flotilla of destroyers should be reaching the coast within the month,” Bloom said. “They will not find us where they believe us to be. Remember, they knew about the backup location too. We would have escaped by ship, but we haven’t been able to incorporate their tech into the ships’ engines yet and without it, we would be using engines barely better than steam power, literally, and they would have caught up to us eventually.”
“Jesus Christ,” Cash said. “So you are sending everyone here? Have you heard of the Alamo, Commander?”
“Yes, Operator Bellows was kind enough to use that analogy a few weeks ago when we first discussed our options,” Bloom said. “He shut up quickly when his wife told us why coming here was our only option.”
“She’s going to close the bubbles,” Tressa said. “Brain figured out how and she’s here to make sure it happens. Our bubble was the first to appear and the first on the global rotation. We’re ground zero.”
“Yes,” Bloom stated.
He cleared his throat then gave everyone an honest and open look of apology.
“Now, when I said packs of teeth are not the priority, I did not mean they are not a severe threat,” Bloom said after a couple of seconds of awkward silence. “They are a threat and one we will need to deal with soon.”
Bloom stood up.
“I believe now is a good time to meet all of your people so we know how many are available to help defend this base while Lakshmi and Brain set up the systems needed to take them back to our time. We will need every man and woman available. If you will take me to them then—”
“It’ll be easier to bring them here,” Ivy said. “There is Operator Haskins, who is missing an arm, Mr. Tyrel Thompson, who is currently sick because he’s a stubborn SOB and didn’t take his inoculations before leaving Topside, Dr. Raskov, who is missing his legs, Barbara Chin the newswoman and her cameraman, and Olivia Herndon, a civilian who escaped with us when our Topside BOP was swallowed by the Wyoming bubble… Am I forgetting anyone?”
“Elvis,” Cash said.
“Yes, Elvis,” Ivy said. “An Ankylosaurus that does not know he has been domesticated.”
“I’m sorry, did you say you have a domesticated Ankylosaurus? The only dinosaur that has been permitted to live in our time is now back here with you?” Bloom asked. “Why?”
“We thought he would make a good bloodhound to find our people,” Cash said and swept his hand around as he stood up as well. “We didn’t know we were walking into this.”
“Crashing,” Ivy said.
“Crashing into this,” Cash corrected.
“May I meet him?” Bloom asked, sounding a little too enthusiastic.
“Not a problem, Commander,” Cash said. “But maybe you should tell us about the teeth that you said we’ll need to deal with soon.”
Sixteen
Bloom stood at the bottom of the bunker’s ramp and nodded at the space.
“Yes, this is a good fallback point,” he said. “Also a good place for the civilians to stay while we defend the base.”
Elvis, who was directly behind the commander, kept nudging the man
in the back with his beak.
“E, stop,” Cash ordered. “Don’t make me get your dad.”
Elvis grunted then lay down in a sulk.
“I’ll have all supplies brought here that we will not need in the field,” Bloom said, already barking orders over his comm.
Cash tapped at his ear and was happy to hear the short beep of activation. Mike was working with the coalition’s techs to get the base up and going with full comms and also advanced scanning tech, as well as stabilizing the geothermal generators. Half the speed rollers had been filled with supplies, not soldiers.
“So, we’re looking at eight hours before the smeeks get here?” Ivy asked Bloom.
“Unfortunately, yes,” he replied. “Which does not give us much time to prepare. That is also an hour short of what Lakshmi and Brain have calculated they will need to manage calculations for a return to Topside, as you call it.”
“I can have a full list of terms sent to you, if you would like, Commander,” Tressa said. “Might make it easier for you and your people to understand our systems.”
“Thank you, but Lakshmi has provided everyone that needs to know with those terms,” Bloom said. “There will be no confusion on our end. We do not have the luxury or margin of error for confusion of that type.”
“Commander Bloom, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Barbara said as she strode forward and offered her hand. “I’m Barbara Chin. Would you mind if my cameraman documents this meeting for posterity? We should keep a record of—”
“Document all you want as long as you stay out of me and my peoples’ way,” Bloom interrupted. “I now include the U.S. personnel as my people, so despite what relationship you have worked out with them, do not get in their way either. Are we understood, Ms. Chin?”
“Loud and clear, Commander,” Barbara said with a wide smile then caught Cash’s eye. “It is not a request that I haven’t heard before.”
She snapped her fingers and Zach, still very green around the gills and not looking like he was fully up to the task, began shooting vid of the group.
“The smeeks,” Ivy pressed. “How many are we looking at? Roughly.”
“From the scans we are getting from the relays, approximately fifty to sixty,” Bloom said.
“Whoa. Fifty to sixty apex predators in one pack?” Olivia asked from her cot as she sat with her arms flooded, watching everyone closely. “They don’t herd in those kinds of numbers.”
“It is several packs that have come together,” Bloom said. “At first, we thought they were chasing us, that we had crossed their territory and they were in pursuit. Smeeks can be extremely territorial, even amongst themselves. Different packs will fight for hunting grounds and they usually fight to the death.”
“But you think they’re coming for a different reason,” Tressa said.
“Brain believes they are being drawn to this bubble,” Bloom said. “The AI has a theory that somehow ground zero is calling to them.”
“How?” Cash asked.
“The AI does not know and will not speculate,” Bloom said with frustration. “But so far, it has been right on everything else, so we are working with that theory.”
“Which means even though you left them way behind, they’re still going to end up here,” Cash said. “If you hadn’t shown up, they’d still have come here. And we’d be dead.”
“Yes,” Bloom stated.
“Great,” Cash said. “Fifty to sixty smeeks. Just great.”
“We have eight hours to prepare,” Bloom said.
“How rested are your people?” Ivy asked.
“They slept in shifts on our way here,” Bloom replied.
“Good, because my people haven’t slept since we got here,” Ivy said. “We need some sleep or we’ll be useless for any fight coming up.”
“We’ve got injectors to help with that,” Bloom said.
“Commander…” Ivy responded in a disapproving tone. “Injectors are not a substitute for sleep. Eight hours until the smeeks arrive? Give my people four hours to catch some shuteye, at least.”
“Four hours?” Bloom looked like he was going to argue then he studied the faces around him in the bunker. “I’ll give you six. You only have three trained operators and one is missing an arm.”
“Hey there,” Haskins said as he leaned against the wall, waving his stump.
“Your numbers won’t add a lot to our defenses,” Bloom said and held up a hand before the protests could be voiced. “But they especially won’t add a lot if you are dead on your feet. Take six hours and sleep.”
He grimaced.
“But we need this space. Is there somewhere else you can sleep?”
“Yeah,” Ivy said.
***
By the time they moved cots and blankets into the armory, all weapons and supplies had been removed and were being transported across the base to the bunker and other positions. Cash helped get his father settled then Dr. Raskov. Thompson had been given the inoculations he had stubbornly refused Topside, as well as a sedative to help him sleep deeply despite the coming conflict. Dr. Raskov had refused a sedative, insisting he’d be needed when the fighting started. Cash hadn’t argued with that assessment.
The person that was arguing was Mike. Vehemently.
“I have way too much fucking work to do, dude!” Mike shouted at Raff as the operator tried to placate the tech. “Lakshmi will need me if she’s going to attempt what she is going to attempt!”
“Michael, hush,” Tressa said, stepping between Mike and Raff. She put her hands on his chest and looked him in the eye. “We have suffered a lot since we arrived here. Everyone else came from Topside and was able to sleep; we have been here months and I know you have slept just as poorly as the rest of us. Six uninterrupted hours of protected sleep is exactly what we all need right now.”
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” Mike snapped.
“Mike, come on,” Olivia said as she spread a sheet then a blanket on a cot. She stripped down to her underwear and climbed under the covers. “You have no idea how good this feels.”
“I can help,” Mike grumbled.
“No, man, you can’t,” Raff said. “Lakshmi and Brain have this all in hand, trust me. Brain won’t shut up about how—”
“What is this about me not shutting up?” a combot asked as it walked into the armory.
Cash and Ivy went for their weapons, but stopped when they saw the woman that was right behind the machine.
“Lakshmi,” Cash said and walked to the woman, giving her a huge hug.
“Could have done without that stink up my nostrils,” Lakshmi said, hugging Cash back. “But it’s worth it to see you alive and safe.”
“Not sure how safe, but it’s good to still be alive,” Cash said.
Ivy moved in for a hug, same with Tressa.
Then everyone stared at the combot.
“Lakshmi? Did you put Brain in a combot?” Cash asked. “Because I am pretty damn sure that is a very bad idea.”
“All weapons systems have been removed and Brain is programmed never to harm a human being,” Lakshmi said. “And he is only being relayed to the combot in order to utilize the machine’s manual dexterity capabilities.”
Lakshmi was a small woman, short as well as petite-framed. Dark-skinned like her mother’s Indian heritage, Lakshmi had a formidable presence to her, also an inheritance from her mother. She held up her small hands and frowned. She was missing two fingers on her right and one on her left.
“I grabbed for the wrong item at the wrong moment and lost a couple of digits,” Lakshmi said.
“Still think she’s sexy as hell,” Raff said. “More now because she looks badass with the missing fingers.”
“I’d trade them back to look boring again, love,” Lakshmi said.
Raff shrugged.
“I can sever Brain’s connection to the combot at any time if I feel there are any issues,” Lakshmi said.
“Shutting me up, turning me off, severing
my connections,” the combot said in a voice that sounded almost exactly like Thompson’s. “Human beings are such kind, trusting creatures.”
“Did Brain learn sarcasm, Raff?” Cash asked.
“Huh? What? Don’t know what you’re talking about, buddy,” Raff said and began to whistle tunelessly.
“Since he was no longer tethered to Flipside FOB, Brain has had time to pick up some bad habits,” Lakshmi said, giving her husband a disapproving look. “I have been working on curbing those habits to no avail.”
“To no avail,” Raff said proudly.
“I am capable of curbing my own habits, thank you very much,” the Brain combot said.
“I taught him the thank you very much part too,” Raff said.
“We should let you all sleep,” Lakshmi said. “You too, Mike. I will need your help at the final stages, so please, rest as much as you can.”
“Not cool, dude,” Mike said quietly then went and found a cot to collapse upon.
He was asleep within seconds.
“I’ve been terrified his mind was going to leak out his ears,” Tressa said. “Mike has pushed himself harder than any of us.”
“Um, excuse me?” Haskins said from his cot as he held his stump up. “He’s got all his appendages, so fuck that.”
“Yes, fuck that,” Dr. Raskov mumbled from his cot.
“You two know what I mean,” Tressa said and returned her attention to Lakshmi. “I can’t say how happy we are to see you two.”
“Despite the bad news we brought along with us?” Raff asked.
“It hasn’t exactly been great news around here,” Olivia said then yawned and rolled over. “Turn out the lights already.”
“What you are going to attempt,” Tressa said to Lakshmi. “How confident are you that it will work?”