Vortex of Evil

by S D Taylor

  Doug put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Take care of yourself and be sure you make it through this so you can be with them soon.”

  Jelk was talking to Olunda when Erin handed Balla to the boys and walked over to Doug. “Are you ready for this? To believe what she is telling us?”

  Doug put his arm around her. “Yes. Look at her face. She isn’t faking this. I am sure now. We need to help her out if we can and then get the hell out of here while it is still possible. We can’t get so wrapped up with this rebellion that we lose sight of the fact that these people brought us here as prisoners and this is our chance to escape.”

  Erin always marveled at Doug’s ability to distill the essence of the issue. “I’m ready to go. So what’s the plan?”

  “All I know is that we are going to use the hover vehicle to go back to where we came from. One of the time/space locators is installed on this hover vehicle and it can be set to go to a specific time and place. The vortex opens and we go through it. If the technology works like it did when they got you and me, it should return us to about the same time we left.”

  “So how much flexibility is there in the ‘if’ and ‘about’ in that statement? A few hours or a few years?”

  “I have no idea. They seem to have come and gone easily before, so it should work as advertised.”

  Erin saw his concern as he said that, but what choice did they have?

  The other Doug was more on guard than any of the rest of them. While they were absorbed with family goodbyes and discussing plans, he had kept a steady watch for any sign that they were being followed or watched. He had noticed the same glint of light in the trees that Dara had seen earlier. Now he leaned against a tree and looked back down the narrow path they had taken to reach the clearing. He wished he had some form of weapon but aside from the stunpulses, he hadn’t seen any form of portable weapon in Transarctica. He had quietly put a few egg sized rocks in his pocket in case he had to keep somebody back or distract them. He doubted there was a David and Goliath potential in his ability to throw the rocks but they made him feel better. He would have liked a pointed stick knife as well, but there was no opportunity to make one.

  He had a sense that they were being watched ever since Erin and Doug had returned with the pup. The fact that the two soldiers had been involved convinced him that there would likely be others watching their efforts. That was the way this culture worked. Everything was watched and if the electronic monitoring was cut off, he had to assume they had a manual procedure to cover that situation.

  Now he was sure they were in trouble. His senses told him that there was some unknown threat approaching. He walked over to Jelk and grabbed his arm, making an immediate thoughtlink. “There is something out there. I feel it. We need to get everyone out of here while we can.”

  Jelk nodded. “Time to go. May you be safe until we meet again.” He bent over and hugged Olunda and Jinnee. Then he turned away quickly as they entered the door of the hover vehicle. He walked quickly to Dara. “Doug feels that there is danger coming. I agree with him. We need to get everyone on their way. I am going to check the area. I will buy you time if I need to.”

  “Understood. Ok, boys, let’s get going. Julti. Bealma. All of you go with safety and love.” Erin and Doug were waiting by the door of the hover vehicle. Dara kissed each of the boys and the dog. “I will see you soon my loves.” She hugged her sister and kissed little Julti on the top of her head.

  The boys were crying quietly but trying their best to be brave. Erin took their hands and led them onto the hovercraft and into their seats. “Be careful, Dara. We will be waiting for you.”

  “Thank you, Erin. You travel safe.” She quickly turned to Doug. “Go quickly. Don’t hesitate and don’t turn around. No matter what happens. No matter what you might see here in the next few minutes.”

  “Keep your head down and good luck, Dara. Come join us as soon as you can.” He turned and nodded to Peter and Gaby. “Good luck, my friends.” He turned and called out to his older version, “Come on, Doug. Time to go.”

  It was at that moment that a blinding flash went off somewhere nearby, followed by a loud explosion that sent tree limbs and dirt flying in all directions. The older Doug was knocked sideways by the blast and was motionless on the ground. Peter, Gaby and Dara were all knocked off their feet but uninjured.

  Dara turned and screamed, “Get out of here now, Doug. You only have a few seconds.”

  Doug looked at the older Doug and hesitated. Then he turned and ran into the hover vehicle and grabbed Erin by the shoulders. “I have to go back for Doug and you need to leave. We will join you as soon as we can.”

  Erin stood up quickly. “No. You can’t leave us. What if the time thing doesn’t work and we end up somewhere we don’t expect. I need you to come with us.”

  “I don’t have time to debate. Save yourselves and these children. Go.”

  He kissed her quickly and ran out the door, pushing the control to close it shut on the way out. Olunda immediately took off before Erin could protest.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Away from here as quickly as we can.”

  “We can’t leave them here. Please turn around.”

  “Sit down, Erin. We have to save the children first. Then we can see about other plans.”

  Erin looked at the view screen as the hover vehicle quickly rose from the scene. She saw her Doug running quickly towards the motionless form on the far side of the clearing. Jelk ran back into the clearing, bleeding from a gash on his shoulder above the mechanical arm. He seemed fine otherwise. He and the young Doug grabbed the motionless body and ran for the hover vehicle. Dara was already at the controls and ready to take off when two hybromen she hadn’t seen before came running into the clearing. Doug and Jelk had just reached the hover vehicle when the lead hybroman threw a stun grenade towards the open door. Jelk turned and fired at it with his stunpulse, causing it to explode in midair. It was the break they needed since the concussion that resulted knocked the two Dougs and Jelk violently into the hover vehicle, allowing Peter to close the door before any more grenades came their way. It also slowed down the two rapidly approaching hybromen as they both lost their balance from the explosion and crashed to the ground.

  Dara took off quickly and rotated the hover vehicle towards the approaching attackers. Behind the hybromen was a squad of Yir-Lak police with stunblast rifles, one of the few serious weapons they carried that Dara worried about. Concentrated fire from them could damage the hover vehicle so she had limited choices if she wanted to escape. She fired the hover vehicle blast beam and watched the fireball hit the ground between the approaching squad and the two hybromen who were struggling to get up from the grenade blast. The blast beam fireball exploded with ferocity and she had no doubt that she had just saved the lives of the eight men attacking them by showering them with a blast of dirt rather than blasting them directly. They were just following orders, just like she and Jelk had to do every time they went after the temporal spawn. But in the current situation, she wondered who was giving the orders. If the Yir-Lak monitoring systems were down, who was giving orders? And who was watching them? She hoped with every ounce of her being that the other hover vehicle with the children had escaped safely.

  Chapter 43

  Erin was in the darkest place she could imagine. She had been reunited with Doug when it seemed impossible and now he was again torn away from her in a sudden and unbelievable way. And she had no idea if the older Doug was dead or not. She saw his motionless body laying there and wondered if that was how the story was going to end for the other Erin and Doug. She felt a despair that could not be consoled. At least until Olunda turned and snapped her back to reality. “Quit feeling sorry for yourself and look after the children while I try to get us out of here. Whatever you are feeling, I can assure you it is much worse for them.”

  Of course, Olunda was right. Erin sat there shaking with anger for a second but then it passed. She
said nothing, but nodded and went back to sit with the children. Jontu was sitting next to Jinnee, trying to reassure her. Larn held the puppy Balla and had a faraway look on his face. Bealma had her arm around her daughter as she comforted her. Erin realized as she looked at them that she had been selfish to be worrying about her situation when these little children were in such a strange and threatening environment. There was a massive hole in her heart left by this latest forced separation from Doug but she had to try to get past that and help others who needed her.

  Erin knelt in front of Jinnee and took hold of her tiny hands. “How are you doing sweetie?”

  “I am scared. Why was my mommy yelling at you?”

  “She was helping me remember what I need to do. Reminding me that I need to take care of you and the boys and little Balla so you won’t be so scared.”

  Jontu looked down at his feet. “Will we ever see our mom again?”

  Bealma smiled. “Yes, of course. Your mom is the toughest, most capable person I have ever known. She will overcome whatever they throw at her. And they will be sorry they chose her to go after. You can count on it Jon.”

  Erin was struck by how mature the question sounded coming from such a young boy and how confident Bealma was in her sister’s capabilities. She thought for a second about how she would have answered it. Erin couldn’t imagine Dara failing at anything and she had both Dougs and Jelk to help her. She smiled and said quietly, “Your mom will be with us before long. Nothing will keep her away.” She looked at Bealma who smiled slightly and nodded.

  Larn had red eyes but he wasn’t crying. “Ok, then we better be strong until then. That’s what Dad told us when he had to go away. That we had to be strong to help Mom.”

  Erin hadn’t considered what the departure and ultimate death of the boy’s father must have been like. Larn’s comment brought the reality of it home to her like a slap in the face. She imagined a tearful farewell like a family might experience before the father left for a business trip. But in the case of the boy’s father, Dara’s husband, he was leaving for his termination. They would never see him again. Night after night, his chair at the dinner table would remain empty. He would never again come home for dinner or sit in that chair. She felt the tears on her cheeks as she thought about how this culture imposed such unnecessary pain on innocent little children and on couples who loved each other and simply wanted to share their lives together.

  Erin took the seat in the middle between the children. “We all need to help each other. We are going for a trip to where I live. It won’t be long until we get there, but it might get a little bumpy. Are all your seat belts tight?”

  The children all checked their belts and nodded. “What about Balla? She doesn’t have a seat belt.”

  “Then you will have to hold on to her. But not too tight.”

  Julti turned to Bealma. “Do you think I could hold Balla, Mommy?”

  Bealma smiled at Erin. If only they had more puppies for the children to hold. Nothing helped changed the mood like a puppy.

  “Maybe later, sweetie. For now, we need to be sure we have our seat belts tight in case we have any bumps ahead.”

  Olunda had detailed instructions from Jelk. She was to fly at 2000 feet altitude and follow the flight plan he had entered into the control computer. It would take them out to sea for about an hour before they engaged the time/space locator. Once they confirmed they had transferred through the vortex into the time location where they found Erin, they would proceed to the island and try to make contact with Tom. Jelk told Olunda that Tom knew all about the plan and would be expecting them. But he also told her to keep her eyes open for trouble in case anything had changed on the island. Erin had told him about the history of people appearing from various other times and places and he didn’t want to put his family at risk.

  The hover vehicle was a pretty smooth ride. And at the low altitude, Olunda could see that the tsunami warnings had been all too accurate. Much of Lopfa was flooded, but the water seemed to have risen steadily rather than in a single devastating surge. It would require a huge effort to clean up, but the town looked relatively intact from the air. She hoped that there hadn’t been any deaths from the flooding. People in Transarctica usually followed instructions from the authorities without question so she was pretty sure that the tsunami warnings were heeded.

  The flight went without incident and there did not appear to be anyone following them. There was little air travel in Transarctica so there wasn’t much air traffic to watch out for. The onboard systems on the hover vehicle could detect any possible threat from one hundred miles in any direction so Olunda had a sense of security about the whole adventure.

  The children had settled down after Erin told them some stories from her childhood. It wasn’t classic literature, but she made growing up in Boston sound interesting enough for kids that young. After a while she got up and joined Olunda on the flight deck while Bealma kept watch over the kids.

  “I’m sorry I got so upset earlier. I wasn’t expecting the way this turned out. I have lost Doug once more and I don’t know if I will ever see him again.”

  “I understand. It wasn’t very fair, but the fates that drive our lives are seldom fair. So we are always expected to adapt. It is never easy.”

  Erin paused and looked out the view port at the open sea ahead. “Are we doing ok? On the planned flight path so far?”

  “Yes, I believe we are. Aside from having a very inexperienced pilot, things are on track. I am going to open the vortex with the time/space locator in a few minutes.”

  “Have they tried it with a hover vehicle?”

  “No, this will be the first time. I hope that it all goes well.”

  Erin wasn’t all that comfortable with this first flight test of flying time travel, but there were limited options. Getting away from Transarctica had been her focus from the moment that Dara’s boat had first brought her here. But now, with Doug back there in the hills above Lopfa, she wanted desperately to tell Olunda to turn the hover vehicle around and go back. At the last moment, she decided to say nothing and when the microvortex opened, she felt a tightness in her chest that would stay with her for a long time. She wondered if she would ever see Doug again. She patted Olunda on the arm and then returned to the passenger compartment and sat down with Bealma and the children. She checked that everyone had their seatbelts fastened.

  “Are we going back in time now?”

  Erin turned toward this woman who looked like a younger, taller version of Dara. “Yes. It seems to be working correctly. How are you feeling? I am sorry I didn’t ask you sooner.”

  Bealma signed. “With all the action, it is fortunate we are still in one piece. No apologies needed. I am sorry about what happened and how Doug had to stay behind. I am sure he will be fine.” She touched Erin on the arm and for just a second Erin thought she heard the words, “unlike my husband.”

  Erin thought back to her. “I am sorry. What happened to your husband?”

  Bealma jumped as she was startled by Erin’s thoughts. “I didn’t realize . . . I’m sorry. I should have considered that the thoughtlink would be necessary for you and Doug to work with my sister. My husband was much older and he had his termination ceremony three years ago.”

  Erin could tell she touched a raw nerve. “I am sorry. I hope we can make sure all the children will have a different kind of life than you have had to endure.”

  Bealma gave her a sad smile. She let go of Erin’s arm and spoke softly, “I hope so, Erin. For their sakes, I hope so.”

  There was a slight rumble and some mild turbulence for about a minute. Then their smooth flight continued. Erin waited for a few minutes and returned to where Olunda was piloting the craft. In front of them was the open ocean with a green form laying on horizon, just slightly to the left of the current heading. And there were bright blue skies. Olunda and Bealma stood looking at them in awe.

  “Look. There. That bump you can just see on the horizon.” Erin
pointed to what could have passed for an alligator laying still at the surface. An alligator that was several miles long.

  “Is that the island?”

  “Yes, it is. But I am not sure where that smoke is coming from.”

  Chapter 44

  Olunda turned the hover vehicle and was quickly flying parallel to the island, about a mile offshore to the west as they checked out the cause of the smoke. There was a bonfire on the beach that must have had green branches put on it to maximize the smoke. The letters T O M had been spelled on the beach in dark-colored rocks. Tom had followed Jelk’s instructions to the letter, but the smoke was a wrinkle that Jelk hadn’t known about. Erin had to admit it was a pretty good way to get attention, but with some of the unwanted attention they had received in recent weeks, she thought a slightly more subtle approach to signaling might have been prudent.

  Olunda turned the craft to the left and began to descend. She flew over the sign, but couldn’t see anyone below on the beach.

  “They are probably back home. We should land by the lake. It is right over that ridge.”

  “Ok. Go stay with the children. Please. It may be a little bumpy as we land. I am not very experienced in this sort of thing.”

  Olunda’s skill as a pilot wasn’t great, but she managed to land the hover vehicle without incident and the only sign they had touched down was a minor bump. She happened by chance to face the view port towards the high ground that housed the original cave where Erin and Doug met Arny. It would take a while to walk to the shelter that Rin and the girls lived in, but Erin knew that Olunda would not be comfortable trying to land the hover vehicle in the smaller clearings that were closer to that location. She didn’t want them to fail at this mission because Olunda clipped a pine tree and went down in a ball of flames.

  On the hill, hidden by the brush, Tom lay on his stomach next to Rin and Megan. He was holding an AK-47 that was aimed at the hover vehicle. “Just being cautious. You never know what might have happened.”