by Grant Fausey
The waves of time crackled throughout the surroundings as Jake Stern and Jennifer Riggs, aboard tracker 429, traversed the future wave corridor. Time and time again, shock wave after shock wave hit the front end of the ship. Jennifer was in no mood to be on another roller-coaster ride into oblivion.
Jake cringed.
"What the hell is going on?" There was nothing exciting about another ride with a dead end. He had control of his craft and that in it self was a feat! The ship emerged through the portal at the point of origin, cutting across the expanse of the mining rig's tower. The structure was visible through the cockpit windows in front of him. ZEZ Lee jumped at the sonic boom and landed on the other side of Flatbed Eight, startled by the event. Flatbed's eyes opened wide ... wider than a pair of saucers. He frowned then fainted at the sound of the time wake's explosion. The tracker emerged on a straight line, heading directly toward him. There was nothing he could do about it. Zez Lee screamed and everything went black.
The inside of the tracker, the cockpit of 429 bucked like a bad bull at a rodeo. This was it... thought Jake Stern. It's over. But it wasn't; it was far from over. The cargo whale appeared in his flight path directly in front of him. The huge mover was coming apart at the seams, in a terrifying eruption of metal, fireballs and flying debris ... and there was something more; something terrifying. Hansen's runner had cut across the horizon line on a collision course, emerging from its time jump into the threshold of the future wave corridor directly in front of the tracker, right into the midst of the exploding cargo ship.
Alarms and sirens blared warnings of immanent collision. Danger was everywhere. Jake was frantic, working the controls in a desperate attempt to alter his course, but it was too late. In front of him, the blinding light of the explosion filled his windshield. The massive jumpship emerged from the wake of the vortex's shifting field in the midst of the whale's collision with the mining rig tower. The entire structure engulfed in an explosion of flames that collapsed the whale to its destruction, crumbling its hulk against the tower in a matter of moments. It was the Hindenburg disaster all over again.
The tug blew clear of the explosion, tossed across the sky by the wake of the tremendous exhaust. The nose of the tug smashed into the ground, crumbling against the surface in a cloud of smoke, dust and debris that filled the surroundings for a half a kilometer. Everything unthinkable had occurred. The unimaginable was complete and absolute. Nothing remained of the whale. Everything had been incinerated in a fireball the size of class three, 500-kiloton nuclear detonation. Death was everywhere.
Jake heard Jennifer's scream; they had found what they were looking for. Base One lit up with alarm sounding from every corner of the complex. Campus, the main lounge, even the ground level operations center sang out with flashing red lights ...a major incident was in progress. Something terrible had happen, but where?
In what time …
In what universe …
And who was involved?
"Main Frame," shouted Trinod Rex. "What the hell is going on?" His biomechanical counterpart whirled around to face him, eyes transfixed on the information that reflected the data on his visual receptors. The size of the situation was staggering. His mouth dropped open in awe, then the place shook hard.
"We've had an inter-dimensional disruption," shouted Main Frame over the intercommunications device. "Force three and rising."
"A time quake!" shouted Trinod Rex. "We've a major distortion wave entering the universe at twenty two ten nominal."
"Get me an open line to Vex Redford. I want to talk to him, now!
MAY 21, 22 026: 020 2210.NOMINAL flashed on the screen. "Future wave corridor opening in Dranger's Canyon," announced the semi cool voice of the computer, speaking directly to Vex Redford.
The complex shook hard.
"We've a rupture forming in the Nexusphere: Magnitude eight quake originating at zero two zero, twenty two ten nominal.
Ground elapse time sixty eight seconds. It's an inter-dimensional disruption..."
"Hold on!" screamed Vex Redford. "It's a big one!"
"Time quake!" screamed Katrina. "We're in for a rough ride everyone!"
"Incoming call," scrambled Mains, rerouting the call through his communications network, as he tried to stay operational. "It's originating from a point on the other side of the Nexusphere. Dimension four. Someone named Trinod Rex is quite anxious to talk with you!"
"Rex," shouted Vex Redford. "Channel open!" Nothing more ever came through. Vex Redford barely had enough time to get his name off his lips when answering the call. Almost immediately, everything went black with only silence prevailing. Static filled the intercommunications device. The curve of the underground station rocked hard, crumbling the beauty of the Hauler's incorporated base. The place was a mess. Main Frame's computerized counterparts strolled along the base element of the rail system that connected what was left of the station.
"Data log up-link 0129.5," reported Main Frame, talking to his counterpart components. "It's been ten hours since our transmission to Vex Redford. Contact with the out side universe has been cut off. No sign of Hansen or his runner team. We fear the worst. Stern's transmission was garbled. Something about the future wave corridor between dimensions destabilizing. As a result the Nexusphere has expanded to nearly twice its original size.
Vex Redford and Trinod Rex communications link ended abruptly, no informational data was exchanged. Apparently, everything ceased to exist in Redford's universe at the moment of transmission. Brian Thomas reports he has arrived at the Orgus Two Deep Space Mining Rig and is attempting to assist with the recovery operation. The situation has deepened and I'm afraid for the lives of those involved." Nominal flashed on the screen in front of Trigen Three Four. He paced back and forth, continuing his intercommunication with Main Frame. "No," he said confidently. "The threshold is stabilizing on this side of the corridor as well. But it's impossible to tell just how many universes have been affected. At present, we're encountering nearly a thousand thresholds. But the number could be infinite. We've nicknamed the area "Echo Pass" because of the communications interference."
"What about the runner team? Any sign of the Runner team" asked Trinod Rex.
"I don't know yet," concluded the machine. "My people are working on it. We all have a very large stake in this!"
Intercommunication broke through from Brian Thomas interrupting Trigen Three Four's report. "I've completed the sweep of area four," said Brian Thomas, quietly and reserved. "Still no sign of any wreckage. They may have been moved forward in the wake of the explosion. It's going to take time to tune the system. But we're working on it!"
Brian Thomas was born on the jungle world of Telta Minor, moved when he was only seven to Trinella, where his father took an appointment as the governor of the rim colony. At twenty-five, Brian Thomas realized what being the son of the Governor Hugo Thomas meant, and as a result, adventure came his way. "I don't think they're in any real danger so long as their runner is still intact," Trigen Three Four noted, trying to reassure Brian Thomas sense of humanity. "We're still receiving an up-link signal from our tracker. There's just to much interference to be receiving any data."
"It could be that they're in a search and identify mode," continued Brian Thomas, his image fading in and out on the big intercommunications boards at the rear of the room. "The information wouldn't be forwarded to Main Frame until they dumped the system."
"The same may be true of the runners," added Trinod Rex.
"We've thought about that," answered Trigen, maneuvering himself into the center of the room. "But it's a little more complicated than that. We've had some interesting developments on this side." He turned to face the mechanical boards at the rear of the room, and glided toward them as Trinod walked back and forth, pacing in front of the image of Brian Thomas. "It appears," he continued, "similar events have occurred in one or more universes at the same time. I don't think that makes it a case of they're deliberately keeping us in the dar
k."
"Agreed," said Trinod. "We'll proceed from this end as if they're in genuine trouble."
"We're doing the same here," said Brian Thomas. "I'll keep you informed."
"I'll do the same," added Trinod Rex. "Trigen Three Four can maintain a constant link with you through Main Frame." Brian Thomas nodded, then turned away facing CB3.
"All rightly then," he said to his living machine aqua-pod companion. CB3, his Aqua pod diver, smiled. Brian turned back to his monitor and continued his conversation with Trinod Rex. "We'll begin the new search pattern as soon as we're through here. Twenty-one is just about ready to go operational. Zez and Flatbed shouldn't have any problem getting Star Farer back to Base One." He paused a moment. "I'll be shifting outbound right after the departure. I don't want to be caught in the energy wake the way Jake and Jennifer were."
"Understood," said Trinod Rex. "Keep in touch."
"Thomas out," he said bluntly, walking away from the cargo pod, heading for Zez Lee. Zez Lee nodded. "It's over to you, Zez," announced Brian Thomas, seeing that familiar pizzazz. "See if you and Flatbed can make it back to base without having another incident, will you?" Brain saluted the two machines then walked away from the two mechanics. He took a few steps and stopped at the edge of the platform, looking down into the depths of the pulsating threshold of echo pass and asked himself the same question he had been asking himself all day.
"What the hell am I doing here?"
Tatiana worked frantically, trying to disassemble the components of the jumpship's cockpit instrument package. The main servomechanisms of the command pilot's seating arena had Hansen trapped in the nose wreckage. The pilot felt helpless and there wasn't a thing she could do to help him with his discomfort. The impact had severed what was left of the ship from the main junction to the rear quarter section. The trauma/first aid kits where nowhere to be found. The ship came apart a hundred pieces at a time: parts here, other there. The hulk of the ship hadn't even made it into her universe. It was gone forever. A derelict in some other future world, but more important, the crew had gone with it. There wasn't a single body to be found; at least, not in the physical sense that she was used too. It was possible the crew was right there beside her, trapped in the wreckage a hundred years and a day in the future. There was no way of telling. If they were in the same room with her, there was no way to know. As far as she was concerned, the crew made it to the hereafter, while her and Hansen were stuck in the here and now.
Tatiana was worried about moving Hansen. What if the component, which pinned him were keeping him from bleeding to death? She had no way of knowing. The metal was too heavy to just lift and push aside; it wasn't going to shift easily. She figured little more then contemplated her next move. She could push the wreckage out of the way, thus freeing his legs from where they were pinned under the bridge instrumentation package, but what if she was wrong?
What if his legs weren't there at all?
What if they had been severed off during the crash and the pressure was keeping him alive?
What if he couldn't be helped?
What if?
There were to many possibilities. She had to act; it was just hard, that's all. What would she do if he died? There were too many questions. To many moving parts. None of which, had answers.
"That should do it,” she said to herself, ready to remove the instrument panel in question. Either way, Hansen had to be pulled out from under the crumbled metal. It was time. Tatiana reached in along the skipper's shoulders, putting her hands under his arms. She pulled hard and Hansen moved. Not much, but she only needed a little clearance. She let him rest and took a hold of the instrument package and pulled up on it with great effort.
Finally, she heard the scrapping of Hansen's boots as they drug along the floorboards as he moved ever so slightly to freedom. She had freed his feet. Tatiana kept a careful eye on him, until he reached the freedom of what was left of the aisle between the command chair then she relaxed, wiping the sweat from her brow. She had done the job. Next she had to get him to the outside meadow. If only one other crewmember could have made it with her, all this would have been easier. But they didn't and she was on her own. Kyle Travis, however, was there, and so were Hudson and the others. Tatiana's assessment of the situation had been right. The only difference was that they were all in different realities, different dimensions, and not a different place … A parallel dimension to be exact; an alternative future. They could see Tatiana but they couldn't help her. There was no way of communicating with her. They listened to what she had to say, but she wasn't able to hear their side of the conversation. The translation was lost, except in the subconscious mind. None of them were dead. It was just that Tatiana couldn't hear them with her physical ears.
Communications just weren't possible. Hudson stepped through the bulkhead and into the remainder of the wreckage. He wanted to help Tatiana, but his hands just passed right through her. It was like being a ghost. He couldn't effect what was happening in her universe, just like she couldn't effect what was happening in his. He wanted desperately to take Hansen from her, to help him down off the wreckage. But Tatiana had to help him all by herself. And after she moved him outside, she sat down next to him on the ground.
"All right..." she said to herself. Her extrasensory perception was running high, as if by some sixth sense she was feeling the presence of Hudson beside her, which she was. "That should do it," she continued talking to Hansen Anderson. "It's getting late and I don't want to be up here next to this platform when it gets dark. I guess we're going to need a liter to help carry him."
Hudson looked around. There were a lot of items he could use to construct what she needed. But it was in his universe, not hers. He wished he could grab a hold of something, anything in her universe and move it somewhere. But he couldn't. "I guess we're going to have to construct one out of the wreckage," Tatiana said to herself. "Otherwise we're going to be doing the long hall with him stretched out on a tree."
Jason Tennerick pulled a small black box from the assembly under the flight deck instrument package and put it in his pocket just as an unfamiliar sound caught the airwaves. It wasn't a loud rumble, but rather a low thud. Like a rock hitting the ground. Something was approaching them. Something big. Hansen sat up, looking around. He heard the thud too! Being in two universes at the same time was scary enough, but to think of the complications made it worse. The survivors had no idea of what to expect in this new, unexplored place. They had no idea of the dangers, or the consequences for their actions, whatever they may be. It was like being blind with the lights on.
"What's that?" asked Hansen.
"Did you feel that?" said Kyle Travis in the other universe. Jason Tennerick leaped down from the fuselage to the ground.
"Yeah," he said answering Travis. "I felt it too."
A shadow draped across the entrance to the wreckage. Tatiana stood up behind Jason Tennerick and looked around. She had heard something also. The thing, whatever it was, moved just beyond the crash site, somewhere in the forest a short distance from there position.
"Whatever it is," said Tennerick, "it's rather close." The uncertainty was worrying Tatiana. They still hadn't found a place of safety. Jason Tennerick heard the thud again. It was louder this time. The thing was moving toward them in both universes at the same time. Hansen's reactions confirmed that idea.
"Lead the way," said Kyle Travis. Hudson lead. Neither of the men had weapons and the chance of survival was falling off at an alarming rate. They had to be extremely cautious or one of them was going to end up dead.
– 15 –
STEPPING STONES
• • •
THE THIRD UNIVERSE
THIRD DIMENSION
Tia, however, found herself in an entirely different and infinitely more dangerous situation. The young cargo ship pilot slipped back into reality, entering another universe one compressed, heavy and much more three-dimensional than the universe she had departed from. The shado
ws of the cargo whale's wreckage draped over her, attempting to hide in the rear hexagon shaped compartments of one of the cargo pods. But the pod was only half there, a pile of junk with an opening at both ends. At least, she figured there was a place to run if she needed it.
"This is dangerous," said the Self. The obvious was charming.
"No kidding!" Tia snapped, trying not to converse with her invisible companion.
"It's better if we keep moving." Tia looked around the inside of the cargo pod.
"And go where?" she asked sarcastically. The interior of the wreckage was dark, filled with shadows to hide in. It seemed protective, even if it wasn't. Besides, she wasn't here to play in the woods, especially if the big bad wolf was out there somewhere waiting for her. The pod shook hard, not from earthquakes, but from the power of the intruder. She wasn't alone anymore. There were uninvited guests. "Dinosaurs," she whispered, whimpering. "How the hell did I get here?"
Tia moved back going deeper into the cargo pod. She slithered silently into the shadows and bent down. A huge sheet of metal bounced down in the pod from the other end. Tia pulled a piece of hull in front of her hiding among what wreckage she could maneuver to cover herself. The sound of the scraping noise echoed into the chamber. She could almost smell the beast. His hot breathe breathing down on her from above. She remained perfectly still, and hoped whatever it was couldn't see her.
Hudson heard the scream first. He looked up at everyone, counting heads. There was another screech, then another scream. The sound echoed through the trees, coming from a dozen different directions. "We've missed someone," he announced scanning the area for a sign of another survivor. "There must be someone else out here."
Tatiana jumped to her feet, hearing the screams. "Yeah," snapped Hudson. "Someone we can both hear!"
"Tia," shouted Kyle Travis. "We've inadvertently found what we've been looking for!"
"Yeah!" shouted Hudson. "But we'd better hurry or she's going to be lunch!"