by Grant Fausey
– 24 –
SECOND SIGHT
• • •
THE THIRD UNIVERSE
THIRD DIMENSION
The intercommunications panels lit up in Jake Stern's stateroom. "Sir," said the voice of CB3; Trigen Three Fours trusted Aqua pod counterpart. "We've a message from Trinod Rex, please report to the bridge."
"Aye. Aye," answered Jake Stern in a puzzled voice.
"What's so important about a message from Trinod Rex?" Captain Thomas continued his train of thought for a moment. Then, puzzled, he asked CB3. "What's so damn important, can't you get him back? What did you say he wanted CB3?
"The transmission originated in the Enay system, specifically." CB3 fell silent; the Captain's eyes widened.
"That's in a parallel universe, isn't it?" prodded the computerized counterpart, trying to spark a few memories in Denarak. "He's asking specifically for you. He says he wants to talk to the Captain?"
"Okay," Thomas answered as the sparks of mental ignition cleared the darkest corners of his mind, causing a whole gambit of memories to surface. He had met another Trinod Rex once. But that was a long time ago.
"He wants to talk to me?" asked the Captain. "Are you sure?"
Thomas was theorizing, hoping he'd heard something wrong. But the facts overrode everything. He wasn't speculating. Whoever it was on the horn, they were in trouble. Something was wrong. Why else would they risk inter-dimensional communications, especially now after all this time.
Captain Thomas felt his blood pressure rise. Trinod had a good knowledge of intercommunications himself he told himself. He was probably rigging some new piece of equipment to broadcast across dimensions and back again. He was probably testing it right now. That was all. He'll be laughing on the other end of the line!
"Not this time," said Jake Stern from the doorway. He entered the other end of the bridge. The door swished shut behind him. "I think you'd better take the call, Captain Brian Thomas. From what CB3 tells me, this guy asked to talk to himself ... and if he wasn't available he wanted to talk directly to me! We'd better find out what is going on!"
Trigen Three Four watched the view screen as the image of Brian Thomas and Jake Stern came on line. Trinod Rex entered the communications center, and stared at the image of his otherworldly companions. Their reflections danced in front of him six feet above the main floor councils. The huge monitor screen shuddered, the image shaking on the screen from the impact of another distortion wave. The picture scrambled from the source. It was obvious a time quake had struck the parallel universe during the duration of the broadcast.
"Brian ... Jake, listen..." Trinod yelled to the two men on the screen. "We've a bigger problem than anyone realized. I don't know how much time I have left, so listen and listen good. Current data is being transferred to the ship's computers as we speak." Brian looked at Jake. He confirmed the input of information. Trinod looked at Denarak, then up to his otherworldly counterparts on the screen.
"You've already crossed the threshold into the Nexusphere and should be entering the Netherlands Nexus," said the genetics engineer. "The trip could get pretty frazzled. Be sharp, not everything is, as it seems. Especially now, when so many universes have overlapped."
"Understood," answered Brian Thomas "Understood!" repeated Jake.
"You're on your own," said Trinod Rex. "If that's any consolation. Take care of each other."
"What the hell is he talking about?" Brian asked Jake. Rex frowned on the big board. His world shook again, shattering all around him. "It's not going to be possible for you to return. We're losing universes, Captain. Do you understand––Your own included. We're in some kind of transitional flux. It started just a few minutes ago. I wanted to warn you about the Nexus..."
"Understood," said Captain Brian Thomas, even if he wasn't sure. He could see the events transpiring, but the impact of what was happening was still unknown. They would have to wait and see what happened.
"I don't think we're going to have a universe for you to return to," continued Trinod Rex. "Better keep an eye open on your own once you cross over. The movements in time are very subtle at first. You hardly notice them. A minor change here, there. Then, suddenly, pow … time itself implodes. I believe they've succeeded in changing something at the subatomic level. The fabric of the universe is being altered. The Industries have to be stopped, before..." The transmission shattered. Broke up with static. Captain Thomas balked, sat back in awe.
"Holly shit!" shouted Jake Stern, "Get him back..." Brian dashed at the controls, adjusted the frequency until base one answered. Brian Thomas replayed the message in entirety. Samuel Nomad and Trinod Rex watched as the screen fluttered in the distortion waves of an inter-dimensionally disruption. Static filled the screen.
"I'm trans ... ing ... m ... iles ... sub ... ariner," continued the voice of Trinod Rex over the airwaves of the transmission. "I hope there's som .... ing in.... th .... at .... help you ... fin ... ans ... Den ... ak. You ... we ... can ... it. Thu ... der ... uners ... hav ... n ... ting ... maybe ... y ... can help ..." The message never finished. The screen blurred out in a mishmash of static.
"Cut it off," said Trinod Rex.
"That's it," said Brian Thomas, "We think it was a echo into the past. A future broadcast of some sort, or at least an echo from another universe. They were contacting us as a warning something about entering the Nexusphere as you saw." Trinod turned to his computerized counterpart.
"I don't think we've caught up with this universe yet, Brian. I think your looking at the echo of a future time. There must have been power serge of tremendous power to loop a transmission like that. We'll get to work on it. In the mean time, I want you all to sit tight. No going into the Nexus, understand! Brian looked up at Jake, and both men answered at the same time. Confirmed. "I need to talk to Maccon," he said to Trigen Three Four with great pain in his eyes. "I don't care were he is. Just find him."
The computerized counterpart nodded. "I want Michael Tyler to met me in Med-lab, Trigen." He looked at Captain Christopher Denarak. What, or who we were didn't matter anymore. Our priorities had changed. Maccon overlooked the vortex at the Netherlands Nexus. Rune Linka stood beside him. The sphere of eternity pulsated, sparkled and crackled with the essence of all life and everything. Rune Linka had no idea of how beautiful a discovery she had made, or how dangerous, for that matter. Maccon looked back at her and smiled. They had come all this way to find something that didn't exist...and had found it. The tree lines ended were the Nexus began. The sphere of energy covered the sky beyond the mountains. Great pulsating rings of light moved across its surface. The first were clear then darkness covered them, then light again, until the sphere took on a luminescent glow. Like a great ball of lightning, the sphere encircled itself, imploding and exploding at the same time.
The surface churned like a storm, fluttered like a butterfly in flight, yet it did not move. The circumference of the globe never expanded or contracted. The surface area didn't change; didn't traverse the open fields of the worlds it touched. Time seemed to stand still, swept away so that it didn't exist within the Nexusphere. Here time was an illusion: A fabrication of humanity for the purpose of limitation. But here, at the threshold of eternity, everything existed. The past, the present, even the future.
Rune Linka followed the pathways and fabrications of the first voyage, trailing the maps and courses of Captain Christopher Denarak. Maccon had accompanied her. But in the process they had left behind a lifetime friend ... a Senator named Jacob Mantell. Neither Rune Linka nor Maccon reflected on the loss of their friend. Neither one of them had found it necessary to morn or grieve his disappearance. For they knew in their hearts, they would one day see their esteemed colleague again. Until that hour, Maccon decided it would be unworthy of their friendship to hold an ill feeling in his heart. Life begot life. Death was only a transition. If Jacob died on Athin, during the great exodus then Maccon knew he would see him again, at some future time, in another incarnatio
n. Life had a way of reversing itself; of adapting and correcting the natural course of evolution to meet the ever-changing challenges of the universe. Of all universes except for one, the Industries managed to create their own universe, one outside the influences of the Source.
Darkness prevailed. Even the legends of this despicable place said the Source had created even the darkness of the Industries. No one knew for sure. Within this universe, darkness was the absence of knowledge. Light the accumulation of knowledge. Everything within had life, even the ground, the trees and the sky. Life was everywhere. Races came in a multitude of sizes, shapes and even colors. Nature had seen to that. For the Source was both man and woman, male and female, mother and father. The entire totality of the universe was its creation.
Maccon sighed. He could hear the sonance within beckoning at him; calling at his being. He was needed somewhere in the universe, somewhere in time. He looked to young Travis Creed as he walked the length of their encampment. The youth sat down beside Laura Keri, the young woman taken from the third dimensional Earth's twentieth century. Laura was on a quest: A search to find her missing sister, Lisa. Reil Ben Tolar, also known as Reuben Taylor, had arranged her transmutation with an Earth doctor, one Reta Jordan. Both girls had been altered to a similar DNA sequencing on the subatomic level. It had been a vain attempt to create an unbreakable link between universes––A hidden bridge, so to speak.
Lisa Keri disappeared; vanishing beyond the Nexusphere in a shrewd deal implemented by the treachery of the Industries. The resulting conflict between Kellnar and the bounty hunters Crimson and Indigo had created such a stink that the Governor Colonel of the Eden sector was sent to investigate the proceedings. Cappy Houston's gallant efforts had saved the young lass. His ships and band of pirates had run the Netherlands Nexus more than once and, as both legend and history had it, he was the victor at the battle at Echo Pass.
The legendary exposition between light and dark, together with Maccon, Travis, the bounty hunters and Laura Keri, he had managed to defeat the renegade plans executed by the founder of the Industries himself, Trithen Kellnar. However, the plot had run much deeper than expected, and even the highest officials within the ranks of the old republic didn't comprehend the extent of the counterplot initiate against humanity. The Industries survived, unscarred. Man had indulged in combat with his best efforts. But it was feared that only a full-scale assault, together with the most carefully executed strategic plans, would bring about the downfall of the Industries. Maccon knew as Rune Linka did; they were now a part of the conflict. They had entered a much larger universe: One with countless avenues of extortion, torments, pleasure and pain. The advancement of evolution was before them. Some thought the Nexus was the universe's way of righting the wrongs. Others thought it was the center the place of the soul of souls. But again, no one knew for sure.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" said Rune Linka; her question being more of a statement than a query. Somehow, life seemed more precious to her now. She had learned a lot from the ordeal in the tree city, but it was sad to think, she never made the connection. She had not realized the fact that she was standing on the site of the first expedition. The Source reveals all things in due time. Maccon at least, knew where he stood.
Beyond him, lay the gateway to an infinite universe of universes, the possibilities of infinite futures, pasts and presents. From here, the mere thought of life existed in a billion ways. Krydal Starr, daughter of the Galactic Senator Clarion Starr, walked up behind her. Rune Linka smiled. She knew this was to be the day for the parting of ways. Krydal, Crimson and Indigo, even young Travis were faced with the prospects of going their own way. Some were called to adventure; some to a better life; others to a lovers paradise greater than they had ever encountered. The time had come. Destiny was calling each and every one of them. This was the place where fate met intuition. Where dreams forged forth fantasy, and illusion became reality. Here there was no beginning, no ending, just the summation of its parts.
"Maccon," said a voice in the Athinian Senator's head. Maccon turned to Rune Linka but she was engaged in conversation with Krydal Starr. He looked past her to the encampment. No one was calling him.
"Son," said the voice in his head. Maccon turned around, looking into the wind. The glittering brilliance illuminated within the blister of the windswept clouds. It formed before him taking the shape of his father. Alvericon stood before him, bigger than life and Maccon fell to his knees. "Stand before me, my son," said Alvericon in a thick echoing voice that coursed through the wind like the clash of thunder.
"You must awaken and remember, Maccon. On this all depends. As you are here so are you in other times, other places. You must summon the knights of the Ronna Kaa. The darkness has come upon us.
THE COMING OF DARKNESS
DUNISKA: When the absence of knowledge has reached a point when wisdom, yet has no meaning, only desperation and despair prevails. Only then can darkness enter the light and change the universe forever.
From The journals of Maccon
– 25 –
ETERNAL KNIGHT
• • •
THE THIRD UNIVERSE
THIRD DIMENSION
Doctor Reta Jordan turned away from the med lab table, pulling the long white sheet over the body of her replicant double. She had just performed an extensive autopsy of the Reta Jordan who had died during the attack by a transit hound. The body had decayed some, but not enough to retard her findings. The memory cortex was still enabled and it was easy to recount the events of the replicants death. This Reta Jordan had been deposited along with Lisa Keri onto a large wooden ramp, which surrounded a landing with several large gangplanks that inter linked the different levels of the tree city. Reuben followed close behind, stepping along the gangplanks until he reached the same wooden platform they had. The darkened bark of the tall tree covered walls of an alley with a fine mesh of life. Reuben had faced the gateway and keyed in the time code on a hand held keypad device.
Finished, he returned it to his pocket and smiled a half smile at the doctor. He was reasonably confident that no one had followed them. "All clear," he said to the doctor, securing a very special book under his arm. "That should do it. The gateway is in suspension mode. The system should run through about six cycles before its energy dissipates."
The good replicant had smoothed her outfit, keeping a tight hold on Lisa as she straightened her jacket. "That doesn't give us much time," she said to Reuben Taylor, aka Reil Ben Tolar.
"It'll be enough," he countered. Reta thought he was a little too sure of himself. "The medallion should alter the crystalline structure enough to allow time for our transfer, before we slide the device into place as the caster." Reuben stepped off the gangplank and looked back at the alley. The city towered well above the next level. "Once it cycles," continued Reuben, "the gateway system should overload, covering our tracks."
Reta Jordan watched as Reuben looked at the replicant worried. "I don't think the Hound will be able to track us through it," he stated in a hopeful voice. But he wasn't really sure. Reuben followed Lisa and the doctor across the broad boards of the city's wooden street. The replicant of the doctor helped Lisa down the length of the platform as Reuben guided them onto the next landing.
"Are you sure the DNA patterns and the frequencies of the medallion match?" asked the replicant. "We wouldn't want a failure now!"
"I'm sure..." said Reuben. The replicant took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she stepped out onto the main street of the lower city platform. Her mouth dropped in awe. To her left, stretching for as far as she could see, a forest civilization of carved cities had been etched into the trunks of gigantic tree. To her right, out across the forest, another towering city structure joined together, encircling the trunk with platforms connected by huge suspension bridges. The replicant was standing in the main street bazaar. The place resembled an old world market place. The setting was one of a mixture of cultures, spanning different worlds, different
times and different periods of history as well as otherworldly cultures. The city was suspended on huge multi-level platforms encircling the trunks of the trees they stood upon. Huge spans arched upward carved deep into the interior of the tree. Habitats hundreds of meters high rose at the center, with bridges and gangplanks connecting them to the main street bazaar. Smaller bridges and breezeways draped between the levels and connected them to the outer rings of the odd structures and medieval style buildings.
Reuben had looked behind him. The background was filled with a variety of life forms. Aliens from countless worlds lived here with a variety of other species, strange animals; humanoids, pirates, and humans. Even living machines had made there mark here. Then Reta Jordan saw them, two timid living machine explorers. One large. One small. In particular the two companions made their way across the structure in front of Reuben to where Lisa and the doctor stood. The larger of the two: Tee, a lizard like critter with long spindly legs and short forearms, a backpack and headphones migrated through the hoards of beings fighting the crowds.
The other, Rolex, a short, tubby looking creature with a large singular red rotating radar eye, looked up in awe at the spectacle in front of him. "Reuben," said the replicant doctor in complete awe. "It's beautiful..."
"Yeah..." Reuben answered. "Right... So was our universe." Reuben tugged at her arm. "We're going to miss our window back, if you don't hurry. It's the last port of call in the Eden sector, remember?"
The replicant of Doctor Jordan stomped out into the crowded street, stepping in front of Rolex as Tee helped himself to a piece of a vender's fruit. The replicant had stopped to gaze at the same strange looking foodstuffs. The elderly elephant faced man lumbered up to the table at the front of his stand and handed her a piece of fruit with his trunk.