by Rod Galindo
Using slight movements of the grip, he steered himself toward the door. A wire-mesh catwalk ran around the equator of the room, just as it had in 1975, and was wide enough for two people to stand next to each other comfortably. Releasing the trigger, his right foot touched down on the catwalk, then his left. He pressed the red button on the handgrip again, and the small rockets cut off and snapped back into his ruck. Tyler assumed a crouched fighting stance and raised his rifle. He ceased all movements and listened. Nothing stirred except the gentle "breathing" of the still-open E-R Bridge, and the occasional crackle of electricity. Now only blackness filled the glass of the control room. A clap of thunder created by a rather nasty static discharge snapped him from his trance.
Tyler keyed his mic. "Raven Rock Command, this is Traveler Three, over."
"The…he is!" he heard someone say. It sounded like Director Johansen.
Major Wilson broke in. "Tra…ler Three, this is RAVR…OM, we read y..." The transmission was broken, but readable. "Gla… you made……ere safe. SITREP."
Tyler understood Wilson wanted a report on his situation. "Roger, RAVROCOM. I made it here in better shape than the camera did, that's for sure," Tyler said. "SITREP follows: Currently in the Temporal Sphere. Both the sphere and Control Room are dark and dusty, no power. The air is stale but breathable. No sign of hostiles. Or friendlies for that matter. Preparing to cut through the door to the sphere and explore the facility and surrounding area. How copy?"
"Rog…….Traveler Three. Copy: sphere is…thout power, environme…al condition GREEN, prepp…ing to explore facil... Be advised, portal…re-open…cisely at 1500."
Tyler checked his digital watch. It read "11:03 18 MAY 75." He had just under four hours to find out what he could about this era and get back to the sphere to return home. Lieutenant Stark gave him very detailed instructions in the mission brief yesterday. More like pounded them into my head. His thumb engaged the mic. "Roger."
"No sign of……older self anywhe…?" asked Wilson, breaking standard radio protocol.
"Negative," Tyler replied.
"I'll take that as…ood sign; mayb……old bugger…inally retired!"
"Or he's kicked it."
Wilson ignored that. "Goo…luck, Mike, see you in four ho......AVROCOM out."
A second later, Tyler heard a deep puff. He glanced over his shoulder to see the glowing red smoke dissipate into the darkness at the center of the sphere and one by one, the tiny bluish flames on each lightning rod winked out. He was now immersed in total darkness, and was very much on his own.
About the Author
Rod A. Galindo arrived on Earth in the Spring of 1970. He’s been trying to stay out of trouble ever since, but has now accepted it as one of the three things he does well, right behind drawing and right ahead of spelling. He's beamed all around the world thanks to various military and government positions, but proudly calls Kansas City home. Mainly because his request for transfer to Stargate Command was denied. AGAIN.
"Major Galindo" has nearly thirty years of service under his belt in the U. S. Army, both Active Duty (as an enlisted M-1A1 Abrams tank crewman, Operation Desert Storm) and the Kansas Army National Guard (as a Field Artillery officer, Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and now Operation Inherent Resolve).
"Rod Galindo" is a worn-out father of four; two cyber-smart teenaged boys, one German Army (Bundeswehr) Soldatin who is as dangerously clever as she is beautiful, and he fills in as full-time father to a special young lady who never really had a dad to call her own.
Rod is a fully assimilated and very active member of the Wordwraiths Writing Collective and Wordwraith Books, LLC (learn more about our authors and books at Wordwraiths.com). Enjoy his shiny art or delve into his literary musings at RodWerks.net or RodGalindo.com.
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Dear reader,
May I ask a favor? I would be thrilled if you could hop over to Amazon.com and post a super quick review of Border Patrol. Good or bad, either is fine; like I've often said, an honest review is even better than a pound of warm, delicious bacon. But just barely.
Also, I entertain all cool sci fi and speculative fiction ideas. e-mail me! [email protected]
And remember, please visit RodWerks.net/SecretSC to read or obtain a free download of the first fifteen pages of my military sci-fi novel, Distress Call!
Rod Galindo
August, 2017