Terra

by Robert Turnbull

  Sue gasped “Oh God…and you said that they were genetically enhanced what DNA…”

  Joe sighed “Our scientists used grinder genes. Of course if this portal anomaly drew grinders, it would also draw in swarms.”

  “Spilled milk Joe, something you had nothing to do with. So let’s get on with this mission of yours, you came back to stop it?”

  “Yes…and no. Gil, my friends, I was sent back to before the point where we calculated the original portal was created. I was to come back and kill Gil’s Doctor Rand and three others; the ones responsible for implementing the first portal.”

  “Well obviously something didn’t go as planned.” Izzy snorted and rolled over.

  “Wouldn’t that create some sort of paradox?” Gil muttered thoughtfully “I mean if you go back to kill the portal guys, Joe and I never enter their program, you are never born, so how can you go back to kill the…”

  Joe smiled “Our scientists theorize that the first time something happens, such as this instance, things in my time would change, but only if I succeed. The true paradox would be that if the plan failed it could never be repeated…like sending me back earlier, too many variables.”

  “So what now?” Sue looked at Joe “Just shut everything down?”

  Joe nodded sadly “I guess that is as good as what I could come up with not being a scientist and all. I can stop the invasion by changing the numbers of the portals your people created. Those are one set of numbers mom drove into my head from the beginning. She came up with the killing thing her last year of life; the option for destroying the Orian planet was her plan from the beginning, but she never told anyone.”

  That got everyone’s attention as even Izzy rolled over and sat up.

  “By changing the course of the last portal from your time, mom calculated that by passing the portal close to the black hole that originally deflected it to the future, I can direct it to draw the course of the portal close enough to allow the gravitational field of the black hole to be drawn off…”

  “Holy shit!” Gil sputtered “…and link it up to the Orian portals, to create one giant portal drawing all portals to wherever they would appear on our world, back to their world…and pull part of the black hole with it!”

  “If my mother’s calculations are correct, create a new black hole right there on the surface of the Orian world…their world will be destroyed in minutes, about eleven if mom was correct…and she always was.” he looked unsure of his next comment “However once the portals are merged and reversed, there could only be seconds before the areas around the thousand Orian portals would begin to form a black hole, I might never make it back.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that Joe.” Sue put her hand on his knee “So we have to get you into Gil’s lab and you can do the rest?”

  “I do not know Susan, I will strive to do so…” he looked at Gil “perhaps with a little help.” Gil nodded he would.

  Sarge wasn’t a scientist, nor had anyone ever accused him of being one, but he picked up on something Joe had said “So the second set of numbers she taught you were what? To try to not create a paradox thing and go back from wherever you arrived if it wasn’t where you were supposed to be?”

  Sue looked at Sarge “What?” she grinned but her blood ran cold when she saw Sarge wasn’t grinning back. However Gil picked up on what Sarge meant and looked at Joe.

  “Jesus Christ! You’re still going to try to go back further even though you said it most likely would create a huge paradox. What, after you change the portal settings to destroy the Orians?”

  Sue was nearly in tears as her friend and companion Joe, slowly spoke “I have to try guys. Look, I’m not the brightest kid on the block, but your world has been devastated by both the grinders and swarmers, and will remain so even after we destroy the Orians. Most likely my world will never exist anyways…no matter what I manage to do, or fail to do.”

  Sarge looked at the younger man and smiled “You got a set of big brass balls kid. Knowing that you will cease to exist and plan on going ahead with it anyhow…yup, big shiny ones.”

  “Well then, at first light we head back the way you two were headed and see if we can find the entrance to this lab. Val said it was all mostly underground. Apparently Dr. Rand hid some early blueprints in her memory banks for safe keeping. They weren’t complete, but I can get us down if we can find it…maybe.”

  There were five loud and questioning ‘maybes?’ that rang out in the mostly empty hangar.

  Gil sighed “As I said, they were incomplete…the one thing I do remember is Dr. Rand’s access code; and a warning about some high tech security system to be installed later. Of that my friends I have no clue as to what it could be.”

  “I’m not sure what a security system is.” Joe muttered “Security to us meant lookouts, blocked steel doors and well screened, hardened vents.”

  Sarge snorted and grinned “Well just think of all those devises of protection, make them electronic, deadly, and faster than we can move, think, or react.”

  “Oh shit!” Joe muttered as he looked at Sue “I believe that is the proper word at a time like this?”

  “Yup, oh shit is right!” Sarge replied with a smile, before Sue could.

  Izzy flopped down on her bedroll and snorted “Sure Iz, you say the ‘S’ word and everyone yells IZZY! Grownups say it, everyone is ok with it. You grownups suck!”

  “Yeah we do,” Sue smiled at her long lost sister “let’s hope this is one thing we don’t suck at…staying alive.”

  Joe sighed deeply “Or changing the future.”

  Chapter 16.

  The chopper zoomed low over the desert keeping just high enough to give them a good view of their surroundings, yet high enough to keep sand and other blowing debris out of his engine’s intake. Gil had kept high until they got to the point where Sue had said the swarmers didn’t fly out that far. Now low enough as not to miss anything manmade, yet high enough to see anything unusual, Gil had his doubts. This complex hadn’t been built until after he went into stasis, but he knew had been finished according to what Val could find. The problem was, all he knew was what his complex’s entrance looked like; he had no idea what this one was, nor could he guess. It could have been an old farm house or even a modern structure. At a minimum of eight years or so, a lot could have been buried by the blowing sands and dust of the Texas prairies.

  Something in the back of Gil’s mind kept nagging him as they scanned the prairie below, the chopper did a sharp bank and headed back in the direction they had just come from.

  Everyone began looking back to see if it was a swarm, but saw nothing. As Izzy opened her mouth to speak Gil blurted over the headsets…

  “Stupid, stupid.”

  Sarge chuckled “Yeah, and?”

  “I remember Dr. Rand saying something about what idiots they had in the project and something about a cattle ranch in the middle of a prairie without grass to graze on, who’d believe it?”

  Izzy looked at Gil and snorted “So let me get this straight, being a grown up is all about talking about things that make no sense?”

  Gil chuckled “No baby, not making sense is all about making sense from something that makes no sense.”

  Izzy flopped back in her seat and stared at the ceiling of the chopper. “THAT’S WHAT I MEAN!” she rolled her head to look at her sister and frowned “Fu…errrr, I mean durned adults. Sis, do you know what he means?”

  Sarge looked over from the co-pilot’s seat and grinned “That cow research place we circled a ways back?”

  “Yep!” Gil smiled “What if Rand was talking about the new underground complex? I mean they’d still need a road going in, a reason for the long dusty road. What if Rand was complaining about was the new complex they were building; he would then have a valid point. Eventually someone would have to ask, why put a cattle research ranch where there was no place for cattle to graze?”

  “Ok, please, would one of you ‘adults’ tell this girl what th
e hell you all are talking about?” Izzy snorted.

  Everyone knew Izzy could take care of herself and Gil had been saved by her. The big problem is that they saw her as an adult, but kept overlooking the fact that she was only fourteen going on thirty. It was the fourteen year old that was having problems keeping up and Megan saw it.

  “Iz honey, I think what those big louts in the front seats are trying to say is the government didn’t want people snooping around this new complex. A cattle ranch out in the middle of nowhere would raise questions if there was no grass to graze the cattle on; this Dr. Rand must have brought this up and they might have changed their thinking.”

  Izzy frowned “So what the heck do angry cows have to do with that? I mean a bunch of pissed off cows aren’t going to scare people away.”

  There were several muffled chuckles as Sue explained to Izzy what mad cow disease was. There was a few seconds of thinking and then the smart lass grinned.

  “Well that sure as hell would scare people away if there was some chance of passing it to humans.” her eyes lit up and a broad grin crossed her lips “That’s where the complex is?”

  Gil smiled back “Maybe honey, maybe.”

  In the distance appeared the several old and obviously partially dilapidated structures. They weren’t huge, just simple single level structures that looked like a few barns and simple test labs. Again Gil circled the area and trying to save what little fuel they had, he circled only twice in tightening circles before setting down in the center of the old buildings. Other than a few old torn down corrals, they had seen nothing.

  “Well guys…leave it running, or shut it down?”

  Sarge sighed “I’d say shut it down Gil. We didn’t see any swarms as far as we could see.”

  Joe slipped out of the chopper and as the blades slowed pulled his katana from the scabbard.

  “If there are any grinders around, I can take them down with this.” he looked around “Where do we start? In my time our bunkers were in caves and caverns that were sealed off once we got them done. Just one secure door to the outside and usually one top door to service the air intakes if needed.”

  Sue pointed toward a structure that looked like a lab and the sign that said “Main Lab #1”

  Sarge chuckled “A bit obvious, but…sure why not!” and the group headed toward the building that had most of the windows broken out.

  “Damn, usually don’t see windows broken out like these are, could be those grinders have decided to…”

  He never got to finish his thought as Gil swung his M-16 up and kicked the door in…or tried! “FUCK!” he shouted as he hopped around on one foot “Steel that looks like wood.” He limped around in a circle as he walked it off as he muttered “Always worked on TV.” he said to a chorus of chuckles.

  Izzy unslung the huge shotgun from her shoulder and aimed it at the door and twisted the knob…the door swung open. A quick dodging look inside and she turned and chuckled “If you adults are done playing around” she nodded to the open door.

  Sarge chuckled as he winked at Gil “Come on mister ‘I’ll kick the door in’, let’s go and see if we can find the lab.”

  Everyone slowly walked into the lab, except Sue. She walked over to the still limping Gil and reached around his waist.

  “Are you ok?”

  “Yeah…” he sighed “can’t say the same for my ego though.” he smiled “but I really don’t need support, think I’ll live. Guess someone broke out the windows to let more light in, but sure looks like those inner hallways are dark enough to…” he stopped and smile “thanks for the assist though.”

  “I don’t mind.” she replied softly as her arm tightened around his waist and they headed toward the door.

  Once inside the mostly dark inner labs, they searched the best they could with what light streamed through the old broken windows from down the hall behind them. The few windows that remained at the other end of the hall were sand blasted and covered in caked dust, so little light filtered through. An eerie, dusty aura filled the hall as they poked into every area that might hold a hidden door.

  There were many rooms off the inner hallways that formed a square, with many windowless rooms attached to the hall. Some doors were open, some not, and it was the ‘nots’ that worried Sarge most as many of the rooms were attached.

  “We search in pairs, with one pair staying out in the hall to make sure nothing sneaks up on us from the way we came, or the way we’re going. Two of us check the rooms to the right, two to the left. Check them good and no one moves until we’re all out in the hall again.”

  Everyone agreed with Sarge and the search began…and ended with nothing but disappointment. The second structure was darker and more foreboding, however, it had only one long hall with rooms on either side.

  Halfway down the long hall Gil and Izzy finished searching their room and walked out into the hall. Sarge and Meg slipped into one room while Sue and Joe watched the hall. Gil walked a few steps, turned and faced the way they came…

  “Clear this way.” he turned to see Izzy facing him and in the dim light could see tears streaming down her face. He opened his mouth to speak, but noticed that from the right behind her there was a faint blue glow that was not just emanating from some part of the room, but getting brighter.

  Izzy was shaking so hard she couldn’t move and then Gil saw why…

  From the other room came a violet glow and this one was brighter.

  “IZ RUN!” Gil shouted knowing grinders couldn’t hear.

  “Too late!” the petite lass mumbled almost zombie like “I’m sorry Gil.” She turned enough for him to see the long leathery arm and the talon-like fingers that had tightly grasped her backpack as it slowly pulled her back. From behind her the grinder stood to its full height, its basketball sized head completely opened and leaned down toward the trembling and crying girl. Slowly Izzy raised her shotgun, tucked it under her chin as Gil ran toward her. Her tiny fingers reached for the trigger as the beast’s head lowered. Inches from her head she screamed and slid the shotgun past her head, pulled the trigger…and nothing! She was doomed to die a grinding death. Horror filled her face as Gil realized he could not reach her in time.

  “DO IT!” Izzy screamed as Gil realized that she meant for him to shoot her.

  “FUCK YOU!” Gil screamed at the top of his lungs, threw his rifle down and drew his machete “We go down together!”

  Izzy felt what she had often called grinder drool dripping down on her head, she slowly closed her eyes and with a weak smile awaited her end…nothing! In her mind she knew it had to be playing with her. Now covered in grinder drool she opened her eyes and screamed “GET IT OVER WITH YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” The last things Izzy wanted was for Gil to reach her and then they’d both die. She screamed in rage and looked up at the creature.

  Gil had stopped running, the beast didn’t attack, and Izzy reached up and wiped the large amounts of drool out of her eyes to see it wasn’t drool.

  “Blood?” she looked at Gil “Not my blood…” she looked puzzled as she looked away from Gil and back up at the grinder’s huge open mouth. Instead she saw the head was split in half and felt herself being pulled backward, it still had her backpack. The next thing she remembered was falling backward and landing on the beast, slipping sideways and falling into a huge puddle of its blood. The fourteen year old quickly unfastened her backpack’s bindings now that the pressure was off, and tried to get to her feet.

  As she rolled to her left, she came face to face with the female grinder, its violet glow began to fade as its mouth opened and to Izzy appeared to be the black maw of death.

  Trying to crawl away became impossible as the black ooze from the first grinder covered the floor, both of her hands slipped out from under her and she slid to one side still staring at the creature that was about to devour her. Slipping and sliding she was determined not to allow herself to become its next victim.

  Its talons dug into the floor and it easily neared h
er, mouth agape. Izzy managed to roll out of its first snap at her head, but now she had rolled just enough to pin herself against the wall and there was nowhere else for her to go. Now with its mouth completely opened she knew it could swallow her to her waist and with one defiant grasp, tried to reach the shotgun…the dead grinder was laying on it. Her bright blue eyes saw only death among the many rows of shark-like teeth.

  Suddenly there was a slight glint of something and a strange strangling grunt…the grinder dropped to the floor and through her tears Izzy looked up to see Joe standing over the female grinder, his sword buried in its back and in the fog that was quickly overtaking her mind, she heard Gil saying something about if she was alright…someone else shouting her name…and someone saying Joe wasn’t kidding, the blade had penetrated all the way through its bony armor and into its brain. Her vision became gray there was a loud humming in her ears…

  Chapter 17.

  “Are you ok Iz?” Sue kept asking until her mind cleared.

  “She’s awake guys.” Megan shouted as Izzy’s eyes fluttered open and saw the three men walking into the room as they smiled in relief.

  “What…what happened?”

  Sue chuckled “You fainted young lady. Meg and I washed you up and dressed you. The guys found a whole tank of water outside.”

  Meg laughed softly “Man that grinder blood or whatever it is, sure stinks to high heaven.”

  Izzy smiled, and then broke into tears as her sister held her tightly and comforted her. She opened her eyes, sniffled slightly and then tried to smile. She looked to see her mentor and friend staring out the windows lost in thought.

  “Sarge?” she finally broke into a smile “I know you know I’m ok, or you’d be over here with the rest of us…” she gave a soft girlish giggle “and I’ve seen that stare before…you see something don’t you?”

  Sarge rubbed his chin with several days’ growth on it and Izzy grinned as it made a rasping sound that she was all too familiar with. For the time that she’d been with Sarge, he had always done exactly the same thing when something peaked his curiosity. He lowered his hand and looked at it before he began to chuckle.