by Gregory Kay
“But...why would our government agree to this?”
“They were deceived,” Indrid told her as an enormous tentacle reached for them. They could plainly see the gaping maw at its tip, studded with teeth like a lamprey’s mouth, and wide enough to engulf a dozen ships the size of theirs. “Deception is what the Ra’aki do best!”
A single warning light flickered even as the mouth filled the screen, and Indrid’s hand moved like lightening on the controls. There was another burst of sickening vertigo, and then the view screen was gone, and the ship was vibrating calmly in another phase.
“I think you might have cut that one just a little close, Dad.”
Their pilot looked back at them, his face unnaturally pale, and remarked, “Like your mother says, a miss is as good as a mile,” but the vein visibly throbbing in his temple and the sweat dripping from the tip of his nose belied his casualness, and told them they had come every bit as close to death as it had looked like.
“Obviously we have successfully phased and are in transit once more, hopefully to somewhat quieter part of the void where we can have time to set a proper course. But you were asking about your government.
“The Ra’aki told them that they wanted them for allies in their war against certain unnamed aliens – us – and that, in return, they would provide your leaders with advanced technology and support, enough to allow them to literally rule your planet. This conspiracy has been going on for nearly a century now, in several governments, not just yours.”
“The project our prisoner mentioned before he died,” Luke projected, “to open up a path through the void that would allow us to send troops and bombs anywhere?”
“Exactly. The Ra’aki helped them develop the technology, based on this world’s particular geometry.”
Fiona held up a finger to pause him, and projected rather than spoke because she was still trying to recover her breath after their near miss.
“Are you saying that geometry is different here...well, at home on Earth, than it is in other places?”
“In certain ways, at least as it applies to the walls separating it from the void. It is not only the planet’s physical structure, but its metaphysical structure, as well as its particular bubble of time and space and where it is in the matrix of all things at any given time.”
“So you’re not just talking space; you’re talking dimensions?”
“Yes; each dimension has its own properties, and those properties vary according to ‘time’ and ‘place,’ although those two terms don’t mean exactly what we usually think of when used in this context.
“At any rate, there are weak places in the walls of any dimension, some weaker than others; some are temporary, some move about, and still others become fixed, due to natural or external factors.”
“And the TNT?” Luke asked.
“Fixed by the Earth’s magnetic lines, and made still weaker by the changes wrought in them from electrical power transmission. That is why this spot was chosen.
“Certain dimensions have walls that respond more readily to different forces; at some point, most cultures develop what they consider to be magical signs and symbols, usually under the covert mental influence of the Ra’aki, although they do sometimes overtly intervene as well. These symbols, applied to the weaker places, make them weaker still, sometimes even enough to allow certain things to pass through.”
“As in conjuring up demons!” Fiona verbally burst out in realization, and Indrid nodded.
“Absolutely, and, as I am sure you can attest, most of the void-beings and void-creatures would fit the role of ‘demons’ quite nicely, not to mention the Ra’aki themselves or their meat puppet servants.
“However, these things are flesh, and can squeeze through impure openings, just as humans occasionally manage to do, in places like what you refer to as the Bermuda Triangle, or certain stone circles. The Old Ones are not entirely matter as we know it, and, fortunately, need a pure opening, a direct door with nothing in the way in order to break out of the void and into a world. Running high voltage at certain frequencies through those weakening symbols at the right time and place will provide that door.” He held up a hand, restraining the question both were getting ready to ask. “Yes, despite their size, the Old Ones can pass through the smallest pure crack; they are not restrained by the laws of matter as we know it, and are largely amorphous. That is also why they cannot be killed, at least as far as we know.”
Luke frowned.
“Wait a minute. If Lovecraft was tied in with Crowley as people suspect, and stole ideas from him, and if Crowley was a spy, then the government...governments, would have to know about the Old Ones!”
“The governments did; that, as well as a means of military transport, was why they got involved in the project.”
“That doesn’t make any sense!”
“Of course it does, because they do not understand the nature of the Old Ones. The Ra’aki incorporated their ignorance into their planning; they convinced your government that it was they who controlled the Old Ones, and promised they could be utilized as the ultimate weapon against their enemies.” He shrugged. “In reality, the Ra’aki would have aided your government in world conquest in order to strip the Earth of what they could use under the dictatorial power of their new world order, collected as much as they could, and then abandoned the place before one or more of the Old Ones homing in on the portal found it.”
“So, by closing the portal...you literally saved the world!”
“No, WE literally saved your world, all of us here. It is a good feeling, is it not?”
Luke, one arm still around Fiona, had to agree, then was suddenly struck by a thought.
“You said ‘our God.’”
“Excuse me?”
“A minute ago, you said ‘our God.’ Are you saying you’re Christian?”
“Yes, all of my people are.”
“And you’re obviously human.”
Indrid grinned.
“I like to think so, yes.”
“But you’re from another planet.”
“Yes, Lanulos.”
“You’re from Earth!”
“No, I was born on Lanulos...”
“Not you as an individual; your people are from Earth!”
“I did not say that.”
“Wait a minute!” Fiona interjected, “How could he be from Earth? The kind of technology you use doesn’t exist, and won’t for decades if not centuries...” Her thoughts trailed off when the epiphany hit her. “You’re from the future!”
“I did not say that,” he repeated, more firmly, and Luke grinned and shook his head.
“You didn’t have to. You mentioned not only dimensions, but ‘bubbles of time and space’ a while ago. That’s the only place you could be from.”
“Luke...”
“Admit it,” Fiona demanded, but Indrid shook his head.
“I cannot; it is forbidden to discuss it.”
“Why?”
He looked away, closing his thoughts to them for so long they thought he wasn’t going to answer. Finally, eyes still averted, he tapped his finger and began.
“As a hypothetical ‘if,’ and only hypothetical, you understand, if someone were from the future when humankind had advanced to the point that he had colonized and terraformed vast numbers of worlds, and that man could travel back through space and time, he would know enough never to tell anyone in a previous time about it.”
“Why?” Fiona asked again, but it was Luke who answered her.
“Because it could change that future he came from; just them knowing about it could cause them to act in such a way that they would change it without meaning to.”
His father nodded, with no little pride in his son’s intelligence, Fiona noticed, and suddenly had a revelation of her own. On an intellectual level it was mind-bending, but on an emotional level...
“Then, if time and space were really that fluid, a man from the future – a hypothetical ma
n, of course – could travel back through time and father his own ancestor, couldn’t he?”
Luke’s eyes widened, but Indrid’s smile merely grew, with still more pride, unless she missed her guess. Slowly and deliberately, he reached out, took her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it almost reverently.
“I know you will make a wonderful mother.”
Letting go abruptly, he turned back to the controls, the conversation obviously at an end.
“Now if you will excuse me,” he projected brusquely, “I have to phase.”
CHAPTER 34
“This is the most amazing thing I’ve seen in my life!” Kathy said sincerely as she stared at the viewscreen.
Indrid had finally managed to phase them into a safe spot: a place outside the void for once, high atop a rocky outcrop on a world whose low-growing scrub vegetation ranged in shades running from wine-red to purple to black, lit to a state of half-light by a distant sun. They could see the occasional small creatures creeping, walking, and flying against the dark orange sky, all of them strange in form and with too many limbs, but none large enough to threaten them.
“I am glad you approve,” Indrid told her, looking from person to person in the room in the process. Everyone was there, even Alison with her half-shaved head, her scalp still red and scarred...everyone but Luke and Fiona, who were sitting with Whitey in the infirmary. While they could still ‘hear’ him, what was about to be asked didn’t apply to them, and they didn’t have to ask why; they knew.
Jan sat with them; the question didn’t affect him either, and he spent his time staring at his older brother and chatting mentally to him. Luke was dividing his attention between the three of them; although Whitey was awake, he was still groggy. According to his sibling, the machine had temporarily blocked the nerves affected by his massive wounds, so his friend felt no pain, something for which Luke had repeatedly thanked the God he was coming to believe in once more.
As for Fiona, she was content for the moment just to shelter in his encircling arm and listen, trying to keep from thinking about her own burning question.
They could all still mentally hear the conversation from outside, however, and couldn’t help but listen.
“This and the rest of the universe, or at least the ability to travel through it, can be yours if you wish.”
“What do you mean?” Kathy asked, excitedly spinning around to face him, her expression taking years off her age.
“What has happened on your world has the potential to make things very difficult for you, as far as your government is concerned. Nothing at all may happen as long as you keep quiet, but you will remain a loose end in their eyes, and considering the historical record, that may eventually become a dangerous position to be in.”
Joe sarcastically grunted, “Gee, do ya think?” making Indrid smile.
“All of you are good people, and we would like to make a place for you on our world, on Lanulos. You will be provided with homes and employment in whatever field you choose, and any necessary training.”
“Holy shit!” they all heard Sam clearly project.
Kathy asked, “Any employment? Even...on the ships, traveling through the universe?”
“Yes, including that, although technically, that is universes, plural.”
Kathy’s satisfied smile looked like that of the proverbial Cheshire cat.
Joe stood there with his mouth open, about to explain all the problems with that, and say “Thanks, but no thanks,” but he locked up when he heard his wife’s words.
“Then we’ll come.”
“Kathy...”
“Joe, you know I love you,” she said, stepping forward and laying an affectionate hand on his barrel chest, “but this...this is something I’ve dreamed of all my life. I can’t turn this down! Please understand! I can’t!”
He grumbled and cursed for a moment, than asked, “And what about our daughter?”
Alison spoke for herself. “I’ll be with you on Lanulos. I’ve been kidnapped once by men who intended to kill me, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for it to happen again.” She shook her head, making the hair on the side where it still existed bounce. “I don’t want to live like that, and on Lanulos, I won’t have to. Besides, Johnny is going, too.”
Before Joe could think of an argument for that, Johnny broke in.
“I wanted to ask your blessing first; I’m going to ask Allie to marry me. We can have your grandchildren on this new world just as easy as the old one, and it sounds like a lot better place to live.”
Joe Parks looked at the boy, and came to the abrupt realization that he wasn’t a boy anymore, no more than Alison was any longer a girl; after what they had been through, nobody could call them children now.
“Well...shit! You’re man enough to ask me, at least, and you’ve damned sure proven you love her, so yes, you have my blessing. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have as a son-in-law.” He shook Johnny’s hand shrugged in resignation. “Since you’re all against me, I reckon I’ll go too, but I do have one question; how are our relatives, friends and neighbors going to take this?”
“The military bombing the facility provided the perfect excuse for any disappearances in the area, although no doubt the blast will be passed off as yet another accident with stored explosives. You were in the area looking for Mothman and got caught in it. No identifiable parts of your bodies were ever recovered.”
“So this is a one-way trip, huh?”
“Most likely, but I think it is best under the circumstances. If you ever return to Earth for a visit, it will need to be where no one knows you.”
Kathy grinned so broadly her eyes crinkled until they nearly disappeared.
“But the rest of the universe will be ours to travel?”
Indrid nodded, and Joe sighed.
“I reckon I can’t argue with that deal.”
Their host turned to Sam and Rhonda.
“It is the same offer for you. We are not a warlike people, but we are under increasing pressure from the Ra’aki, and occasionally others, and we lack the skills to deal with them. We could use a man like you to train our forces.”
Sam scratched his chin, and remembered to project.
“Damn, I want to. You can’t believe how much I want to chuck all this shit and have next experiences, new adventures, but...”
“We’ll do it!” Rhonda said, looking at her husband as if daring him to say no, and Sam smiled broadly.
“I know the pressure of the business, the economy, friends, family, and everything else has been getting to you lately, I should have guessed you’d jump at the chance.” Pausing, he jerked his head in the direction of the infirmary. “What about Whitey?”
“Again, the same offer. Whitey, can you hear me?”
“Yeah; I’m just a little...fuzzy right now, you know?”
Indrid knew, and the Earthlings were surprised he was conscious at all. The infirmary’s machine, however, in addition to blocking his body’s pain sensors, had temporarily paralyzed his injured parts as well, so there was no reason to keep him sedated as it began repairing the massive amount of damage he had taken. As far as Whitey was concerned, fuzzy was an accurate description; it felt like he had been wrapped in soft, warm cotton. It was also easier for him to project than to talk aloud.
“I am certain you are; that is normal. The data I am receiving from the medical device tells me you will almost certainly survive. You are a man of great strength and courage, as well as knowledge; my people could use you, and would welcome you.”
“Why? They like crazy people with one arm, one eye, and half their face burned off?”
“They like heroes. Besides, all of that can be fixed, and will be, whether you decide to stay or not.”
“You’re telling me you can grow me a new arm and eye?”
“Yes, as well as remove any scars from your recent incident and even fix your old knee injury. Perhaps more importantly, gi
ven time, we can heal the other scars, the ones you carry inside that cannot be seen, at least not physically.”
“You can really do all that?”
“Yes, we can and we will.”
Instead of answering immediately, he turned his remaining eye up to Luke in askance, and his friend smiled and nodded.
“Do it, Whitey. This is what you’ve been needing.”
“What about you?” He whispered, then projected, “What about Luke?”
“I heard you the first time,” Indrid told him, “You will need to learn to shield and focus your projections. I am afraid the invitation cannot extend to either Luke or Fiona; they yet have a vital part to play on your world. They will, however, have ample opportunities to visit you on Lanulos, if they so desire.”
“Yes!” both of them projected at once.
CHAPTER 35
“There are a couple of things I need to ask before we go back,” Fiona told Indrid, and he turned away from the controls to face her and nodded. That they were going back was unquestionable now – they had already said their goodbyes to their friends – but she found it bittersweet, because it would also take her back to a question she still didn’t have an answer for. She glanced at Luke, standing beside her and holding her hand; he had once asked her, ‘What am I going to do with you?’ Now it was her turn to wonder, once she got back, just what she was going to do with him.
Of course, she was careful not to project those particular thoughts.