Shadow Zone

by Pam Uphoff

  He sighed as she walked away. I can see why they'd under-appreciate me. But Paer? What a pack of idiots.

  Of course the analyst puppies couldn't leave him alone.

  Offe in the lead, they came and scowled as he fried meatballs. Equal parts fabbed goo, vat meat, and thawed beef. With mostly real spices. Passable, but not great. The sauce was simmering in three huge pots, and the fab was mass producing raw spaghetti.

  "You are so far below that girl, you are barely qualified to drive her car, let alone be seen getting private with her. Don't you care about her reputation?"

  Ebsa turned down the heat. Turned around. "Offe. Paer is a grown woman who can choose for herself who she wants to associate with. You should have respected that. Instead, you manipulated her."

  "I did not . . . I was doing it for her own good."

  "You demonstrated brutal indifference to her feelings. And then you topped it off by showing her how essentially weak you are."

  "She'd have gotten over her pique quickly enough . . . wait. Did you call me weak? You stupid little Closey, what do you mean weak?"

  "You allowed yourself to be used by a second rate society reporter to create a juicy scene that would improve her ratings. Were you insane? You compromised the security of the president's daughter and are probably marked down as a security risk. You looked stupid and easily influenced to your superiors. One, Offe. At least have the sense to keep your head down and work your ass off for a while. The recordings were all confiscated and the reporters all warned. It didn't go public. So unless you keep stirring the pot, everyone will forget about all this in a couple of years."

  They all stared at him, appalled. The other four sort of eased away from Offe, and he stepped back, a bit pale.

  "You guys are supposed to be hotshot young analysts. Ambitious. Open your eyes and take a good hard look when someone dangles something you want. There's always a cost. Always. Analyze it. You're swimming in the shallow end of a big pool full of sharks. Learn fast. Before you find yourself in the deep end, and trying to look good while you dog paddle about."

  They meandered off, looking . . . well, hopefully that was thoughtful, not stubborn.

  Ebsa shook his head and went back to finish the meatballs, and start the garlic bread . . .

  Ra'd snorted, behind him. "Sounds like I missed something interesting."

  "Well, if I'd reacted like they expected, they'd probably have had a nice little high society news item." Ebsa took out the first trays of garlic bread, put two more in the oven. "So, you get to apprentice under Spymaster Ajha? Now that I'm jealous of."

  Ra'd snorted. "Reading reports."

  Ebsa walked down to the fab and grabbed the first load of raw pasta. And boiled it for three minutes. Sprinkled parsley, spritzed with olive oil, tossed a bit, and started loading the hot buffet. "Yeah. Actually this is more fun than reading reports, so I'll just shut up. Until you get to do something really interesting." He swapped the garlic bread again, started the next, shoveled the bread into the tubs under the warming lights. Eyes the casual loungers who were drifting in and almost lined up. "Oh, c'mon ahead, you might as well get started."

  He shifted the first two pots of sauce—traditional tomato based, and an alfredo sauce—out to the hot buffet, then the meatballs, and started preparing refills of everything.

  He grinned at Ra'd. "The scary thing is, I'm enjoying this."

  Ra'd laughed. "We'll see if you say that next month."

  Chapter Nine

  2 Safar 1405 yp

  Scrublands Base, World EH 2946

  "What do you mean he's not here?"

  Ebsa looked over his shoulder to where the young analysts were leaning away from an older man.

  Ra'd strolled up, and looked him over. "Intel Leader Icty, I believe?" He got a curt nod and glare.

  "He's gone across to try and figure out what they're up to. He said they'd take 'a good long look' but I don't actually know how much time 'long' is, in this context."

  "Why? Doesn't he trust his electronic intercepts?" The Intel leader tried to loom . . . then looked Ra'd up and down, a perplexed frown on his face. "Who the One Hell are you?"

  Ebsa swallowed a laugh. I don't think he used to someone so impossible to intimidate.

  "Wqlw Withione. I just got here a week ago." Ra'd glanced south, toward the gates. "Ajha and Fean have been gone for six days. I suspect they are trying to get bugs into new places, in case the Helaos have found our older bugs, or otherwise have grounds to suspect we are spying on them."

  "Oh really? And why would they suspect that?"

  "Our sabotaging their gate machinery is a rather large indication." Pause. "Don't you think?"

  Ebsa bit his knuckle.

  "Great. I venture out of civilization and my underlings are no where to be found."

  All five analysts straightened. Offe opened his mouth . . . and Icty waved him silent. "Go away and translate something. Where the One Hell is Wxxo?"

  Ebs stepped around behind the kitchen and spotted Wxxo talking to Colonel Ypxe and waved to catch his attention, gestured back toward the pavilion.

  Then he started whipping up an early dinner for the meeting of the Big Wigs. And started some subtle hearing enhancement spells.

  And coffee. He'd managed to get some actual coffee beans in the last shipment, so he brewed a pot and took cups and coffee pot out to the table the trio settled at.

  " . . . evacuating the primitive tribesmen. And we're watching some building they've got going on the Target World. We're of the opinion that there's another gate. We need to find it, quickly . . . "

  Ebsa retreated reluctantly.

  Bought out flatware.

  " . . . stage out of the other surveillance world . . . "

  Three plates of food.

  " . . . just stand back and watch the merge—if it happens. I don't really trust those Comet Fall people to tell us everything . . . "

  Ebsa set three pieces of leftover pie in the oven to warm a bit, and trotted out to refill coffee cups.

  Colonel Ypxe interrupted the Intel Leader. "But that's not reason to short us on troops. We've run over a thousand men through here for training and familiarization, but we've only got a hundred men actually stationed here."

  Ebsa ran out of cups to fill and retreated as slowly as he could. Started a new pot and bolted back to start removing plates.

  "The Helios are watching us watch them on the Target World. They don't know you exist." Icky dismissed any arguments with a wave of his hand.

  A growl from the colonel.

  Ebsa delivered pie, and returned for coffee refills.

  "And you lot are spoiled. I can't believe how many people complain about 'roughing it' when you eat like this."

  The Intel Leader drove off as the sun set, and Ebsa got busy cooking for everyone.

  Ra'd showed up to help with clean up after. "I checked through all the gates, and all the corridors. No sign of Ajha. I couldn't hear him, so I figure he must be at least ten kilometers from the end of whichever corridor they took."

  Ten? A mere five times most High Oner's reach?

  "Ajha and Fean both have very strong shields."

  Ra'd nodded. "I hope that's the only problem. Because I have no idea how to track them over there."

  Chapter Ten

  7 Safar 1405 yp

  Scrublands Base, World EH 2946

  Breakfast was in full spate the next morning when Ebsa spotted the running men. Running through the tents of the army encampment.

  They were wearing odd capes, short streamers of tan and green cloth all over. But underneath . . . Those are Helios uniforms!

  Paer was sitting across the pavilion, facing him, with a couple of the other medical staff . . .

  :: Paer! Behind you! Shield! Now! :: He didn't bother with a narrow focus, and half the diners sat up and looked around. Paer's shield was not the only one flashing up.

  :: Ra'd! Weapon up! You may need the big one! ::

  Ebsa reach
ed under the cold buffet, ripped out the 10mm and both magazines. Slapped one in while running. Gunfire, now. He pulled up a basic physical shield. He could sense the sparkle of shields, physical and energy, see their limits. See the soldiers shooting toward the pavilion. Bullets ricocheting, the flick of light as lasers hit an energy shield. Ebsa added an energy shield to his own collection. He ran to the side, clear of the massed shields of everyone in the pavilion, turned, opened a hole in his shield and started shooting. One, two, three. He was knocking them down, but two were getting back up. They don't have shields, but they do have some body armor.

  Where the hell are our soldiers? . . . Other than eating breakfast, with no weapons to hand . . .

  He raised his aim for face shots and potted two more Helios before the bulk of the return fire came his way.

  He pulled the barrel of the gun back inside his shield and trotted forward, staggering a bit, as the momentum of the bullets punched at him. Stopped to shoot two more.

  Soldiers with shields up were running up behind him, scooping up Helios weapons and returning fire. He could hear the colonel shouting about getting shields up and rushing the invaders. Some gunfire from the pavilion, sounded like pistols . . . A boom that sounded rather like Ra'd's favorite gun . . . Smoke climbing from down the road.

  Then Ra'd's clear mental voice. :: I need a spotter up here on the roof. They're crossing with tanks now. ::

  Ebsa handed the 10mm to the nearest soldier, the pistol to the next—the colonel!—and bolted for his storage box. Up on it, up to the roof of the kitchen to the high roof of the pavilion. He crouched and ran up to the top ridge.

  The Helios had tanks, and more coming through the third gate. Ebsa bracketed his eyes and called up a spell to magnify his vision.

  "They're using the center gate. Tank coming through, now, can you hit the driving slot? Below the turret, to our right of center . . . "

  The big gun roared. A bright splash right there. The tank lurched, turned, jammed, shot forward, a twisted wreck, barely clear of the gate.

  "Track right. Two tanks on the road."

  The first tank took two shots to stop. The second tank . . . the turret rotated, the barrel lifted . . .

  "Don't shoot! I'm shielding!" As hard as he'd ever tried, angled up, anchored to the roof, to the beams . . . and he was flying, sliding . . .he stopped himself before he slid off the roof. Three fast shots from Ra'd. Ebsa staggered back beside him.

  "Truck to the right . . . it's gone through the target world gate." He scanned. "One more tank. to the left, it's behind the big tent, moving to our left . . . "

  Scrambling behind to the left. Ebsa turned and sliced the two Helios who'd made it onto the roof. Blood flew, a head bounced and rolled off the edge.

  One last boom from Ra'd's favorite 20mm. More shots, scattered around the camp. Silence.

  Ebsa took a long slow study of the camp. Waved to catch the Colonel's attention. Pointed toward suspicious movement.

  The Colonel sent soldiers—armed now—at the run. Two shots.

  More silence.

  "Well. I guess breakfast is over." Ebsa swallowed and pulled out an easy healing spell and aimed it at his ears. Not too bad. I think I've got the hang of that muffling spell. I didn't even think about it. Even Ra'd's cannon didn't mess my hearing up too badly.

  They stayed on the roof while the soldiers searched, then climbed down when the colonel sent a man up to relieve them.

  The pavilion had become the triage center. Paer was moving between the seated injured, a touch here and there. Ebsa sighed in relief. She'd be busy for awhile. Trained in Comet Fall style medical magic, she could repair bones, muscles, skin . . .

  The colonel strode over and clouted Ebsa on the shoulder. "Some cook! They took out my sentries right at shift change. Two shifts and eight tank crews without a single warning getting out. Some sort of anesthetic gas, the docs are saying. Then the Helios went on a throat slitting run through camp. If you hadn't raised the alarm, I suspect they'd have had us all. And the gates." He eyed Ra'd. "You know, it's nearly a kilometer to that gate. I'd have thought that shot was fluke, if I hadn't seen you take out three more tanks with, what? Five shots?"

  "Six. I didn't have any armor piercing rounds, just penetrating fragmenters. So I had to try for vulnerable spots."

  The colonel paused. "No armor piercing . . . You know, if either of you tire of the directorate, let me know. But right now, if you'll excuse me . . . "

  Ebsa looked around at the mess. The Helios had gotten several shots off before the shields were up. In fact they'd probably started with lasers, to avoid noise, and even Paer's first shield had most likely been physical.

  And the colonel said, running through the army camp . . . killing soldiers as they encountered them. Ebsa winced. And looked around for Wxxo. He was walking back in as two cars roared off toward the gates. Reporting to HQ and Disco, no doubt. Did the Helios take out the communications relay? Of course. It was probably one of their first priorities. Crap, we were . . . well, if sneak attacks never worked, there'd be no such thing. But the Colonel's going to catch hell, and probably the Action admin as well. Not that guarding the camp is their job, but there weren't more than a dozen of us armed at breakfast.

  Ebsa hesitated, then turned back to the kitchen. People still need to eat. I'll have hot soup and cold sandwiches on hand all day.

  He scrubbed up in the sink and got to work. He got a lot of respectful nods, as people came and went. Didn't see the Lying Moron or the rest of the analysts. The colonel returned the 10mm and his pistols, cleaned and loaded.

  Ra'd, still carrying his 20mm, prowled.

  Ebsa waved him down. "Stupid of me to worry, but will you check on the baby analysts?"

  Ra'd shrugged. "The Intel crawler is empty. Hob's in the hospital waiting in line for a doc. Paer says he'll be fine, but they need to remove the bullet before she heals over it. Do you think there's a problem?"

  Ebsa hesitated. "It's just . . . they haven't come by here. If they aren't there, where are they?"

  Ra'd looked around and spotted Wxxo, talking to the Colonel, and walked over.

  They all walked back.

  Wxxo was frowning. "I didn't send them off with the messages—in fact I haven't gotten a reply . . . I'll do a head count."

  The Colonel nodded. "I've been looking for bodies, for some missing in action."

  "A truck got away. They took the gate through to the target world. It should be easy enough to find them . . . " Ebsa broke off as Wxxo looked to the side where a car was hustling down the road.

  The Colonel nodded. "Two trucks got away. The other went through gate two. They stole weapons and ammunition. I suppose they could have taken people . . . but why? Let's see what HQ has to say."

  The driver started talking before his feet hit the ground. "The Helios have attacked Home. They struck two college campuses and have kidnapped close to ten thousand students. They think they're going to use them for merge victims."

  Silence all around.

  The Colonel nodded. "Right. I'll send a company to track the truck that went through to the target world."

  Wxxo clenched his fists. "I need Ajha, damn it. He should have been back two days ago."

  Ebsa and Ra'd swapped glances.

  "We'll go find him."

  Ra'd nodded. "We'll go on foot, through the corridors . . ."

  The siren wailed.

  "They're coming again."

  Chapter Eleven

  7 Safar 1405 yp

  Helios

  A faint shiver, less than the mildest corridor transit he'd ever felt.

  Ajha heaved himself to his feet and peeked out the back of the truck. No sign of a gate or corridor behind them, but the ground had changed. Wilted grass and plowed soil. Or stirred, they weren't furrows, just . . .

  Ajha looked upward in sudden dread. Dimish light, clouds flowing in . . . golden in the setting sun

  "I think they've opened a shadow zone, and we're in it."<
br />
  Fean hissed. "So . . . we touch nothing, especially if it came in from the Target world? We're not actually from here, maybe . . . "

  "Neither was Q. Mind, she was in the Target world for weeks before she was trapped and merged." Ajha bit his lip. "We need to get out of here and get back through a gate. I think once we're away from the overlapping worlds we'll be fine."

  Fean swallowed. "Right. So we need to get back into the Helios world, and back to our gates and warn them."

  "Yes . . . it's people—or things—from the Target world that will merge with us." Ajha loosened the canvas and peered around just a few meters away, what looked like trampled grasslands. A hundred meters further, a swampy looking lake. Water.

  "Water. Our bodies are 95% water. It worked for Xen. If we can get to that lake without getting too friendly with the grass, we might be able to scout around . . . I'll try that. You get back to Helios and . . . "

  "No. Disco's watching them. You can bet they already know about this. Whatever you're up to, you're going to need help." Fean slipped out from under the canvas and jumped.

  Ajha tossed their backpacks, jumped, cursing as he tumbled onto the rough ground. It's rocks and stuff, I won't merge with it, here in the shadow zone.

  Fean stared out at the lake as she hefted her pack. "Run for it?"

  "No, from the Disco reports, here in the shadow zone active merging is taking place, but slowly. Like to like, mostly, so we won't merge with rocks, but living things . . . That haven't already merged. I think we need to try to not touch them. Any grass that is still standing up, slice it low down, so we don't brush against anything." Ajha bent and waved his hand, just above the ground. Walked carefully forward. But not slowly. He didn't like the ripping sounds his feet were making, nor the way the cut grass was sticking to his shoes. What happens when all the sole has completely merged? Will it be my feet next? He hurried.

  "Holy One. I just want to roll in the grass."