by Joe Vadalma
He threw the newspaper down and followed Lazlos back to where the interdimensional travel machine slowly came together. Esmeralda was already hard at work.
He gazed at her. He decided that he was in love with her. Nonetheless, he was puzzled about some things about her. For one thing, her energy was inexhaustible. She could go days with barely any sleep and still want to party all night and make love afterwards. There was something about her eyes too. When he looked into them, they seemed to hypnotize him to the point where he felt he would anything she asked. Sometimes when he was with her, he thought that there was something unnatural about her. An aura of ancient evil seemed to envelope her.
In addition, he noticed that while she was in the laboratory, although he did not see anything overt on her part, things often went wrong in the parts of the project that she had worked on, almost as though she was sabotaging it instead of enhancing it. Because of these failures, work on the machine was delayed several times. Nonetheless, even with the delays and cost overruns, the project went on.
* * * *
On the same day that Nicholas had declared himself emperor of the world, the machine was completed. That evening he and Esmeralda celebrated with Doctor Lazlos. The only thing left to do was to test it. After several drinks, Westcott said, “I volunteer. I'll go to that other dimension."
Esmeralda, who never seemed drunk no matter how much alcohol she consumed, said, “I'm going with you, darling. I couldn't stay here knowing that you're in danger in another dimension."
This pleased Westcott. It was the most sentimental thing he had ever heard her say.
Early the next morning, the machine was prepared for their travel to the other dimension. Several switches were thrown, and it hummed loudly. A screen the size of a doorway showed utter darkness, so that it seemed to be painted black. Westcott and Esmeralda were dressed in outfits similar to space suits with oxygen tanks strapped to their backs. In addition they carried weapons and tools that they might need depending upon what they encountered.
Before stepping through the portal, Westcott said, “Are you sure that this is the same dimension that we looked at with the model? When I looked into that peephole, I saw a man chained to a wall in what seemed to be a bedroom."
Lazlos replied, “It's the same world all right. The only thing, because of the difference in size, the calibration point is slightly different. What you are seeing now is within a hundred meters of what you saw with the smaller machine."
"In which direction? Why are there no lights?"
Lazlos shrugged. “Turn on your suit lamp."
The lamp was located at the top of the suit, but could be switched on with a button on the wrist. When Westcott shined the light through the portal, he saw stone walls and a couple of arched openings. “Well, here goes nothing.” He stepped through the screen into the small chamber. Esmeralda followed him. He glanced back. Hanging in the middle of the room was the gateway through which he could see Lazlos and the laboratory behind him. Behind the portal, which had no depth dimension, was a stone wall with a niche where a moldy skeleton was laid to rest.
Westcott turned on the suit radio. “Doctor Lazlos, can you hear me?"
Laszlo's voice came through the earphones. “I hear you very well. Tell me about your surroundings."
"We seem to be in a catacombs. My guess is that it's underground. That room we saw on the model must be somewhere above us."
"If you intend to explore, leave one of the locating devices in the chamber you are in now. That catacombs you are in may be extensive. You want to be sure that you can find your way back to portal."
Esmeralda said, “We can leave mine. I'll be with Jack all of the time. We don't need to carry two of the devices with us.” She removed the tracking device from around her ankle and placed it in front of the gateway.
"So Es,” said Jack, “which way should we go?"
"It doesn't make any difference, just as long as we map our way as we go along.” She took a notebook from one of the wide pockets in the space suit. She used a ruler and a ball point to draw vertical and horizontal lines to form a crosshatch pattern. In the center square, she place a capital P. She also drew a couple of small lines on the square to indicate where the archways were located. “Which way should we go first?"
"Forward."
She drew an arrow on her map through the lines that indicated the archway in front of them. Jack and her walked through the opening.
The next chamber was similar to the one they just left. Westcott said into the suit microphone. “So far so good. Can you still hear me all right, Lazlos?"
Someone on the other end cried, “Shit. Power supply three just died."
Westcott cried, “What's going on?"
Lazlos said, “Small glitch. One of the power supplies died. Don't worry Jack? We'll have the IDGM back in no time. Meanwhile, you may as well continue your exploring. I'll buzz you when we're back online. Ten-four."
Westcott recalled that yesterday he had seen Esmeralda fooling around with one of the power supplies. He believed that it was number three.
"I heard that,” said Esmeralda. “We may as well do as Doctor Lazlos suggested and keep exploring. It'll take at least a couple of hours to fix a power supply.” She drew in the doorways of the room on her map. There was one on the left and another on the right.
Westcott wondered how she was so sure of the time it would take to fix the power supply unless she knew exactly what was wrong with it. Well, that was spilled milk. Nothing he could do about it now. “Two hours. Do we have enough oxygen to last that long?"
"I doubt it, but I have the feeling that the air is breathable. Wait.” She unscrewed her space suit helmet and tipped it slightly to allow a little air in. She made a face. “It's seems to be breathable enough, but it stinks of death."
"About what you'd expect in a catacombs.” He followed Esmeralda's example and allowed a little air to enter his helmet. It was as she said, breathable but smelling musty. “Okay. we might as well take our helmets off. I say we leave them and the oxygen back in the room with the portal."
They returned to the chamber they had just left. As they expected, the portal no longer existed. They stashed their helmets, oxygen tanks and cumbersome over suits in a corner and returned to the second room. Removing their helmets had one disadvantage. They were no longer in contact with Lazlos. Westcott said, “Let's keep exploring for an hour. If we don't find anyway to go to an upper level or anything interesting, we'll return here. By that time, the IDGM will be fixed."
"Sounds like a plan."
As they passed through several more chambers, now that Westcott no longer wore his helmet, he heard sounds. They were low, as though they were far away, so it was difficult to make out what they were exactly. There were different types. One sounded like the rubbing together of stones. This made him examine the ceilings and walls looking for cracks or places where the stones seemed loose. Everything was as solid as ... well ... a rock. The other sounds were even lower, like babies crying or someone weeping. Others sounds were like screams. Still others, like the snorting of a great beast. He knew only one thing; the sounds did nothing for his morale. In fact he began to feel fear. He wondered whether there were things in this place who might do them harm. For comfort, he rested his hand on the pistol he had brought.
They wandered from room to room, all of whom were pretty much alike except for the number of archways leading out of them. After a half hour of this, Westcott said, “Let's see your map, Esmeralda. We aren't going in circles are we?"
She showed him the drawing. “Not in the sense that we passed through any room twice, but we are moving in a kind of large arc.” She ran her fingers along the map showing how they had been moving.
Westcott had the creeps as though things in adjoining room were watching them. Once or twice he saw swift movement through a portal. However, when he turned his flashlight in that direction there was nothing. “I tell you what. Let's head back toward the room w
e first entered, but return by a different route if we can. Maybe your estimate of the time to fix that power supply was too pessimistic. Once we go back to our own dimension, maybe we can recalibrate the IDGM so that it takes us somewhere in this dimension that's out of this labyrinth."
"Okay by me. This catacombs gives me the creeps."
CHAPTER 24. LOST IN THE LABYRINTH
Using Esmeralda's map and adding to it as they went along, Westcott and Esmeralda threaded their way through the catacombs heading generally in the direction of their starting point. As they went into a new section of the labyrinth, Westcott began to feel paranoid, as though the chambers were more eerie than the ones they had gone through previously. There was an ambiance of unspeakable horror about them. This feeling became so strong that he began to shiver uncontrollably.
Esmeralda asked, “What's wrong with you, Jack? Aren't you feeling well?"
"I-I'm all right. Like you said before, this place is creepy. I'll be glad when we get back to the portal. I keep hearing strange noises and seeing things moving around that are not there, as though we were not alone."
"Perhaps we're not. I hear the same sounds and seem to catch glimpses of something or somebody through the archways."
"Do you think we should draw our weapons?"
"Let's see what we encounter first. It may be impervious to bullets."
"What do you mean?"
"The kind of evil presence that I feel may be preternatural."
"Like ghosts, demons or vampires?"
"Something like that."
"I don't know whether I believe in such things."
Esmeralda smiled at him. “You're naive."
They stepped into the next chamber. To Westcott's utter surprise, two beautiful women were glaring at each other. One had red hair; the other was blonde and naked. They both had scratches and bruises as though they had been fighting. The blonde had cuts as well which were bleeding profusely. The red head held a knife. When the women turned to see who had entered, the naked blonde cried, “Esmeralda! What are you doing here?"
Esmeralda said, “I could ask you the same thing, Sheila. And you too, Lucinda."
Westcott said, “You know these women?"
"Yes. We work for the same master."
"Lazlos?"
All three burst out laughing. Esmeralda said, “It's time you learned the truth, Jack. I'm not what I've pretended to be."
"You know, I've had that feeling for a while. Someone sent you to sabotage the IDGM, didn't they?"
"True. Since I did not succeed, I must bring you to my master. I'm sure these two will help me.” She turned to Sheila and Lucinda. “Won't you, girls?"
Since the two demonesses had failed their own missions, they were anxious to help Esmeralda in order to get back into Asmodeus’ good graces.
"Of course,” Lucinda cried.
"Count me in,” Sheila replied.
All three women advanced toward Westcott. He pulled out his pistol and pointed it at them. “Back off,” he said.
The women froze in their tracks.
"Okay. Who is this master who sent you to stop me from coming to this dimension?"
Esmeralda said, “That we will not tell you. Now Jack, why don't you simply come along with me. Make it easy on yourself.” She advanced toward him.
"Stop. I'll kill you, Esmeralda if you take another step."
She gave him a plaintive look. “You wouldn't do that to little old me after all we've been to each other?"
"Don't try me. You'll regret it. I had a feeling that you were evil for a while now. You deliberately lured me into drinking again. It was part of your plan."
Lucinda said, “Let me kill him.” She had an insane grin on her face. She raised the large kitchen knife she held and came toward Westcott again.
He knew he could not watch all three at once and did not have the heart to kill any of them in cold blood. He decided to run. But first he needed to have a way of getting back to the portal. “Hand me your notebook, Esmeralda."
Instead she threw it at him. He snatched out of the air. His momentary distraction prompted the women to attack. Sheila, who was closest, grabbed his wrist above the hand that held the gun and twisted so hard that he was forced to drop it. Lucinda swung the knife in a stabbing motion toward his chest. He saw this coming and ducked. As luck would have it, the knife went into Sheila's shoulder. She cried out in pain and let go of his arm that held the notebook. That was Westcott's chance to escape. He twisted away from the women, hit the insane Lucinda with his fist in the jaw and kicked Esmeralda in the shin. He ran into the chamber that he and Esmeralda had just left. He glanced at the map and ran back the way that he and Esmeralda had come.
He followed the map back through the labyrinth as swiftly as possible, glancing at it from time to time as he ran. Finally, out of breath, his heart pumping hard, he had to rest. He stopped and listened. He did not hear the women chasing him. The only sounds were his own labored breathing, and the strange noises he had heard before. He leaned against the wall and relaxed a while. He studied the map. He believed he had followed it faithfully. He had only five more chambers to go through to reach the one where the portal should be. He prayed that Lazlos had gotten the IDGM up and running.
He no longer ran through the rest of the maze, but walked swiftly. Finally he reached the chamber where the portal should have been. It was not there. Not only that, the helmets, space suits and oxygen tanks were gone. He looked around. This was not the same chamber where he and Esmeralda had entered the catacombs’ dimension. He recalled that the original one had two exits. This one had only the archway he had just come through. Otherwise it was a dead end. He examined the map again. He smacked himself in the head with his palm. What a fool he had been. Esmeralda had drawn it. She did not want to him return to his world. The fact that she knew those women proved that she was familiar with the catacombs. She drew a false map that would simply get him deeper into the labyrinth. No wonder she gave it up so easily.
As he contemplated what to do next, he heard someone approach from the chamber he had just left. He wondered whether it was the three evil ladies. He unshouldered the semiautomatic rifle and slapped in a cartridge. He backed up to the wall and eyed the doorway. To his utter dismay, three strange creatures entered. They could not be human. One was an old man riding on the back of a crocodile and carrying a hawk. The second was a unicorn. The third, a handsome blond man with golden wings and wearing a red robe with golden sparkles in it.
"Who or what are you?” he cried.
The old man said, “I am Agares. The unicorn is Amducies. And the golden one is Sargantas. We were sent to bring you to where your friends await."
"What friends?"
"I believe their names are Lance Flebert, Rhami Deju and Robert Longfeathers."
"What? They're here?"
"Would I lie? Of course they're here. Like you, they were searching for someone called Michael. Now who would name their child after an archangel?” Agares shook his head in disapproval.
"And you three want to take me to them?"
"That's what I said."
Westcott was sure these alien creatures were not to be trusted. “I think I'd rather try to find the gateway back to my own world. Perhaps you could tell me where it is."
"Oh no. We can't let you do that. Now, please come with us."
Westcott raised the rifle. He began to edge his way around toward the door. “Agares, you and your friends stay right where you are. I'm leaving this chamber without you."
"So you're going to be difficult. Amducies, stop him from leaving the room."
The unicorn lowered its head so that its horn was aimed at Westcott's chest and advanced in a threatening manner.
Westcott fired a shot at the creature. The bullet went into its skull. It shook its head as though some small objective had hit it lightly. Otherwise, it was not affected.
Westcott said, “Agares, call the unicorn off, or I'll shoot you."
&
nbsp; Agares laughed. “Go ahead. I won't feel it anymore than Amducies did."
Westcott aimed at the old man's leg and fired a second round. The bullet made a round hole in Agares thigh, went through and ricocheted off the stone floor. The wound did not bleed, and Agares did a little dance to show that he was unhurt. He raised his hand and pointed his ring finger at Westcott. Suddenly Westcott was paralyzed. Unable to move he dropped the rifle. The third demon, Sargantas of the golden wings, picked up Westcott as though he weighed no more than a feather and slung him over the back of the unicorn.
They wandered through the maze until they came to a row of cells. Agares opened one of them up. Sargantas picked up Westcott again and threw him in. Agares slammed the cell door shut and pointed his finger at Westcott again. The paralysis left him. He could move again. The demons vanished.
Westcott picked himself up from the stone floor. He saw that he was not alone. Rhami Deju was sitting on a bunk attached to the wall holding his head in his hand and moaning. Robert Longfeathers and Lance Flebert came up to greet him.
Flebert said, “It seems that we've all fallen into the same trap."
* * * *
After Flebert fled the room during the fight with the two demonesses, Macrome and Isaac threw the possessed women to the floor and tried to follow. At first they followed his footprints in the dust, but finally they came to a chamber where there were no more prints. Macrome sniffed the air. “I no longer smell human blood. Somehow we went wrong."
"Shall we backtrack?"
"We would only run into those females again. Perhaps if we walk in an ever increasing spiral, we might find Lance or a way out of here."
"Wait. I hear a low throbbing like machinery."
"I don't hear it. But your audio circuits probably amplify sounds much better than my ears. We may as well head toward whatever you're hearing. Maybe Lance heard it to and is going toward it."
The robot pointed. “It is this way."
The walked on toward where the sound emanated. Macrome began to hear it too. Soon it was quite loud. They went through an arch. In the middle of the room was a strange phenomena. It was though there was an opening that led somewhere else. Looking through it, Macrome saw a well-lit laboratory. In a corner of the catacombs chamber were space suits and oxygen tanks.