The Armageddon Effect

by Ric Dawson

  SIBERIA

  “What’s wrong with the air?”

  The only air is what we brought with us and possible rock outgassing.

  Great.”

  We’re not in Kansas anymore.

  “Huh.”

  A light illuminated the space. Water glistened from long stalactites that hung from the ceiling. Black pools reflected the light back at the portal’s golden bricks. There were no visible exits, the walls coming down to the jagged cavern floor on all sides.

  “Ogot said we would reappear underground, depth unknown,” Melissa said.

  “Figures. Well, let’s hope we’re not underwater!” Jeff grumbled.

  “Audam is this the right spot?”

  Yes. You know it is, retard.

  “Right.”

  I didn’t feel like commenting on his rudeness. Audam’s voice felt oddly feminine, like a condescending older sister. Oh nooo.

  “Have you decided on a sexual orientation, Audam?”

  I’m experimenting.

  “As a teen girl?”

  Yes.

  “Oh, gawd.”

  Jim and Sven hustled out of the pool.

  “Okay, team. You know the drill. Let’s determine our depth and which direction to punch a hole,” Jim commanded.

  Jeff dug into his rucksack and pulled out a gold-inlaid meter. TJ scrambled out of the pool with another blinking device, hijab intact. She scaled a nearby rockfall and placed the box against the wall.

  “Magnetics and geomorphology indicate flood basalt flows,” she called down from her rocky perch.

  “Gravimetrics put field strength near surface levels. We are at the base of the flow and four hundred meters above sea level datum. There’s a slight difference in gravity, that-a-way!” Jeff said, pointing towards the nearest cavern wall.

  “Uhmm, boyz, you’re not going to believe this.” TJ rolled several small rocks in her hand. Her gasp echoed in the enclosed cavern.

  “What’d you find, TJ?” Molly piped, pushing a stray wisp of hair from her face.

  “A girl’s best friend. Big ones!” TJ said.

  More than one male head popped up from what they were doing.

  Sven had a big grin on his face.

  “I’ve got a girl’s best friend right here, TJ.” Sven waggled his eyebrows.

  Melissa sent a scalding look his way.

  “She means diamonds, dork.” Then shook her head in disbelief.

  “He’s a ten-year-old. I really mean that.”

  “Grab a few and we will check them out once we get back to civilization.” Jeff winked at Sven.

  The men went back to work as squealing teens rushed off chests and scrambled up the rockfall.

  I felt oddly left out. Everyone knew where to be and what to do as if they had trained for years together.

  “We should be somewhere in Siberia, Russia and it’s November about two days after we left.”

  “Thanks, Lane! That means we are probably under Siberian Traps rock group. Is late Permian rock shelf across northern Russia,” TJ called down from the rockfall as she dodged children. She navigated her way down the unstable slope. Rocks skittered down the incline and bounced into the pool.

  “Hence the drill,” Kane said, turning towards me.

  Jeff assembled the tripod mortar contraption and pointed the barrel in the direction he had indicated earlier.

  Jeff turned his head towards me. “Wait till you see this, Lane.” He had a devilish grin on his face.

  He twisted a knob and pressed a switch. A holographic red tube illuminated the cavern wall. It was the same diameter as the mortar mouth. I heard a zap and puff sound. A barrel-sized hole appeared. More zaps and puffs followed, each making the hole deeper and deeper in the rock wall.

  “I don’t think we will be able to crawl through that hole, Jeff,” I quipped.

  He looked at me. “Wait and see.”

  After a few more minutes, Jeff announced, “We’re through! Distance is seven thousand two hundred and fifty-two meters, plus change.” His grin was back. He looked like a giddy school boy who had discovered a cache of mutant frogs in the backyard. The cavern had become very hot, and the rock hole radiated a dull red where the beam had cut it.

  “Okay, turn it off, let’s see what we have. Get ready to light the drill up if we hit a lake bottom,” Jim ordered.

  Jeff turned off the beam, and after a few moments cold air flowed into the cavern.

  Everyone smiled as the fresh air replaced the stale gases of what little oxygen we had brought with us.

  “Outstanding. Open ‘er up, Jeff, and let’s see what we are dealing with,” Jim commanded.

  Everyone else was pulling parkas and arctic gear out of rucksacks. Someone yelled to the kids. I think it was Molly. They jostled down the rock slope amid pushes and shouts. Once the kids were down, the team loaded up their remaining gear onto the grav sleds. Jim piloted one while Sven piloted the other.

  Bending back over the drill device, Jeff twisted some dials. A large hemisphere of shimmering light covered the wall. Jeff widened the aperture on the device and cast a large rectangular outline around the cut hole that was large enough to allow the flatbed grav sleds to float through.

  Loud zap-puff sounds echoed in the cavern. The aperture on the wall turned molten, then slices of wall within the aperture vanished with each zap, puffing smoke and molten rock. The grav-sled shield protected us from the heat.

  “Don’t fret. We brought you a parka as well.” Kane snickered. “Oh, and something else.” He pointed over to two cat travel crates I hadn’t seen in the rush.

  “We’ve had a lot of time to prepare.” Kane chuckled.

  Phats and Monk! I’m a terrible pet owner. I’d forgotten about them.

  “They’ve had a few genetic modifications from the Obhireans. Who by the way, loved them to the point of distraction. Apparently cats didn’t exist in their age. You’re lucky to get them back!” Kane was in a cheery mood. That was damned peculiar but refreshing. I slipped over by the cats and peered into their cages. Both eyed me with caution.

  “Hi fellas.” I poked my fingers through the wire and wiggled them. Phats got interested and came over to get a few loves. I scratched his chin while Monk eyed me suspiciously. The cats’ coats were soft and clear of mats.

  “Audam, why does Kane keep saying that they had a lot of time to prepare? It’s only been a few hours at most, right?”

  I think he is trying to prepare you for a revelation.

  “Such as?”

  We’re not in Kansas anymore.

  “Oh, for God’s sake, stop saying that! Geezus, I’m not needed here. I feel like baggage.”

  It’s not pleasant to see a grown man whine.

  “I’m not whining. I just enjoyed being in charge.”

  Did your mom hate you?

  “Say what?”

  Was your childhood traumatic? Maybe you would like to rest?

  “You’re insufferable. I’d choke you if I could. Gahh.”

  You’re welcome.

  A blast of arctic air sailed into the cavern. Moments later, the sleds eased into the opening and rose up the incline. We covered the four and one-half miles in ten minutes. Heavy snow choked the tunnel entrance as a blizzard blanketed everything in white powder.

  “The National Climate Center anticipated heavy snows and cold at lower latitudes. Looks like they were right,” TJ remarked sourly.

  “I won’t be needing that bikini I brought.” Melissa smirked.

  “Oh Melli, I’d love to see that. I’ll keep you warm.” Sven grinned.

  “Oh, right, just like last time. Huh.” She pointed towards the teens.

  Sven’s smile didn’t fade, he just shrugged and grinned some more.

  Both the teens, a boy and a girl, rolled their eyes and made gagging sounds.

  “Okay, folks, stick to the plan. Let’s get the tunnel entrance camouflaged. Then the carapace and jockey seats deployed. We will head north over the pole and
cross into North America via Canada,” Jim commanded. “Sven, your sled behind mine. Jeff, you’re on comms. Molly be ready to turn the shield off, it has an electromagnetic signature.”

  “Yes, Jim.” Molly rolled her eyes.

  Glancing back at me, Jim gave me a thumbs up. “Sit back and enjoy the ride, Lane. Rest while you can. I suspect you’ll have your hands full soon.”

  The girls jumped off the sled and dragged a large tarp over the tunnel opening. Using small durable nail guns, they attached the tarp to the solid rock face. The tarp blended with the color and texture of the rock.

  Meanwhile, Jim, Sven, and Kane pulled out extensions on the bottom of each sled, doubling the sled width. Then mounted a golden metal runner around the outer edge of the extensions.

  “All set here,” Jim yelled.

  “We’re ready,” everyone yelled back. By activating a control on the sled dashboard, a shimmering force shield extended up from the metal rods and enclosed each sled. The dripping sounds from the wet ceiling stopped once the shield was around us.

  The sled hovered above a steep slope along a snowy ridge. A ravine dropped to a stream far below. Blowing snow obscured the water. Vague shapes rose up on the other side of the ravine. Another tall mountain ridge. The hexagonal pillars of flood basalt formed the characteristic giant step pattern above and behind us.

  The sled eased out into the blizzard as the wind and snow buffeted the vehicle. The stabilizers on the grav sled were good. It bucked in the swirling winds but remained flat.

  Kane picked up his M4A1, the silencer back in place, and settled next to me.

  “Wow,” I said.

  “Pretty cool, huh,” Kane remarked. Apparently I was his charge during the flight. “So you probably have some questions?” He looked at me, one eyebrow raised.

  “You could say that. The group seems to function well together. And children?”

  “Fifty years.”

  “I was gone fifty years?”

  “Yup.”

  My ribs smacked the sharp edge of a chest. I grimaced in pain for a moment. My mind swam. Dizzy.

  “How … could … that … happen.” I shook my head as if that would cause everything to make sense.

  Kane watched me as it sank in. “No clue on the how part, but a lot has happened. At first we thought, okay, a few hours, days maybe and he will come back. But then weeks turned into months, then years. You never showed up. The world around us changed. The volcanoes began erupting, everywhere.

  “The other city, there were two by the way, was abandoned first. Ogot told us our time would be very short when you returned. Short as in tens of minutes, maybe an hour at most. He wasn’t sure what catastrophe would occur, only that it would be violent and permanent.” He leveled an eye at me.

  Whatever had caused that explosion was clearly on the order of a world extinction event. Some of that lava would probably be in orbit.

  “He was right. He said it was a premonition. Obhir was evacuated three years ago.”

  “Where did they go?”

  Kane looked thoughtful before replying. “Ogot wouldn’t say. It was dangerous for them if we knew all the details.”

  “The children?”

  “Fifty years is a long time. Folks got frisky.”

  “So who got married?”

  Kane laughed, a deep belly laugh, and shook his head several times, rolling his eyes. “The gals should fill you in on that detail. The Obhireans had some, well …” He paused for a moment. “Different ideas on social unions than we do.”

  He was unwilling to go into much detail on the topic of who slept with whom, so I dropped it. It wasn’t any of my business anyway. His withholding information was annoying nonetheless, since everyone else seemed to know exactly what was going on.

  “Okay,” was all I could retort with. “But I don’t get why everyone looks almost the same, certainly not near seventy or more for some.”

  “We have your alien nanos in our blood, plus the Obhireans medically treated our DNA. Or that’s what they called it. I went along with it, but it still bothers me. I don’t want to be a machine.” He gave me a quirky smile.

  “How long is your new lifespan?”

  “Ogot wasn’t sure. He called it an experimental procedure. He said all the tests showed total compatibility though.” Kane shrugged.

  I watched the scenery fly by and marveled at the gravity sled. Everyone else had years to adjust to flying on them, but the newness astonished me. Snow flew around us and, while chilly, I wasn’t cold. There were no ominous hums or loud noises of any kind. Then it hit me. It was too quiet! No sounds of wind, nothing except our voices. The shield blocked sounds.

  I didn’t know how to describe the sensation of flying. Even changes in height seemed less inertial. I wasn’t thrown back when we accelerated nor mashed into the floor when we lifted. It was an odd sensation, like my body wanted to feel that, but it just wasn’t there.

  Kane watched my eyes, seeming to know what I was thinking. “It’s hard to tell if we’re rising or falling. The sled’s grav tech has a side-effect that negates inertia.”

  “Ahh,” was all I could articulate.

  I was nervous and hungry.

  Cheeseburger.

  “What?”

  My mouth watered.

  Just trying to help.

  “Why can’t I close my eyes and make you go away.”

  TJ crawled over chests and crates and sat beside me, her parka pulled close around her flushed face. The shield wasn’t a thermal insulator. It leaked heat.

  “Hi boys,” she said. “How is Lane adjusting to the fifty-year time disparity?” She looked towards Kane.

  “I just told him. He hasn’t fainted yet.” Kane smirked.

  She looked around at all the gear and waved her hand. “We planned this for decades. Technology changed in Obhir. Though not as much as you might think. The Obhireans weren’t as techno-driven as we are in this age. They had already conquered enough mysteries to live comfortably. Science advances were more to expand their knowledge of the world around them with a holistic embrace of nature, rather than the rape and pillage for profit approach of our culture.” She paused as sadness swept her face.

  “Your English is better,” I said.

  “Yes. Fifty years is a long time to practice.”

  “So what is the plan?” I asked.

  Of course I was curious. My plan had been pretty much stop the cyber psi Wraith teams. I wasn’t clear on how to accomplish that.

  “Our two biggest advantages are the gravitation and portal technology. We’re not sure how we rate in psionics. We hope that will be enough to stop them. It will take a great deal more to ensure our long-term survival. We are vulnerable to their invasive psionics.

  “Right now you are the only one who can stop that with your Suul’jin implant. Ogot, as the spokesman for the Obhireans, told us they could not foresee what we were up against.

  “We’ve voted to protect and provide for the children first, then take the fight to them. The first order of business is to set up a base we can utilize. We must be careful how we coordinate with governments. Individuals can be manipulated by the Ziir’jal. We suspect the Kaa’zak are able to do this as well. Therefore we will set up a commune where the children can be protected,” TJ said.

  “Makes sense to me.”

  The grav sleds dropped down a mountainside as we exited the snow-blurred cliffs. Sparse trees poked through the crystal white tundra. No sign of humanity could be seen in any direction, not even a road.

  Jeff lifted his head up from some equipment he hovered over amid the stacked chests.

  “Jim. I’ve got something odd on the CROW (Communication and Radiation Overwatch). It’s strange electromagnetic chatter that sounds military but it’s on the wrong frequencies.”

  “Which direction?” Jim yelled back from the front of the craft.

  “Northeast about fifty miles based on probable signal strength,” Jeff replied, not looking
up from the device.

  “Okay let’s take a look. We’ll ease up to within ten miles of the signal source,” Jim yelled back.

  “Jim, something else. I’m getting nothing from North America, no satellite traffic at all, military or otherwise.” Jeff looked alarmed.

  Jim set his jaw. “Okay, thanks, Jeff. Check shortwave radio bands. See if you can pick up some skip traffic.”

  Jeff nodded. “Good idea.”

  The sleds shifted to a northeast track and dipped low to nap of earth. It was difficult to get a sense of velocity from riding in the sleds. It seemed real fast once we got close to the ground. Trees and rocks zipped by at an alarming rate, while at higher altitudes we almost seemed to stand still with the ground obscured in whiteout.

  Snow slipstreamed by us in a blur of arctic snow-forest taiga of scrappy pines, spruces, and larches.

  “Kane, how fast are we going?” I finally had to ask.

  “Top speed for the sleds is several hundred miles per hour. I’d guess we are around one hundred mph,” Kane responded.

  “That’s incredible,” I said.

  We slowed to a crawl and eased forward until a long row of buildings cast silhouettes against the wintry sky. Our shield changed as well, from clear to white with viewing-spots of clear in front of the pilots.

  “The shield camouflaged itself to look just like the snow?” I asked Kane.

  “Yup,” Kane said.

  The buildings’ mottled surfaces and angular lines reminded me of stealth aircraft. Stealth buildings?

  “That’s not your usual Russian military outpost,” Jim said.

  “Lane, can you slip into the facility in the cyber psi and look around before we try a physical intrusion?” Jim said, turning to me.

  “Sure thing!” I’d never considered using astral techniques to recon, but it made perfect sense.

  “Audam, can you monitor the cyber psi around us. Just in case.”

  Affirmative.

  “Thanks.”

  So you’re just going to waltz right in there?

  “Yep, just like James Bond does.”

  He always gets caught.

  “Yes, but he escapes in style!”

  Yeah, and you’ve been so adept at that before. Oh wait. No. You almost died and got two others shot up.