Unparalleled

by D. S. Smith

  After a quick shower Stuart threw on some clothes and headed outside. He was greeted at the door by one of the security service agents that had spent the night guarding the entrance to his room. He asked the agent if it would be ok for him to take a walk around the grounds to get some fresh air but was advised this was not a good idea. The agent informed him breakfast was being served in the refectory so they headed there instead. As they approached the hall Stuart noticed two guards now flanked the doors. It came as no surprise that security had been beefed up on the entrance to the main building, but he did not expect the transformation he observed as he walked into the refectory. The dining tables had been removed from one half of the room and replaced by desks adorned with computers and associated equipment. Each desk was occupied by a person wearing a headset, fifteen of them in total. Six huge video screens were fixed to the walls in front of the desks. The room was awash with the sound of chatter and the tapping of keyboards. The other side of the room was still furnished with dining tables. Stuart spotted Terry and the professor sat at one of them. He walked over to join them bidding them good morning. The two men stood up to greet him with a return good morning and a handshake. The professor seemed particularly excited to see Stuart. “Here he is, the man of the hour,” he bawled out, drawing attention from around the room. He gestured for Stuart to join them, which he did. Terry asked him if he would like some breakfast but Stuart declined settling for a cup of black coffee. Formalities out of the way the professor got straight to the point. He informed Stuart they had set the time for the transfer protocol to begin at four o’clock that afternoon. Stuart’s stomach churned at the very mention of this. The professor ran through the plan outlining the timing for each stage. He advised that the team would be spending most of the day running tests and calibrations prior to the final initiation. Stuart would be called to the lab around three-thirty but Dr Cooper would join him before to prepare him for the transfer. Stuart began to feel a little light-headed and his vision seemed to blur. Terry noticed he was struggling and advised him to reconsider breakfast. The professor agreed this would be wise and refrained from issuing any further information until Stuart had eaten. Stuart managed to force down a bacon sandwich and swapped the coffee for a glass of orange juice. He asked again if he could get some fresh air. This time Terry capitulated, offering to accompany him personally.

  They were outside for about twenty minutes. The grounds were empty, despite the nature of what was being carried out within the confines of the college. Terry advised Stuart not to be fooled by the apparent lack of activity outside, revealing to him that they were in fact being observed from every conceivable angle. For the first ten minutes, very little was said between them until Terry initiated a conversation. “Do you remember what you asked me the other day, Stuart?” he said. “About what I make of everything going on here?”

  “Yes, of course,” Stuart replied. “You said you tried not to think about it and that you concentrate on looking after the people under your care.”

  “Yes, that is what I said at the time, but it was a bit of a lie,” he admitted. “In all honesty I’ve spent many an hour considering the implications of the technology the professor and his team are developing. I know how huge today’s events are going to be for humankind, and I realise at some stage, good or bad, it will affect every single person on the planet. That includes those nearest and dearest to me.” Terry looked down at his feet noticing his shoelace was undone. He bent down to tie it, continuing to talk as he did. “Now I can’t say if those effects are going to be positive or negative, but I can prepare to deal with them, whatever the outcome, to the best of my ability.” He stood up again. Placing his hand on Stuart’s shoulder as he commenced the walk. “My point is Stuart, you can’t plan for what will happen if the machine fails, because we have no idea what that will lead to. You do know what the outcome will be if it succeeds though. You will be back with the people you love and they are going to need your strength. So, as hard as it might be, my advice to you is to put all other thoughts aside and focus on getting back to the people that need you the most.”

  Stuart fell silent for a moment before replying. “Thanks, Terry,” he offered. “You’re absolutely right of course. This whole transfer business scares the shit out of me but prospect of never seeing my wife again scares me a whole lot more.”

  “Ah, you’ll be fine Stuart. The professor may seem as mad as a box of frogs but he knows what he’s doing.” He winked at Stuart and patted him on the back. “Come on, let’s head back in and get on with it.”

  By the time they got back to the refectory the professor had been joined by Dave and Catherine. He went over the plans for the day ahead with all present, outlining everyone’s role. Catherine and Dave were really only there to support Stuart. Terry introduced them to two agents that would escort them to the lab. He advised that if anyone else other than himself or these agents offered to take them, they should decline and contact him immediately. He also advised them that between the hours of three and four they would hear a loud explosion. He explained this would be controlled and was nothing they needed to worry about as it would be well away from their location. Finally he asked them to get anything they needed from the accommodation block and bring it over to the refectory. They would be spending the rest of the day in the main building until such time it was deemed safe for them to leave.

  Chapter 49

  Lin Lee went over the plan one last time with Bruce using the timings she had received from their inside man. The optimum time for attack was just eight hours away. She laid out an aerial photo of the entire college site and neighbouring buildings on the table in front of them. The main college building formed a large square around a central courtyard. Access to the front of the courtyard was through a stone arch on the street side of the building. A ramp provided access from a car park at the rear of the building. The street side entrance was controlled by security from a guard hut inside the courtyard. She pointed to an area on the roof approximately one hundred yards from the site of the guard hut. An annex building adjacent to the area would allow them access to the roof of the main building. This would be their starting point from which they could reach their desired positions. She removed the photo and replaced it with the blueprints of the college. She outlined the accommodation blocks to the east and north, the entrance to the main college building to the west and the stone arch to the south. She highlighted the guard hut to the right of the arch “This is where you will plant the explosives.” She informed Bruce. “And this is where you will detonate them.” She pointed to an area between the gables of the roof above one of the accommodation blocks overlooking the courtyard. “Why there?” Bruce asked. “Because this will draw their attention away from my position on the main building. I can then scale down this drainpipe on the north side of the building and gain access to the boiler room, here.” She pointed to the area on the blueprints. “Once you have detonated the explosives just get the hell out of there and wait for me back at the safe house.” Bruce put on a show of bravado complaining at the lack of involvement on his part. He tried to get out of her what her exit strategy was, offering to wait around to help her escape. She advised him to concentrate on his part and leave the rest to her. Satisfied the plan was understood, she folded up the blueprints and turned her attention to the hardware. Opening one of the pelican cases, she removed a slab of plastic explosive and handed it to Bruce. She then handed him a detonator with timer before shutting the case. He looked down at the equipment she had given him. “Is that it?” he asked. “Don’t I get a gun in case something goes wrong?” She walked over and stood in front of him so they were only about a foot apart. He towered over her tiny frame, his six feet four to her five feet two. She looked up into his eyes and said, “You’d better make sure nothing does go wrong, Captain.”

  Chapter 50

  The six video screens adorning the walls of the refectory came to life displaying images transmitted by hidden cameras placed
around the college. The cameras were located in accordance with information received from Bruce Mitchell.

  Terry organised the fifteen agents stationed in the refectory into seven groups. Six groups of two were each assigned a location to monitor. The seventh group of three agents were available to relieve the others as and when required. Group One monitored the courtyard. The image they observed showed a wide-angled view of the guard hut at the entrance, standing prominent in the centre of their screens, illuminated by the yellow glow of a sodium street lamp. Group Two observed the boiler room, focusing their attention on hatches leading to the air conditioning duct. Group Three could see down the length of a long corridor lined by doors leading to various laboratories. Groups Four and Five each had images showing the inside of the laboratories containing the Harmonisers, one real and one fake. Finally Group Six were looking at an image split into four sections, each of which displayed a different area within the air-conditioning ducts between the boiler room and the laboratories. Terry was pacing up and down the length of the hall. He wore a headset with a fitted microphone into which he mouthed instructions as he paced.

  “Group One, this is control, confirm video and audio telemetry, over.”

  “Control, this is Group One, telemetry confirmed, over.”

  Terry repeated this for all six groups receiving confirmation from each. He walked to the front of the hall and looked up at the six screens. He concentrated on the two showing the labs with the Harmonisers. In one, a group in white coats could be seen gathered around the booth. This had been the original location for all the tests but was now a decoy to lure Lin Lee into a controlled environment. The lab containing the real Harmoniser was empty. They had moved the real Harmoniser to this location so the transfer could go ahead as planned in the event of an attack. Terry looked at his watch. There were just four hours to go before Stuart Milton would be arriving at the lab to take his place in the booth acting as a portal between two universes. Terry expected Lin Lee and Captain Mitchell to show any time within the next four hours. His cue would be the explosion in the courtyard. Mitchell had confirmed where it would take place but he had not said when, so the team needed to be ready at all times. He was expecting notification of their arrival as Mitchell had agreed to text the word “GO” as soon as they were about to enter the college grounds. Happy the control centre was tested and ready to go, he approached one of the dining tables around which six more agents were going over plans. Terry advised them it was time to take their positions. Two were to head for the laboratory adjacent to the one containing the fake Harmoniser. These labs were linked by adjoining doors giving quick access to the lab if Lin Lee managed to get that far. Two were to position themselves at a location opposite the boiler room. As soon as Lin Lee was inside the ducts they would enter the boiler room to block her exit if she returned. The remaining two were to escort Stuart and Dr Carson to the laboratory where the transfer would take place. Terry would coordinate events from the control centre and would back up his agents as required.

  Chapter 51

  With just a few hours to go before Stuart voluntarily stepped into a machine designed to strip him down to his bare particles and suck him through an immeasurable expanse of space, he was asked to decide whether he would like to wear a white or black tracksuit for the transfer. To the annoyance of the agent presenting this choice Stuart struggled to decide. He would never normally choose to wear a tracksuit at all but clearly the scientific team felt this to be appropriate attire to start his trans-universal journey. Then it occurred to him, the garments would not actually be leaving the Harmoniser with him but would just end up in a pile on the floor of the booth. He thought back to the bright white light he had witnessed radiating from the booth when the team had demonstrated the Harmoniser using a guinea pig. The booth itself was predominantly white also so he eventually informed the agent he would go with the white tracksuit. Catherine regarded Stuart’s behaviour with interest. There was no precedent to draw upon in order to counsel him in preparation for what he was about to encounter. Any words of reassurance would seem forced and futile. Since arriving in the recreation room, she noticed he regarded everything with a childlike fascination. He stroked the different surfaces of the wall, the table and the windowsill feeling their texture. He lifted up objects, weighing them in his hands before replacing them carefully back where he found them. It was like he was experiencing everything in the room for the first time and was trying to understand its makeup and configuration. When she asked him what he was thinking about his answer was profound. He said he was thinking about a saying from his universe she may be familiar with that asks “if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?”

  “Yes, we have the same saying Stuart. It’s asking if the unobserved acts the same as the observed?” she offered, “What does it mean to you?”

  “As far as I’m concerned the answer is no, it doesn’t make a sound, because if my ears, or any other ears, are not there to convert the vibrations to sound, all the tree produces is vibrations.”

  “Pragmatic as ever Stuart, but why you thinking of that now?” she asked. He told her he had been grappling with the meaning of his own existence. Wondering if the man materialising at the other end of the wormhole would be him or a carbon copy of him. He suggested, like the falling tree, the influence of his actions at any given time were determined only by the reactions of those perceiving them. If those close to him could not accept him as the man he was before all of this happened, was he the same man? Catherine considered this for a moment before replying. Stuart was clearly struggling with his own identity as a result of all he had been through. She felt largely responsible for this due to her attempts to convince him his whole perceived existence had been the result of an emotionally induced, delusional episode. She had neither the time nor the desire to patronise him with a textbook explanation of self-consciousness. His quandary warranted a more measured response. She advised him that any preconception of what awaited him on the other side was futile as there were too many unknowns. She asked him to think back to how he had dealt with the conflicting information he had encountered on arrival in this universe. How, despite all that had been presented to him, he had clung on to his own interpretation of his existence. She advised him to show the same resolve on return to his own world. She reiterated what she had told him in the library, that he should plead ignorance regarding all that had happened since his departure.

  Chapter 52

  Dressed in tight black leggings and a black, figure-hugging, flyweight fleece, Lin Lee climbed the ladder that led to the roof of a building adjacent to the Oxford College. On her back she sported a black rucksack containing enough weapons and explosives to take out a small town. Bruce admired her shapely body as she climbed the ladder. He followed closely behind resisting the urge to reach out and grab her arse mischievously, knowing the gesture would result in a kick to the head that would send him tumbling to the ground below. Also adorned in black he wore a pair of jeans, a roll neck sweater and a canvas utility jacket with many pockets filled with the various devices he needed to complete his mission. A mission very different to the one Lin Lee had instructed him to carry out.

  The drainage system running around the edge of the roof was purposely designed to provide a walkway for maintenance access around the perimeter of the whole college building. This meant Lin Lee and Bruce could walk undetected to their chosen positions above the college grounds. Lin Lee’s route was relatively short compared to Bruce’s. He had to navigate his way around the whole building to get into position. Reaching the drain pipe that would take Lin Lee down to the boiler room entrance, they went over the plan one last time. Reiterating the importance of the timing of the explosion, she tapped her watch, “I’ll be ready to enter the boiler room in ten minutes. Be ready to detonate at that time”. She whispered. He set his watch accordingly and they went their separate ways. As soon as Lin Lee was out of site, Bruce took out his phone and
text the word “GO.”

  Chapter 53

  Everyone turned toward the table where Terry sat as his phone pinged and vibrated loudly, alerting him to the arrival of a message. He picked up the phone and read the single word displayed on the screen. Placing the phone in his pocket he stood up to address the room. “Ok, stations everyone. Stick to the protocol and concentrate on your own areas, regardless of what is happening in the others. Our visitors are on site so expect visual confirmation at any moment.” Terry spoke into the microphone on his headset to address his agents stationed at the various locations throughout the college. Happy everyone was primed and ready he approached the large screens, directing his gaze toward the one showing the interior of the boiler room. He changed his focus to the screen showing the guard hut where Mitchell would plant the explosives. There were no guards stationed in the hut. In fact, the whole courtyard and all surrounding buildings had been cleared. Right on cue a dark figure appeared on the roof above the guard hut.