NEW WORLD DISORDER: MECH COMMAND BOOK 1

by George Mahaffey

  “Are you seeing this?” Jezzy asked.

  I nodded.

  “Do you know who that is?” Jezzy asked.

  “Hopefully not the welcoming committee,” I replied.

  “Those look like … Roman soldiers,” she said.

  “Who are the other guys?”

  She didn’t respond.

  “The simulations have been run,” Jennings said. “The loops have been cast, and the void will be opened in three minutes. You have been randomly selected to compete in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. The year is 9 A.D. The area is at or around the present-day District of Osnabruck, the Lower Saxony area of Germany. Your enemy will be an alliance of Germanic tribes led by the warrior Arminius, and three Roman legions and auxiliaries led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.”

  My hands were shaking. I had no friggin’ idea what Jennings was talking about, but it sounded like the final competition would be taking place in the middle of a battle that was fought thousands of years ago!

  Jezzy was reading my mind because she leaned in close to me and whispered, “Am I imagining everything he just said?”

  “I wish you were,” I replied.

  “Is it too late to run out of here?” she asked.

  I nodded, and the images on my viewscreen changed. A highlighted map appeared, a trail in orange that led directly between the two opposing armies I’d seen before to the highest point on the map, marked “Kalkriese Hill.”

  “There is a single golden flag mounted at the top of Kalkriese Hill,” Jennings said. “You will appear nine miles from that spot and be given approximately forty minutes to reach it. Whoever reaches the flag first, wins. If the competitor secures the flag first, they will have secured the last remaining slot on the operations team. While the teams are permitted to use live ammunition on third parties, any operator that strikes another operator’s machine with said live ammunition will be immediately disqualified from The Harrowing and removed permanently from the project.”

  I looked back and Jezzy, and she nodded. The mention of a “competitor” was a reference to us. If we could find a way to snag that flag before the others did, we’d win a spot on the team.

  “Please be aware,” Jennings said. “That the operators and/or the temporal manipulation team have a one-time ability to alter conditions for any reason.”

  “Those of you who are new to this are probably wondering what that means,” a voice said as if reading my mind.

  I looked down to see that Vidmark had exited his glass-enclosed box. He was on the platform with a headset. He looked up at us.

  “It means that the current operators, those who have already passed this final test, have been given an advantage. They have been given the latitude to alter the training conditions if they so choose.” Vidmark smiled and continued, “In a sense, the operators have been given a one-time opportunity to call an audible.”

  I only had the vaguest idea of what that meant, but I was too nervous to ask Vidmark for clarification. The bottom line was, it sounded as if we were behind the eight ball and the final competition hadn’t even begun!

  Vidmark raised his hands, and more lights flashed on. Teams of workers emerged from their isolation chambers and hidden mechanical and supply bays, driving mini-forklifts and scissor-lifts that were laden with crates of what looked like ammunition. The workers rose in the scissor lifts, and I watched them feed thousands of rounds of live ammo into the mech’s cannons along with hundreds of rockets the size of lawn darts.

  My mouth felt like a desert. My eyes were everywhere, on Vidmark who was watching everything, on Simeon and the operators who were glaring at us, and on Jezzy who appeared to be silently mouthing a prayer in the rear jump seat. Be careful what you wish for, Deus, a still, small voice whispered in my ear. You’d wanted this, I thought to myself. You’d wanted to compete, and now it was time to face the music.

  I shook off the bad thoughts and did what Richter said I needed to do. My mind rebooted, and I thought back on everything that had led to this point. To back out, to quit at that moment, would mean that I truly was a coward. It would be another let down for Spence, and Frank, and my mother, and everybody else that had thought something of me in the days gone by. I couldn’t give up now. I wouldn’t.

  I moved the mech up onto the triangular platform as the screens on the wall hummed to life, full of static. And then I could feel something, a powerful pulse of energy that rolled up through the mech. Even though I was wearing an exosuit, the hairs on my arms raised and goosebumps prickled my flesh. Something was happening … something big.

  The workers returned to their isolation chambers, and a luminescent light filled the entire area. I manipulated the cameras on the outside of the mech to get a better view of the space directly under the triangular platform. I peered into my viewscreen and saw that there was something, some colossal machine directly under us.

  I knew almost immediately that it was the machine Dexter had referred to.

  The time mechanism.

  The thing he’d referred to as “Distant Windows.”

  The machine was starting up, and the windows were being opened.

  We were about to be thrust sideways through time.

  31

  I could barely make out the machine, but its parts began moving, reorganizing themselves as if they were more biological than mechanical. The construct’s pieces began locking together, firing into place, piston-like parts pumping furiously, a warm light building.

  “GET READY FOR THE VOMIT COMET!” I heard one of the other operators scream.

  Green orbs appeared in the air like holograms, circling the room. Jezzy was saying something to me, but I wasn’t listening. I was watching the orbs flash around the room until they formed one, continuous loop of light. I looked back at the viewscreen and the time machine was fully engaged, its interlocking mechanisms slamming together as the air became super-charged, a vibration slicing through it like a whale through the water.

  What appeared to be lightning flashed overhead, and suddenly I was able to see through my hand as it started to dematerialize. I wiggled my fingers in front of my face, and they appeared to be made of dust. Time and sound slowed, and then the entire underground space disintegrated like a dandelion head blown by the wind, and our mech was lifted up off the ground.

  We were pulled forward down into the darkened tunnel along with the others, riding a burst of pure energy into the bowels of the Earth. We picked up speed, and the walls fell away, and in seconds we were rollercoastering down into the blackness.

  My mouth pulled back in a silent scream as we pitched into a roiling vortex that resembled a tornado turned on its side. My stomach plunged as we flew through the twister, skysurfing through the murkiness at an incredible rate in a manner not unlike a skier sluicing down over the edge of a cliff.

  We were assaulted by black stars, blue vortexes, all the secrets of the universe seemingly revealing themselves at once. For what seemed like an eternity, we plunged straight down into the darkest space I’d ever seen before. Everything appeared to be expanding and contracting and rising and falling all at once. A wall of blue light suddenly appeared, and we were shotgunned toward it—

  Fired through a hole in the universe.

  I looked through the hole and darkness upon darkness peered back. We bombed down into the nothingness until my field of vision compressed into a tiny, obsidian bead. This was followed by a sudden, violent burst of angelic light and then—

  WONK!

  Everything was perfectly silent and perfectly white.

  I blinked and then I saw it.

  Saw daylight.

  We were out of the darkness and standing at the edge of a field.

  I blinked away tears and gulped like a drowning man for air.

  “Pardon my French, but what the fuck just happened?!” Jezzy asked.

  “I … we … we’re back,” I mumbled. “We went back … sideways … somewhere.”

  “You okay?” she asked.<
br />
  “Yeah, I’m cool … I’m real good,” I answered. My stomach suddenly soured and I vomited a bit on my boots.

  “Jesus, Danny.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Ew. It’s gonna stink the place up,” Jezzy said.

  “I’m pretty sure we won’t even notice the smell. We’ll be too busy trying not to get killed.”

  I wiped the vomit from my mouth and looked outside, realizing we were indeed in another time, another place. We may not have technically slipped back into time, but I was pretty damned sure we’d glided through it. I checked my viewscreen and the map and saw the locations of what I assumed were the other armies and the operators (who were represented by blinking, red dots). They were heading through a forest toward each other. Each of us had been placed in a spot that was the same distance from the golden flag. A timer at the top of my head-up display blinked 40:00 and then immediately began counting down. The game was on.

  “We need to get moving, Danny.”

  I nodded, firing up the mech, praying that I didn’t barf again. I checked the map for the best path forward and seeing only an indistinct one leading through the faraway woods, I pushed the mech into a ragged run. We crossed an expanse of lowlands, cruising through heather and bracken.

  The mech bashed its way through wild hedges and over a rocky outcropping upward onto a slope that led to the edge of the woods. We stopped at the treeline and marveled at the timber that looked as tall as skyscrapers. The ground underfoot was the color of coffee grounds, and enormous birds and giant beasts moved through the ancient woods.

  Even though we were in the mech, I felt small and insignificant as we slalomed between the mighty trees. I cued the mech’s sound amplifiers, and we could hear all the sights and sounds of the wood, including a drumming sound that seemed to be coming from all around. We were close to the two opposing armies, the tribes, and the Roman soldiers, and I hoped like hell that we’d be able to slip past them.

  “Apparently, we’re about to be involved in one of the most important battles in history,” Jezzy said. I glanced up and saw information on our viewscreens, an overview of the upcoming battle.

  “The Romans were defeated by the Germanic tribes and their quest to conquer Germany was over.”

  “I never really gave a damn about history,” I remarked.

  “Well, we’re about to make some aren’t we?”

  “Not if I can help it,” I replied.

  I throttled the engine, intent on making sure we ran past the barbarian and the Romans before they could spot us. The mech churned through the woods, hurtling streams and clusters of rocks, zipping between the titanic trees.

  “I see them!” Jezzy shouted.

  I glanced at the viewscreen and caught sight of them … both of them. The barbarians on my left side and the Romans on my right. The barbarians were fanning out through the woods, ready to ambush the unsuspecting Romans.

  “We need to move now!” Jezzy yelled.

  I leaned on the controls, and the engine grumbled, and we dropped into a run. My gaze was fixed on the trees as I angled the mech left, then right, managing to slalom between them and then it happened—

  We hit a naked slab of rock and lost our footing. One of the mech legs slid out, and we tumbled back—

  WHAM!

  Dropping hard onto the rock and then we started sliding, rolling down and over the hillside until we were rocketing down a short decline. I saw the ground coming up fast, and I repositioned the mech’s legs.

  WHUNK!

  We crashed, feet first, into a tree whose circumference was greater than that of the mechs. The impact jarred us, but we were protected in our suits. Still, it took me several seconds to gather myself together.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  Jezzy cursed under her breath and nodded.

  “Up, Danny. We need to get up!”

  I thumbed the joysticks, planting the mech’s mighty arms down, pushing the machine up to its full height. That’s when I spotted it.

  Spotted him.

  A bearded barbarian brute who gazed at us from the middle of a fallen tree. The barbarian was naked from the chest up and was holding what looked like a javelin.

  “Maybe he doesn’t see us,” I whispered.

  The barbarian pulled his clothes down and mooned us.

  “Pretty sure he does,” Jezzy replied.

  “Is that any way to greet people from the future?” I asked.

  The barbarian pulled his clothes up and hurled his javelin at our turret, the crude weapon bouncing off.

  I whipped the mech sideways only to see that the ground was swarming with barbarians. They looked absolutely baffled by the sight of us for a few seconds, and then a man I assumed was their leader, a muscular giant on a horse with an oversized war hammer, pointed and screamed at us.

  The air filled with rocks from slings, and javelins, along with a flurry of short spears.

  My senses were in overdrive as the objects sailed toward us.

  I was able to use what I’d learned with Stryker and during the other simulated mech sessions to dodge and avoid most of the weaponry.

  “Hey, Danny?”

  I looked back at Jezzy. “I forget to ask, but … what happens if we die here?” she asked. “I mean, I know we can’t affect things in the future, but this seems pretty friggin’ real to me so … what if?”

  “I’m not finding out.”

  I reached down and grabbed the CD Richter had given me.

  “What is that?” Jezzy asked.

  “Richter’s ultimate mix tape. Guaranteed to get us pumped up!”

  Jezzy grinned. “Yes!”

  I slammed the CD in and hit play, and the music began pumping.

  Only it wasn’t what I expected, a chorus echoing: “The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round…”

  “What. The. Hell. Is. That?” Jezzy asked.

  I fumbled with the CD player as rocks and javelins peppered the turret. I hopped to the next song on the CD, and the real music began booming. I recognized the tune as one my mom had liked back in the day. Metallica’s “Whisky in The Jar.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about!” Jezzy shouted. I watched her bring her visor down and unload on the barbarians. I piloted while she fired, strafing the hordes with cannon and—

  BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

  Rocket fire that churned the ground and turned trees into matchsticks. The shockwaves from the small explosions whipsawed dozens of barbarians back through the air as a counter on our head-up display began spinning, tallying the number of attackers that we’d put down.

  The mech ran forward as Jezzy continued to fire, punching holes through the barbarian forces. Hundreds fell, cut down in great gory heaps, but they were soon replaced by hundreds more. And the worst part was that I could see the Romans now. The legions had obviously heard the commotion and were galloping through the woods to greet us, their mushroom-white tunics flapping in the air.

  “JEZZY!” I shouted.

  “I SEE THEM!”

  She had both of the mech arms up and horizontal. One was aimed at the barbarians, the other at the Romans.

  I could see that there was a faint window directly ahead of us, fifty feet, maybe less, of the unobstructed path. If we could just reach it, we’d be able to slip right past the—

  WHAM!

  The mech was jolted to the left.

  Something large hammered into our right side.

  The rubber bladders on my operating suit inflated. The machine’s pistons and gears screeched as the machine lurched to the left. The only reason we didn’t topple over is that we slammed into the trunk of a tree.

  That immediately began crashing to the ground.

  I screamed and pulled back on the controls as the tree dropped down through the air—

  CRACK-BOOM!

  Landing with a concussive thud that took out fifty Roman soldiers. But behind them were thousands more, including a team of horses t
hat were rearming what looked like the world’s largest crossbow, a contraption that was positioned across a carriage. The Roman soldiers hefted an enormous arrow with an arrowhead the size of a construction ladder.

  “That’s what they hit us with!” I shouted.

  “It’s called a ‘ballista,’” Jezzy said, scanning the information on her viewscreen.

  The ballista floated in the crosshairs of our targeting reticle. The Spence mech’s arm lifted and Jezzy fired a rocket that vaporized the carriage and the wooden weapon. This served only to enrage the Romans who ran headlong toward us. Jezzy swept the mech’s cannons, obliterating the attackers, painting the trees and the forest floor a deep, angry red.

  More Roman soldiers appeared, and soon the barbarians were everywhere. The fighters attacked each other and us. Jezzy’s cannons spun like dervishes, eviscerating the attackers, separating heads and limbs from bodies.

  We retreated, drifting down the path. I glanced at the viewscreen to see that portions of the barbarians and Romans were continuing to attack each other, while others were in hot pursuit of us. In addition, I could see the other mechs now. They were several thousand yards away, similarly being attacked by the tens of thousands of Romans and barbarians. We’d been dropped down into the middle of the fight, and it was every person for themselves.

  I swerved our mech down through the woods and rounded a bend only to see a small herd of barbarians hanging from the trees.

  “Those guys are incredibly persistent,” Jezzy said.

  The barbarians hurled themselves down onto the mech, swarming over the turret and cockpit like fire ants.