Into the Storm

by Scott Marcy

  When they passed into the shadow created by the immense aircraft, they gaped at it in wonder. Some of the Presidential Staff congregated near the chain ladder and spoke in whispers. Israel Kahn emerged from the group and said, “We’re sorry to scare you. We ran into bad weather.” When he noticed their quizzical expressions, he said, “Do you speak English?”

  “Yes. I’m Alex Dubois.” When she brushed a raven tress behind her pointed right ear, Israel rubbed his nose and suppressed his surprise. She introduced their group and then said, “We’re part of a caravan on our way to Midway City. Um … you’re not on Earth. This planet is Eden.”

  “Say what?” asked Israel.

  “She told you straight,” Sam said. “I am Captain Samuel Ash of the Seventh Cavalry. I came to Eden over 150 years ago. Alex is a recent addition. She arrived on Eden almost a year ago.”

  Alex dismounted her horse and led him up to Israel. Major James Jordan, US Army Ranger, stepped pushed his way through the crowd. He scanned Alex and took note of her armor and weapons. He asked, “Are you expecting trouble?”

  “Trouble finds me all the time,” she said.

  Sam searched the salt flats and the surrounding mountains. “We’re not the only ones who saw you land. Those mountains are thick with daemia and haugr. By nightfall, scores of them will descend upon this place. We best not be here when they do.”

  Sergeant Graham Dawkins, US Army Ranger, glanced at the mountains, and then he asked, “What is a daemia, and what is a haugr?”

  “Monsters,” Alex said. “Daemia are about the same height as a man, are really strong, have rows of serrated teeth, eight spider eyes, and horns on their head. Haugr have bat faces, long claws, and move like a jaguar. Both of them eat human flesh and rape human females. Since I came to this planet, I’ve turned into an Elvan female, an elva, and those things have tried to kill me the entire time.”

  “Is this some sort of game? Because we’re not in the mood,” Israel said and rotated his gold pinky ring. “We’re serious. Our aircraft crash-landed, and we need help. We need to find a town and contact the federal authorities.”

  “You’re not contacting anyone,” said Tormod.

  When Israel glared at Tormod, Alex said, “Come with me.” She walked out from underneath the aircraft wing, and Israel joined her. “When was the last time you saw two moons in a blue sky?”

  Israel used his hand as a visor and puzzled over the double moons. “Yeah, I noticed that, but I still can’t believe it.” He rubbed his face. Then he saw the purple- ringed planet, Tothar, rise in the southern sky. When Sam removed his hat and brushed back his brown locks, they saw his pointed ears. “I suppose you’re an elve too?”

  “Now I am,” Sam said and bit off a wad of chewing tobacco. “Tormod, do you think your kin would be interested in this aircraft? It has a heap of metal they could use. It would cost them a fortune in freight to lug it all the way up here.”

  “Aye, they might,” Tormod replied.

  “If you make a deal with the dwarves, they’ll protect the aircraft. You can count on that, but you have until nightfall to make it.” Sam glanced at the Lieutenant’s side arm. “You see those gray islands of rocks over yonder?”

  “Yeah,” Israel said.

  “Let me have one round of ammunition,” Sam said. Israel drew his sidearm and removed the clip. He gave Sam one round as requested. Sam hauled back and threw the round at the black rock. The bullet exploded in mid-air with a flash and a sharp crack. “Those black rocks will make your guns blow up or burn, and the daemia make their armor and weapons mixed with rhunite. If they get close, your guns and this craft will blow up.”

  “I’ll go see if I can make a deal,” Tormod said and left the group.

  Hank crossed his arms and stroked his beard. “You’ve got to get your head about you. We can’t wait here all day. If the dwarves aren’t going to defend this place, we need to make it back to the city.”

  Israel exchanged a glance with James and then said, “I need to speak with the Chief of Staff.”

  Chapter 7

  Hank drummed his fingers; Alex admired an Air Force One official pen, and Sam napped. The bureaucratic process moves at a glacier pace, even in the face of impending doom. Alicia carried in two cups of coffee and a cup of tea. “Here we go,” she said, serving them. “I included some lemon cookies.”

  “That’s great. Any idea when his Majesty is going to show up?” asked Hank. “This is a hell of a place to sit around and wait.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “The senior staff is still in a private meeting.”

  Hank slurped his coffee and said, “Thanks much, it’s great. Let’s go. This is a waste of time. We need to get back to the city before it gets dark. I don’t want to be strung up by my thumbs and served for dinner.”

  Sam tipped up his cavalry hat and opened one eye. He smelled the alluring aroma of freshly brewed coffee and took a sip. “This is mighty fine, sweetheart.” Then he nibbled the cookie. “These are nice too.”

  “Well? Are you going?” asked Hank.

  “Yup,” Sam said. “Darling, we can’t wait anymore. We have to return to the city before nightfall, and our time is about up.” He noted Alex’s folded arms and disapproving glare. “I’m sorry, but Hank is right. I don’t intend on being caught here after dark.”

  Tormod strode into the room, ax in hand. “That smells like coffee.” Three more dwarves, two males, and a female — Dalur, Kilo, and Ragona — entered behind him. “We have four cups and a pot.”

  After Alicia had exited the room, Tormod said, “Dalur is Chief Miner for this region and represents the dwarven council. The collective authorized him to barter for this craft. He brought three hundred troops. It’ll be safe for tonight.”

  “Lovely,” Hank grumbled and shook his head. He placed his elbow on the armrest and propped up his chin. “We’re never going to get out of here.”

  In the senior staff meeting room, the Chief of Staff, Robert “Bill” Gardener, leaned back listened to his staff’s report. Captain Douglas said, “Half of our equipment — our avionics, communications, and countermeasures — is fused into a solid block of carbon, and the other half is on the verge of failure. All of our landing struts are bent or fractured, and before the wings, a circular stress fracture circles our fuselage: she is ready to snap in half. There is no way to repair any of it. Only our EMP shielding allowed us to land, and even if we had access to new equipment, we could never taxi or repair the damage to the structure. Air Force One is dead, and this is her grave.”

  Bill took a deep breath and leaned forward. He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed. “Folks, there are dwarves and elves in my conference room. Another 300 dwarves have taken up defensive positions around AFO.” He leaned over and peered out the window. “And they are facing away from us and building fortifications.” He saw a young dwarf scurry up to the commander and point to the gray islands. A creature appeared for a moment at the mouth of a cave on one of the gray islands and then retreated into the shadows.

  “What about the president?” asked Israel. “Do we know what happened to his capsule?”

  Captain Douglas said, “We cobbled together some radio equipment, and we’ve been monitoring transponder frequencies. There is a lot of static, but the beacon would have cut through it. It looks like he made it out before we transitioned through that dimensional gateway. He’s back on Earth.”

  “Okay then,” Bill said, rose to his feet, and strode from the room. The senior staff followed behind him. When he entered the dining room, he found all drinking hot beverages and nibbling on lemon cookies. The head dwarf was easy to distinguish. Dalur wore silver thread coat with gold embroidery. After introductions, he said, “Dalur, what is your opening bid?”

  “1,000 coins of gold,” Talur replied.

  Bill looked around at the fuselage and said, “This craft is filled with hard to manufacture metals, 20,000.”

  Dalur stroked his beard, “Aye, it is, but it
is also broke and stuck in the middle of the Great Salt Flats.”

  “What about your competitors?” Bill ran his hand over the hull. “They might want such a prize. Perhaps we should contact them.”

  “The Cutthroat Clan is true to their names. They would make you a great offer and then kill you. We offer a fair price. I could go up to … say … five thousand coins.”

  “15,000,” Bill said.

  “11,000,” Dalur replied.

  Bill understood the look in Dalur’s eyes: anger, fear, greed, and a need to appear dominant. He tapped his chin with his index finger and peered out the window. Two more daemia appeared in the gray island and then withdrew. He turned and said, “12,000 coins,” and extended his right hand. Talur looked at it and perceived the custom. He grasped Jack’s hand and sealed the deal.

  Talur released a relieved laugh and thumped his fist on the table. “You drive a hard bargain. All furnishings are included?” When Bill nodded, Talur rose to his feet and finished his coffee.

  “You take possession at once,” Bill said. “We wish to pack our clothes and leave for the city, immediately.”

  “Of course,” Talur said.

  Bill said to Kristen Hobbs, the president’s personal assistant, “Get everyone packed and ready to travel. I want to be out of here within the hour.” Then he said to James, “Buy some arms from the dwarves.” He said to Talur, “You do have arms for sale? Don’t you?”

  “Oh yes,” Talur said, “some new, some old, but all top quality.” He said to Kilo, “Fetch arms and armor for their men of war.” James and Kilo exited the room and discussed their needs.

  “Sam, I need to speak to you in private a minute,” Bill said. The two joined Graham in the president’s office. After he had shut the door, he said, “The president’s escape capsule ejected before the event horizon of the portal, gate as you call it. Since we have received no emergency beacon from the capsule, our people concluded that the escape capsule is back on Earth. However, I’d like the team to make sure.”

  “Well, I don’t know,” Sam said. “My caravan is leaving in a few days. We’re headed to Midway City.”

  “What if we pay a small fee?” asked Bill.

  “All right, But we need to get moving. The sun, she is fading fast.” Sam opened the door and said to Hank. “Assemble a small survey team for me. They’re going to ride to the mountains and make sure the Presidential Capsule isn’t hung up somewhere.” While Hank chafed at Sam ordering him about, he was happy that they were finally leaving, so he went to find some volunteers.

  When Alex entered the room, Bill rubbed his chin with his index finger and studied her. “Someone told me that you used to be a human and a man?” She blushed and tugged on the silver hem of her scale-mail tunic, appearing much like a silver mini-dress. She cringed, chewed her lower lip, and nodded. “That’s a story I want to hear but another time. Right now, we need to go.”

  Dwarves crawling over it, the corpse of Air Force One lay behind the Chief of Staff, and he never looked back. The gentle sway of the horse, the cool air, and the open trail, Bill felt free. The burden of the White House and national policy lay behind him. A clean slate, a new world lay before him.

  The staff and reporters were far less philosophical. Many protested the impossibility of their new reality even as the dwarves admired their purchase, and one threatened legal action. However, the bitter wind that drove off the snow-capped mountains in the far distance, the concrete like a salt lake, and the twin moons, clouds the size of continents drove home the point: this was Eden, not Earth.

  Israel performed a last walk-through of the aircraft. Everywhere he looked something provoked a memory. He served four presidents with honor and caught many would-be assassins. However, somewhere in the process, he grew old. He rubbed his potbelly and tried to ignore his aching joints. He strolled into the president’s office and chuckled. His retirement letter still lay in the president’s in-basket. He tore it up and tossed it into the wastebasket.

  After Israel exited the aircraft and was on the ground, he saw Sam with a group of female warriors. “This is Alex, Lyra, Kaylin, and Sterling. They’re on the rescue team that you wanted. If he’s out there, they’ll find him and bring him to Midway City.”

  “As I said to Sam, ‘I’m 99% certain the president is back on Earth, but I need you to make that 100% certain.’ Normally, I would go with you to search for him, but I made the mistake of getting old … and fat. And I am responsible for the safety of our people, so I can’t join you.”

  “Perhaps I should go with them,” James said.

  “No. The president is back on Earth, and we need you with us to provide security,” Israel said. After they had made their farewells, Israel lingered for a moment and watched them ride away. He then turned and walked toward the city.

  Chapter 8

  Lyra pointed at Nose Mountain, the name’s origin being self-evident, and said, “The aircraft appeared just a little to the north, above the right nostril. It was low, so if the capsule appeared it must be near ‘The Way of the Dead’.”

  “A foreboding name,” Alex said and studied the mountain.

  “Yeah, the road leads to Razûl. It means cursed in dwarven. The founders dismissed the dwarven warnings as fables and built a great city upon a dead caldera. Things went well for 400 years, even some dwarves moved there. One hundred years ago the surrounding communities lost contact and sent emissaries to see if all was well — no one returned. They sent more, and they never returned. To this day, no one has ever returned from Razûl.” Sam rubbed his chin with his index finger and gazed at the salt bed. “If the president landed there, then he is going to stay missing,” Lyra said.

  “Are you serious about this, a cursed city?” Alex asked.

  “I’m afraid so,” Lyra replied.

  After they had mounted their horses, Kaylin rode up close to Alex. “What’s it like on Earth? It must be wonderful, no daemia or haugr to fight. It must be so peaceful. Where did you live?”

  “Earth is far from peaceful. In the absence of other enemies, men fear one another. I grew up in upstate New York, and my family moved to Philly,” Alex said. “When I was laid off, I decided that I wanted some adventure, so I moved west. Well, I got it.” She shifted in the saddle. “Parts of me will never be the same.”

  Alex said, “The wind is really strong here.” The horses leaned into the wind, and after a day of riding, weariness forced silence upon them. After a day of traveling on the Flats, it seemed as if they were in the same spot.

  They camped for the night. However, elves require little sleep, and Sterling was an insomniac, as are most wizards. They rose after only a few hours, leaving in the middle of the night. When the first rays of dawn broke over the Barrier Mountains, it found them at the base of Nose Mountain. “We’re riding toward the right nostril,” Lyra said.

  Alex smirked and said, “Do you have any idea how strange that sounds?”

  Lyra chuckled. “I know. As a girl, I always imagined that it belonged to some huge statue buried below ground. I was disappointed to learn the truth.”

  “I keep wondering if the president’s capsule is somewhere beneath our feet, and how long ago might it have arrived.” Alex shifted in the saddle and scanned the horizon. “But I bet he’s back on Earth holding a press conference.”

  “Probably,” Sterling said. “What’s a press conference?”

  The sunrise dispelled the chill of night, but the wind stole away the warmth. When they entered the right nostril, it transformed into a massive cave. A road traveled through and then up at a steep angle. When they passed from light to shadow, Alex shivered but not from the cold: her slip-suit kept her warm. An impending sense of doom hung over them. The proverb “No one ever returns from Razûl” consumed her. What horrors overtook the travelers? “How far are we going before we turn back?”