"No, I guess not. Tell me about this danger you mentioned."
"When I was exiled here, it was the desire of the one who exiled me that I should be alone until I was driven mad by loneliness. Indeed, when I first heard the footsteps, I thought I had gone mad."
"How long have you been here?" Harrison asked with sympathy.
Raven shrugged. "I had much shorter hair when I arrived."
"So you think that whoever it was that exiled you is going to come and kill you because I'm here?"
"Oh, no, he'd never risk himself. He'll send others to do his bidding. They'll kill you, as well, for having seen me."
"I don't plan to be here. Maybe if I'm gone, they'll leave you alone."
"I'd rather be dead, to be honest."
"Dead is mighty permanent."
"Yes, it is, but don't think that just because you leave, you'll be safe. They can track people. I've seen it. There are paths to everywhere..."
"What exactly is this Door, anyway? You keep mentioning –"
"Wait! Listen!" Raven urged.
There were shouts – orders shouted – from somewhere above.
"They've come."
Harrison glanced at his wrist: twenty-seven minutes before he could leave. He sighed in resignation. That damn luck again. "Is there just the one entrance?"
"No," Raven replied. "But I doubt they know that."
"I'd like to circle around behind them, if possible, and get a look. I want to know what I'm up against if I need to fight."
"I can lead you to a place above them."
"Good enough."
"Follow me."
Raven led Harrison through a maze of corridors to come out into a light rain much higher up the island from where he'd arrived. The storm from earlier seemed to be dying down. He wondered if it had anything to do with the arrival of the men to the island. A narrow cliff-face trail wound around to the front of the island, where the arch of stone stood.
Harrison could see it now: a portal of white light that filled the stone arch he'd appeared in front of. He wondered if there was a connection. Too many damn questions, he thought. He checked his device. It was almost charged but wouldn't display the location numbers. He wondered if this world was a trap, after all. Maybe it was like a pitcher plant; you could get in easily, but getting out was an altogether different prospect.
Six men stood spread out, defending the approaches to the archway. They wore some kind of metal body armor, shin guards, and heavy rifles of an unknown make. Their helmets had various rude messages written on them in English and Spanish.
"They certainly aren't trying to be stealthy, are they?" whispered Harrison.
"Why should they be? I'm unarmed. Not even a knife."
"How do you shave? Safety razor?"
"I don't shave."
Harrison glanced at him. "Native American?"
"What?"
"Never mind."
Shouts from below distracted him. The portal – or Door or whatever – was closed. The officer of the group was discussing their deployment pattern. Harrison was surprised none of them had looked up to see him and Raven. Bad tactics.
"Raven!" the officer yelled. "I know you can hear me. You and your friend. We can make this easy, or we can make this hard. Neither of you is going anywhere. I've got the Door warded. We'll find you in the end. You can't hide from me. You know that."
"That's Corporal Kendall, but he usually just prefers to go by the Corporal. He's a rabid little shit," Raven said quietly.
"I'm just trying to figure out why he looks familiar to me," replied Harrison.
"Raven! Deegan! Your wings are clipped. You can't get away. Come out here, and I'll make it quick. If you make me hunt you down, I'll use my knife, and I'll take my time!"
Harrison was starting to take a real dislike to the man. "Who's Deegan?"
"A friend of mine. He doesn't know where I am, though."
"I know you're up there listening. Stand up, you coward, and let's get this over with!"
"Look who's talking, Kendall!" Raven shouted back. "I'm not even armed. You bastards took my rifle."
Fire stitched across the cliff face above their heads. The rounds didn't ricochet; they exploded as they hit.
"Lovely," Harrison muttered. "Keep your head down. Anything I should know about these guys?"
"Their body armor is tough, bulletproof. They use ten-millimeter caseless rifles, explosive ammunition. Kendall also carries a knife and a pistol. They have twenty-millimeter grenade launchers under the barrels of the rifles."
"What exactly do you mean by bulletproof?" Harrison asked.
"Small arms won't penetrate it."
"Time to introduce them to my SCAR." He surged up and fired at the first available target. The heavy 7.62mm round blew a hole straight through the man Harrison shot. He was dead before he hit the ground.
There was more return fire after that, and incredulous shouts.
"What the hell kind of gun is that?" Raven shouted.
"FN SCAR-H. Fires a Teflon-coated 7.62-by-51mm round, with an underslung forty millimeter grenade launcher."
"I want one," said Raven.
"It is a thing of beauty." Harrison blew the head off a man who peeked out of cover, and hit another man in the arm.
Heavier explosions from the cliff face showered rock down on them.
"Time to move!"
They backed away from the cliff and ran back into the hillside. From the sound of things, the enemy were unloading everything they had into the cliff.
Stupid, really, Harrison thought. "These guys are amateurs."
"Where to?" Raven asked. He looked a little dazed.
"Take me to them. Let's get this over with."
Chapter Thirty-Three
The smell of ozone hung in the air, along with rock dust.
"Turn left up here. You'll come out into the corridor that leads to the entrance room. Are you sure you want to do this?" Raven asked. "You don't owe me anything."
"They didn't leave me much choice."
The surf was up, and they could feel its booming through the stone. They could also hear the shouts of the remaining enemy soldiers, and the screaming of the one who had been only wounded.
"Sounds like you missed the kill on one."
"I did that on purpose. Keeps them busy trying to keep the guy alive. The seven six two will have almost taken his arm off," Harrison said with a chuckle. "He'll bleed out if they don't take care of it."
"Kind of cold-blooded."
Harrison shrugged. "You'd prefer I'd just let them cut you up?"
"No, thank you."
"There you go, then."
"The entrance is just up ahead," said Raven.
Harrison blocked him with his arm and motioned for silence. He then pulled out a dental mirror and used it to look around the corner.
"Okay, all clear. Don't move in front of the door, though."
"I wouldn't think of it."
The cleft with the doorway was around the bulge of the cliff from the stone arch. Still, if Harrison had been running the show, he'd have left someone guarding the door. Of course, if he'd been running the show, it would have already been over with.
"I don't see anyone outside. What would their usual tactic be at this point?"
"Depends," Raven replied. "If Kendall is allowed to, he'll fall back through the Door and nuke us."
"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Harrison loaded a canister grenade and kicked open the door. He glanced around the corner. The Door was active again, a rectangle of white light. Kendall stood guard while the other two enemy soldiers were helping the wounded one.
"Harrison, I need to get through that Door, if at all possible."
"Somewhere you've got to be?"
"I want revenge for what was done to me, and I need to find someone. A dear friend."
"A woman?"
"Simone, my love. If they've hurt her..."
"Okay, I'll see what I can do."
&n
bsp; "Thank you. I'm still not sure if I understand why you're helping me, but thank you."
"I never liked people who posture and threaten. I don't like bullies."
Raven laughed and shook his head.
"I have an idea. What happens if the Door is blocked? Does it close anyway? Sever whatever is blocking it?"
"I'm not sure, but I think they'd have to clear whatever was keeping it from closing before they could close it on us."
"That's what I wanted to hear."
Harrison waited for the two men carrying the wounded one to go through the Door. Then he ducked out and shot Kendall. The enemy commander had seen him and was raising his rifle when the 7.62mm round hit him just below the right knee and blew a hole the size of a fist through his leg. He fell screaming across the open Door, the light hiding his torso.
"Now!"
Harrison and Raven ran for the Door. Harrison fired the buckshot grenade over Kendall's head into the space beyond. The screams that echoed back through the light said he'd hit his mark.
Kendall sat up and managed to draw his pistol, but Harrison blew his hand off before he could point it at them. He knocked Kendall down and put his heel against the man's throat when they came to the Door. Harrison couldn't see the wound on Kendall's leg, but his wrist was a mass of sparking circuitry.
"Wait!" Raven called to him.
Harrison paused. "What?"
"Don't kill him."
"I don't even know if I can. What the hell is he?" Harrison asked. "Some kind of cyborg?"
Kendall glared at him but didn't move or speak.
"He's just got a few bionic replacement parts. Kendell, where is Simone? Is she all right?"
"I'm going to fucking kill you, Raven. You know that. I'll do your bitch, too. Been thinking about it. I'll do her real slow."
Raven knelt down and pulled a small device off Kendall's other wrist.
"What is that?" asked Harrison.
"It's the device that finds and opens the Doors," Raven replied.
"Sounds handy."
"I don't want him to have it when I leave him here."
Harrison smiled. "I don't think I want him behind us."
Raven looked conflicted and turned away. "Do what you need to, then."
Harrison shot Kendell in the head, just to be certain.
"What's going to be waiting for us?"
"Probably not much. Just the guys you wounded when you shot whatever that was through the doorway. Kendall makes such a big deal of himself that I doubt anyone will suspect what has happened."
"Good." Harrison stepped through the Door.
Whatever Harrison had expected, the actual JRC wasn't it. It looked just like the portal room at Jellico. The resemblance was disconcerting. He suspected this place was underground somewhere, since there weren't any windows. Surely any underground installation would look much the same, right? Who are you trying to fool? he thought.
Raven came through after him and shoved Kendall's leg back through the Door enough to close the actual door. That door was thick metal and closed from both sides, interlocking in the middle. Harrison hadn't expected that. He'd expected something more like the portal device from his JMC.
There were blood and a few body parts in the hallway, but no bodies. He had no idea where they could have gone. If someone had collected the bodies, why hadn't they waited to see who came through the doorway?
"How does this work? You can't go through the door if it's closed?"
"You're trapped on that side until the Door is reopened," said Raven. "The device I took from Kendell opens them remotely."
"Them?"
"There are several of these Doors in the installation."
"They lead to different places?"
"No, any of them can go anywhere. At least, that's what we were told. This isn't the same Door I left by "
"Okay." Harrison sighed and looked around. "What's the deal with this place? What did you do here?"
Raven shook his head. "We didn't do as much as we should have. Right now, we're in one of the embarkation rooms," he said. "I don't know when the JRC was built. A long time ago, I think. The old sections have a lot of machinery and dust in them.
"Old sections?"
"Yes, mostly the deep levels. Simone and I used to go exploring sometimes."
"So it's a fairly large installation?" Harrison asked. "What is the personnel complement?"
Raven shook his head again. "I have no idea how many people are here. The teams didn't mingle much."
"How about getting outside?" said Harrison. He was trying to get a feel for the size of the installation.
"I'm not sure anyone has ever done it," Raven replied. "The sentinels don't allow us to go outside. They say it's deadly, radioactive."
"Sentinels?"
"Big, ugly robots with guns."
"I'll take your word for that," Harrison said. "What now?"
"Sorry – I've been trying to get my bearings."
"What about that device you took from Kendall? Can you get us someplace else?"
"Honestly, I don't entirely know how to use it."
Chapter Thirty-Four
Harrison couldn't decide if he wanted to kill Raven or not.
"Brilliant. So we're stuck on this side?"
"Look," Raven began, "I was part of a small team of people who used to travel the worlds through these Doors. All of us were here because we'd been saved by the ruling power of this place from certain death. Or at least that's what we were told. I have my doubts. Anyway, we would get sent on missions to interfere in some way in the events of the worlds we entered. Supposedly we were there to help."
"Supposedly?"
"Yeah. I went on one mission too many where we royally screwed things up for everybody. I think that the power directing us wanted us to screw things up in those worlds – to make things worse for the people there."
"What happened?"
"I started asking questions. I defied the power in control, and for that I was sent to rot on that island in the sea."
"What is this power you keep mentioning?"
"I wish I knew," Raven replied. "It takes the form of an old man, but that's a hologram. I just think of the power as It. It has strange abilities, and It can control this place. Alter where a Door goes, things like that. The people here all think the power saved them when their own worlds were destroyed, so they do whatever It tells them to do without question. Deegan once mentioned something that may apply here. I don't know. Anyone who asks too many questions disappears."
"Like you did."
"Yeah."
"Well, I don't intend to disappear. So you said you don't know how to make that device work. Why is that?"
"It was given only to the team leaders. I don't think they ever quite trusted me. I think I could activate the Door, but I don't know where it would lead."
"Okay, so what's the call?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do we do now? You're the one who knows his way around this place."
"Right," Raven replied, taking a deep breath. "Sorry. We need to find a service door. Those lead deeper into the complex."
"Lead the way. You might want this." Harrison offered his one of his pistols.
Raven hesitated.
"Don't tell me you don't believe in using violence," Harrison said. "Not after what just went down."
"No, it isn't that. I've got... a problem with some kinds of metal."
"Like an allergy?"
"Something like that, but worse."
"What kind of metal?"
"Anything with iron in it. Can't touch it, or it burns me."
"Well, that has to suck."
"Tell me about it," said Raven.
"You want my gloves?" Harrison asked. "I'd rather have a companion who can defend himself than do all the work on my own."
"That would be great," replied Raven.
Harrison stripped off the gloves and passed them over. "Sorry, they're a bit sweaty." He handed
Raven the suppressed pistol after he'd put the gloves on.
"So what's the deal with these Doors?" Harrison asked.
"As I said, I don't know everything about how they work, but from what I understand, if you concentrate on where you want to go, the Door opens to that world, universe, whatever."
"That does sound handy. I wish my device worked that well." Harrison looked around. "Why more than one Door?"
"There were lots of different teams being sent out."
"Seems like it would get crowded in here."
"Each of the teams had a part of the JRC devoted to them. If Simone isn't out on a mission, she'll be in the quarters we used to share. So will the others. They have to be told what's happening."
"I trust they aren't all like Kendall."
"Oh, no. Most of them avoided violence if they could. Kendall and I were the fighters. It wasn't until just before I was exiled that he started recruiting from other teams."
"Then lead on." Harrison put a new magazine in the rifle. At the rate he was going through ammunition, he'd run out long before he got home. If he ever got home.
It took about half an hour to find a service door. There were markings on the wall in a language Harrison didn't recognize, but Raven seemed to understand. They hadn't seen anyone else in the JRC since they entered. Once they passed through the service door, that all changed. The corridor ended in stairs, which Raven led him up before exiting through another door. This new area of the JRC in which they found themselves looked more like some kind of office building. The floors were even carpeted. It still reminded Harrison uncomfortably of his JMC. It didn't help that he'd seen a worn plaque outside a room with the words Jellico Research Complex, followed by some numbers.
No one seemed to take much notice of their passing. A few people nodded to Raven or muttered greetings. No one tried to stop them.
"How much farther?" Harrison asked.
"Just up through here. I want to stop by my quarters. I'd love to take a shower, but we don't have time for that. I can at least change clothes and pick up a couple of things."
"Make it quick. I have a bad feeling about this, like we're walking into a trap."
They came to a metal door with a key-swipe security lock. Raven pulled the door open without swiping anything and entered the room beyond.
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