Transient Echoes (23 page)

Exactly when the thought crossed her mind, the digital number on her scanner dropped a single digit. She stared at it, wondering if perhaps it had been a fluke. A moment later, another drop. Then a third.

Before long, the radiation had fallen considerably. They wouldn’t be able to take their helmets off, but this was definitely an improvement. “Not bad,” said Bart, who’d been monitoring his own scanner. “At this rate we might actually get somewhere.”

Mei took a few steps toward the center of the room, keeping an eye on her scanner. She went to the same spot she’d gone before, but there was no warning sound this time. She pressed on, edging closer to the pile of metal until she was within an arm’s length of it. She checked the scanner, confirmed it was safe, and moved her hand towards the object.

Before she could touch it, her arm twisted and stretched, becoming some kind of octopus tendril, morphing in the air. Her fingers drew long and snake-like, bending and spiraling, doubling the length of her other appendage. She jumped back and fell on the floor, letting out a sharp cry.

“What the hell was that?” snapped Bart.

John went to her side and tried to grab her arm, but she kept it close to her chest, holding her wrist with her other hand. It was normal again, with no sign anything had happened at all. “I’m okay,” she said between sharp breaths. “It just took me by surprise.”

“Does it hurt?” asked John.

“No,” she muttered. “There wasn’t even a tingle.”

“What do you think it was?” he asked, helping her stand.

“I don’t know. I’ll need to run a few more tests. We need to find a way to get close to it without—”

John threw a rock at the pile. It stretched into a shape resembling a needle before changing back and coming out the left side, tumbling to the floor.

Bart rolled his eyes. “Or I guess we can throw a rock at it.”

John shrugged. “It seemed easier.”

Mei hurried to the stone to examine it. It looked like any other rock, round and jagged, a little cracked perhaps. How was this possible? John threw it at the front of the trash pile, and the rock came out the left side. Could it have deflected off something?

She grabbed the rock and threw it again. It hit the debris, morphed, and flew toward John. He dodged out of the way. “Hey!” he snapped.

Another ninety degree change,
she thought. “Sorry.”

“I don’t get it,” said Bart. “What’s causing this?”

Mei paused, licking her lips, then smiled. She stared at the pile in the center of the room. “What if the space around this thing is somehow bent?” she asked.

“Bent?” asked Bart.

She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I think we’re dealing with a portal,” she said at last.

“A portal?” asked Bart. “You mean like the kind you found upstairs four years ago?”

“Similar, yes,” she said.

“But I’ve seen the reports and you never mentioned anything about it bending the laws of physics or sucking objects into it.”

“The one we encountered last time was at least partially stable. And really big. This is different.” She held her hand up. “Hear me out. I’ve been trying to think of how all these phenomena could happen, like the radiation and the magnetism with the office furniture. But I wasn’t sure until a few seconds ago.”

“You’re talking about the rock?” asked Bart.

“When John threw the rock and it broke the laws of physics, yeah.”

John smiled.

“I looked at the blueprints for the entire building last night. We didn’t have the whole basement, so I used the flippies’ scans to fill in the gaps. Did you know we’re right below where the original rift used to be? Sure, it was thirty stories above this, but this room is the exact same location, only lower.”

“So you think, what? The portal fell?” asked Bart. “If so, where’s the rest of it?”

“The rift doesn’t exist anymore, not the same way it used to. If I’m right, what we’re looking at right now are called micro-wormholes, fractured pieces of the original portal. There could be hundreds of these things, maybe more.”

Bart furrowed his brow. “How the hell did we go from a giant portal to a bunch of microscopic ones?”

“We blew it up, remember?” asked John. “Same thing happens when you take a boulder and smash it into pebbles.” He glanced at Mei, like he was searching for approval.

“Not quite the same, but good enough for this discussion,” she said, meeting him halfway. “It makes more sense to say we disrupted the machine keeping it stable, and without a power source to sustain it, the portal collapsed into what we see before us.”

“So what you’re saying is I’m smarter than Bart,” said John. “I’ll take it!”

Bart ignored him. “If your theory is right, how do we fix it? Better yet, how do we even test for it?”

“All the signs are here. The radiation could be a result of the instability of the fractures. The same is true of
this
.” She motioned to the debris. “But our real test will be the solution. It’s the only way to make sure.”

“I take it you’ve already got a plan in mind?” asked Bart.

She smiled. “I might have a few ideas.”

******

Somewhere on Kant

January 22, 2351

It was the dead of night. Terry leaned against the stone wall separating him from Ludo. His eyes were closed, but he was not asleep. He took slow, deep breaths, trying to relax his mind the way Ludo had taught him.

But there was a minor distraction. “What are you doing?” asked Janice.

Terry awakened to see the little girl standing before him. Her eyes were big and wide, almost cartoonish. “Quiet,” he mouthed, knowing she would understand.

“You shouldn’t do that,” she said.

He didn’t answer.

“Brother, look at me!” she snapped.

He didn’t. Instead, he turned his thoughts inward, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing exercises.

Minutes passed, perhaps longer. He could not know. In the void, he felt nothing, saw nothing, did nothing. He only drifted, lost in the dark, empty of thought, like being in the womb again, ready to wake up.

But Terry knew it could not last. The good dreams never did. He could never sustain the emptiness for very long, especially now with Janice pestering him.

Laughter echoed through the void, low and faint, but quickly rising. It tapped at the back of his brain like a piece of fractured glass.

Go away,
he begged.

But she wouldn’t.

He opened his eyes to find his neck and forehead covered in sweat. His heart raced with fear and dread, blood pumping, his face on fire. But the girl was gone, at least for a while.

She would return, though. She always did.

Over the last several days, the meditations had become routine—the only way to shut her out. She clearly hated them, and he was never allowed to practice for long before an interruption. But when it was over, she stayed away, and he got his peace.

He longed for silence, for one night of uninterrupted sleep. For a single day without the laughter. Without the taunts.

Oh, well. It wouldn’t be long before the men in charge killed or sold him. Any day now.

He closed his eyes and recited the words his friend had taught him. “Peace of body. Peace of mind.” He repeated the mantra again and again in a low whisper, minding his breaths as he did. There were many mantras, Ludo had explained, but they served the same purpose. By giving the mouth a series of words to focus on, it freed the mind of its cluttered thoughts. Terry was still having some trouble with the last part.

An hour later, he felt the urge to sleep creep over him and this time he did not fight it. The early morning would be here soon, so it would be wise to get some rest. He didn’t want to be exhausted if his captors decided to stop by and cause him trouble.

He moved under the soft light of the night sky as it crept through the barred window above. Closing his eyes, he recited another mantra to calm him. “I fly to the Sea of Everlasting. I am strong. I am calm. I am at peace.”

He repeated the words until he was asleep.

******

Terry’s cell door swung open, waking him, and three large men towered before him. He recognized them immediately. Purple Eyes, Red, and Scar each entered the cell. “Get up,” said Red.

“Why?” asked Terry.

Red’s face twisted at the word. “You will, or we will make you.” He pulled out a large knife and waved it at him.

“Fine,” said Terry.

Scar turned and took a stool from the hall, placing it several steps across from the bed on the other end of the room. He stood next to it and stared at Terry. “You will not move. The Lord will ask you questions, and you will answer. Understand?”

“Okay,” said Terry.

Purple Eyes went to the stool and took a seat, motioning to Red, who closed the door. “I see you understand how to listen now,” said Purple Eyes. His voice was like gravel. “This is good. It will make you easier to sell. A stupid slave is a useless slave.”

At this, both Red and Scar chuckled, beating their chests in approval.

“Tell me. What is your name?” asked the old man. “Where do you come from?”

“My name is Terry. I’m from—” he paused, unsure of what to tell them. “I’m from far away.”

“Another country?” asked Purple Eyes. “Which one?”

“Central,” said Terry.

Purple Eyes furrowed his brow and licked his lips. “I have never heard of this place. Why did you come here?”

Another tricky question. He took a few seconds to think. “I left to explore the world.”

Red chuckled again, but stopped when Purple Eyes looked at him. “It is a brave thing to be on your own,” said the old man. “My son knows little of such a thing.”

Red lowered his face.

“Do you know who I am?” asked Purple Eyes.

“No,” said Terry.

“I am Gast Maldeen, Lord of Three Waters and one of the five high priests of Xel,” he said. “I have been granted dominion over this land, which means I am your master.”

So his name was Gast, and he was the leader of this place. Never mind the rest. “Alright,” said Terry.

“You will tell me now why you were with the traitor. Answer truthfully, or my son will cut you down where you sit.”

Terry looked at Red, who smiled, rubbing the edge of his knife with his thumb. “They have a farm,” said Terry. “I was attacked by an animal in the field. They helped me.”

“How long were you with them?” asked Gast.

“A while,” said Terry.

Gast stared at him, pursing his lips for a moment. “What do you know about them?”

“I know their names,” said Terry.

Gast pointed to the wall behind Terry. “The one in the other cell used to be a temple guard. He took the high priestess Ysa Maldeen as his wife and escaped, keeping her power for his own selfish desires. The priestess’s father allowed this, but now he is dead.”

“Maldeen? Is she related to you?”

“Shut up!” barked Scar. “You do not ask questions.”

Gast raised his hand to quiet him. “She is my niece,” he said simply. “My brother allowed her to leave, but I have come to take her home where she belongs.”

Terry didn’t know what to say. Somehow, without realizing it, he’d found himself
in the middle of an alien family feud.

“It is unfortunate for you,” said Gast. “First to be caught in the woods and escape, only to find yourself living with a traitor. Perhaps your ghost would rather die than live, given how often you find yourself in trouble. But life is circular, is it not? Our mistakes repeat themselves forever, and every moment comes again.”

Kill them now before it’s too late
, whispered Janice. He pushed the thought away. He couldn’t fight them. They were too strong. He might be able to take out Red or Scar, but not Gast. He’d seen what the old man did to Ysa—the things he could do. Terry would have to wait for a real opportunity.

Gast walked to the door and stopped. “I believe your words,” he said. “You will be auctioned to the highest bidder. Exotic slaves do well.” He chuckled. “I’m expecting it to be quick. Perhaps a few weeks. Enjoy the wait.”

Scar slammed the door behind them as they left. Terry sat on the bed, staring at the door, a panic rising in his chest. What was he going to do?

I have to get out of this room,
he thought.

“You have to kill them all,” said the girl, appearing to his side in the place where Gast had been sitting.

“I won’t,” he muttered.

She giggled and began skipping around the room, passing him repeatedly and laughing. Always laughing. He hated her.
Go away
.

“I’m with you forever and ever,” she yelled. “Forever and ever and ever and ever!”

He wrapped his arms around his head and lowered it between his knees. Sweat dripped from his forehead as his heart raced. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to be a slave. He didn’t want to die. He hated this place, Gast, and the whole damned planet. If only he could—

“Terry,” said a muffled voice. “Are you there?”

He shuddered at the sound of his own name.

“Did they hurt you?” It was Ludo, of course. Who else could it be? He must have heard the whole thing.

Terry wiped the sweat from his face. “Yeah, I’m here,” he said, breathing quickly. “Sorry.”

A short pause. “Terry, my friend, listen to me.”

“Okay.” His chest was pounding, like it was about to rip itself apart.

“Close your eyes and perform the mantras and the breathing. Do it quickly, please.”

“Why would I—”

“Please,” said Ludo.

Terry hesitated, but did as his friend requested. He crossed his legs and closed his eyes, ignoring the pain in his body. He took several deep breaths, counting them as he went. Finally, he recited the mantras. “Peace of body. Peace of mind.”

“Again,” said Ludo with a calm and relaxed voice.

“Peace of body. Peace of mind,” said Terry. “Peace of body. Peace of mind.”

“Now breathe,” said Ludo. “Let your ghost fly free and out of this place.”

Terry listened to Ludo’s voice, letting it carry him. Like before, he was in the dark, quiet and unmoving. He was alone. He swam in a sea of thoughtlessness, in a place devoid of time. He had been here before, but now it was different. Now there was no laughter. No interruptions. He felt nothing.