Phantoms

by T. R. Harris

  “On that we’re going to have to agree to disagree. She’s my daughter, and you had no right to kidnap her and threaten to slice and dice her up in the name of your Grand Experiment.”

  “Yet we did, and Lila agreed. If it had not been for the creature J’nae, Lila would not be standing here with us today.” He looked at Lila’s lovely form. “Even now, she still brings such joy to the hearts of all Aris. You will always be the crowning achievement of my race.”

  “You guys have hearts?” Adam asked, sarcastically. “I wouldn’t know, not after what one of your kind did to hundreds of worlds. Kracion killed off trillions of your so-called children, and you don’t give a damn. All you care about is your precious experiment. And you still haven’t answered my question. Do you have Kracion or not?”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “And what do you intend to do with him?” Panur asked. “Just as you made an incredible effort at creating Lila, we also made a tremendous effort to stop Kracion from destroying even more. We hope our efforts were not in vain.”

  The look on Nunki’s face changed, the confident, almost humorous look replaced with one of sorrow.

  “Kracion is in our custody. What happens to him will depend on the outcome of several scenarios, many of which you and the Apex Being may play a part.”

  Panur nodded. “You said you need our help. Please explain.”

  “I will, but not here. Please accompany me. We have prepared a briefing.” He looked at Adam next. “And as I said earlier, the presentation is for only Panur and Lila. The rest of you will wait here.”

  The team took a few steps forward, not willing to let the mutants simply walk away with the Aris. It could be a trap.

  Nunki stopped them with a grin.

  “And what do you think you can do?” he said to the group. “We have been expecting you. Do you think you can do anything to stop us from doing whatever we wish with you and your friends?”

  Adam didn’t like the sound of that. It was a trap.

  “Yet I assure you, no harm will come to the immortals. We need them. And once they hear what I have to say, they will be willing participants in our efforts.”

  He looked to Panur and Lila. They hesitated only a heartbeat before following the Aris out of the landing bay.

  Riyad stepped up next to Adam. “So, what do we do now?”

  Adam looked at the other worried faces of the team. He summed up the situation. They were enclosed in a huge Aris space station, in another universe, and without the mutants. There wasn’t much they could do.

  “So… who brought the cards?”

  The mutants were gone two hours before they returned to the Sansa appearing serious, if not a little weary. Adam didn’t think immortals could become weary, but they could become worried.

  “What happened; are you all right?”

  Panur led them into the central meeting room of the starship, asking everyone to sit down. Lila averted her eyes, which made Adam more nervous. Something big was happening, big enough to worry the mutants.

  “I will attempt to explain,” Panur began. “And you must believe what I tell you, no matter how counterintuitive it may seem. You must agree, Lila and I have a better grasp of these things than you.”

  “You’re scaring us,” Summer said. Adam noticed it was the Human within the woman talking and not the alien. If the presentation got too intense, he was sure that would change.

  “We have been presented with some startling information which will require a summary to make sense. It involves the makeup of the multiverse, the reality we exist in where there are countless other universes other than our own. You are fully aware of this since most in this room have traveled extensively to other dimensions, including where we now find ourselves.”

  He paused to make sure he had their attention. He did.

  “As background, each universe is separated from the other by a small void the width of a hydrogen atom. Filling this void is a material some have mistakenly called dark matter, which forms a type of cushion between the dimensions. What you may not realize is that this boundary is not solid. In fact, it is rather porous, and there is constant leakage, but not so much between universes, but from the void area itself. Dark matter—and its accompanying energy—is prevalent throughout existence; in fact, it is what determines the type of universe which will exist in each dimension.”

  “Type?” Riyad asked. “I’ve been to a few universes, and they all seem to be the same.”

  “That is true, Mr. Tarazi, with regards to the material make up. What I’m referring to is whether the universe will be expanding or contracting. More dark matter and the universe will expand until it becomes so diffuse that it eventually burns itself out. We refer to this as a low-pressure universe. With less dark matter, the universe will initially expand and then contract, returning to a single point to become a high-pressure universe. Most universes are in neutral periods in their lifecycle, where the pressure between them is within tolerance for inter-dimensional travel.

  “I will now regress in time. When a rupture occurs involving a high-pressure universe, the other dimension is filled instantly with all the contents from the high-pressure dimension. You will be interested to learn that that is how our universe was created.”

  “You mean the Big Bang?” Sherri asked. “But you’re saying there was another universe here first?”

  “Exactly.”

  “What happened to it?”

  “That is another interesting fact. As the material from the high-pressure universe enters, it forms a shockwave which pushes all the old material outward. If there were instruments capable of seeing that far, they would reach to the edge of the known universe and see nothing. This is the void created from the shockwave. However, if they could see even farther, they would come upon the remains of the old universe.”

  “You’ve talked about this before, how it’s not safe to just bounce between universes without checking the pressures first.”

  “That’s right. And we test the pressures by measuring the deformation of the buffer zone between universes. However, ruptures between universes occur all the time since there is a fair amount of rubbing taking place that weakens the membrane. If a rupture occurs between high-pressure and low-pressure universes, a Big Bang event is triggered.”

  “From how worried you guys look, are you saying a new Big Bang is coming?” Monty asked, joining the conversation.

  “Let us not get ahead of ourselves. But what I can say is that the universe is facing the possibility of an unprecedented catastrophe and for which the Aris are trying desperately to prevent.”

  Adam laughed, which surprised everyone in the room. “Excuse me, but if you wanted to reveal a twist in the plot, you couldn’t have used a better line.”

  “This is serious, Adam,” Panur scolded.

  “Sorry.”

  “Continuing: The Aris have discovered an anomaly taking place that could have dire consequences, not only for our universe but this one as well.”

  “What is it?” Riyad asked.

  Panur sighed deeply. “I have an order to my presentation. May I please proceed as I have planned? Now, let me speak of trans-dimensional travel, something we are all familiar with.”

  “That was a jarring segue,” said Sherri, the smartass.

  Panur glared at her. Then… “I was able to track the Aris because as a TD vessel transits space, it leaves a record of the tiny holes it creates in the membrane between universes. These rips damage the fabric and take time to heal, during which there is a leakage of dark matter from the buffer zone into both universes. Depending on the pressure differential, this leakage can be minor or significant. But since no two universes are of the same pressure, there is always transference.”

  He paused and looked at his audience, allowing them the opportunity to interrupt. No one took it; it wouldn’t have been interrupting at that point. He continued.

  “The Aris have discovered a significant rip in the membrane between
this universe and ours, and it is growing.”

  “And it was caused by TD engines?” Copernicus asked. “That’s silly. The holes the drives make are minuscule compared to a whole universe. How can that hurt anything?”

  Adam was expecting another outburst from Panur, but instead, the mutant appeared… embarrassed? “Taken individually, you are correct, Mr. Smith. However, cumulatively, the damage can be catastrophic. Consider: The Aris developed TD travel a hundred thousand years before they began their Grand Experiment, but they used it sparingly. Then over the three billion years of the experiment, the Technicians used TD travel to move between systems monitoring the progress. All this had a cumulative effect on the fabric between universes. Then once I developed the technology, the effect was magnified.”

  “You mean with your huge TD portals?”

  Panur smirked. “Fortunately, my transit portals are not the issue. I will use an example to explain why. Take a sheet of material. If you drill a large hole in the middle, the integrity of the material is compromised, but not significantly. Now drill hundreds of tiny holes across the surface in a line, and you have now perforated the board, making it easy to break along the line. As Mr. Smith pointed out, by themselves, the individual tears in the space-time continuum create no lasting damage. However, from the use of my drives, the effect exacerbated one of these already weakened areas in the membrane caused by the natural interaction between dimensions. A rupture opened, and it is growing.”

  “So there is another Big Bang coming!” Monty exclaimed.

  “Not exactly, Master Chief. It’s more like a slow ooze. Yet as the tear grows, it will become exponentially worse until finally there is a great flood of material passing through which will push away all other matter in our universe and suck it from the other.”

  “So how much time do we have?” Sherri asked dejectedly.

  “A million years… at the current rate of expansion.”

  Everyone sat up.

  “A million years!” Copernicus shouted for all of them. “The way you were going on, I thought it was going to be next week.”

  “A million years is but a blip in the time of the universe.”

  “Yeah, but that’s plenty of time to repair this thing, isn’t it? And by then, all of us will be long gone…well, except for you and Lila.”

  “The Aris were working on a long term solution.”

  “That’s great,” Riyad said. “They’re a lot smarter than all of us… wait, you said were working on a solution. What happened?”

  “The Aris had a plan to repair the rip permanently when Kracion ruined it for them.”

  “Kracion!” Adam yelled. “Figures.”

  “Allow me to continue,” Lila said, stepping center stage. “The Aris are currently slowing the progression of the tear by diverting the dark energy passing through the rupture through their bodies. As you know, they absorb energy directly, just do Panur and I. The Aris are in a unique position to do this because of their regenerative properties, which allows their bodies to tolerate the incredible forces at play. Unfortunately, there are not enough Aris for the task.”

  “They want you and Panur to join them?” Adam asked. “That’s crazy. You’ll be committing yourself to a million years of torture. Even then, you say this can’t be prevented.”

  “They are not asking us to join the line,” Lila said. “Currently, eight of the surviving fifteen Aris are stationed at critical points along the rupture, channeling the energy back into the void between universes. But it is not enough. Nunki planned to use the surviving Technician Aris at Kracion’s base to assist in the effort. He knew of the remaining vials of J’nae’s essence and had learned that only a small amount of it was required to give the Aris their regenerative abilities. There would be enough to convert the one hundred twenty Aris that were in hibernation, although with this reduced amount of essence, the potency would only last a few thousand years. That would be long enough. That many Aris could form a tight suture along the fissure, allowing the natural migration of universes to repair the tear before a catastrophic blowout could occur.”

  “And then Kracion killed the other Aris,” Adam stated bluntly.

  “That is correct. And along with them the only long term solution to the problem was ruined. The only reason Nunki is keeping Kracion viable is in case he is needed in a last-ditch effort to stave off the full breach. And now, he has brought us in to work on an alternative solution, one that can be achieved without the Aris.”

  “Can you do that?” Sherri asked.

  “It remains to be seen. We have only just been informed of the problem. However, Nunki realizes Panur has more experience with inter-dimensional technology than even the Aris. Their technology is billions of years old. And besides, they admire him.” She looked at the mutant and smiled. “With J’nae, he accomplished what it took them three billion years to create, and he did it through a much simpler process. The Aris are in awe of him.”

  Panur took the floor again. “Therefore, Lila and I will be staying with the Aris and working on this problem.”

  “For how long?” Adam asked, suddenly realizing what they were saying.

  “It could be a very long time,” Lila said softly.

  “Well, hell.”

  “You must realize, I feel partially responsible for what has happened,” Panur said. “And as a result, I will modify the TD technology so there will never be a replay of this event. Until then, I would limit the use of TD travel. Ground-based portals are okay, but not spaceships zipping through space. That could be bad.”

  “What about us?” Summer asked. She had been quiet for most of the presentation, as had J’nae.

  “You will take the Arya and return home,” Panur said to the room. “The Sansa will remain with us. There is nothing you can do here to help.”

  “I was talking about us—me and J’nae,” Summer corrected, her voice firm. “You promised to help me. You can’t do that while you’re here with the Aris. So I’m staying, at least until you can get this damn thing out of me.”

  “I’m sorry, Summer, but we are still at a loss on how to help you,” said Lila. “And with the severity of this new crisis, we are going to have to devote our full attention to the problem.”

  “And just forget about me?”

  “Perhaps if a solution comes to mind, we can communicate with you later,” Lila offered. “Until then, please return home and attempt to cope with the situation.”

  “Cope….” Summer’s voice trailed off, prompting Monty to place a comforting arm around his daughter. It didn’t take a psychiatrist to see the workings taking place in her mind. There was a final solution; Adam hoped she wouldn’t take it.

  He stood up. “At least we get to go home. And look on the bright side, we have a million years before anything really bad happens, and that’s if our genius friends here don’t come up with a fix long before that. I have confidence they will. Let’s pack up and get going, and hope that that Te’moc character isn’t still looking for us—”

  “Te’moc?” Panur and Summer shouted in unison—although it wasn’t Summer speaking this time, but J’nae. She shot to her feet.

  Adam was taken aback by the reaction. “He’s that Cartel guy who was chasing Summer and her people. Do you know him? I do, sorta.”

  “You cannot possibly know Te’moc,” Panur growled. Adam had never heard such a voice come from the mutant.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I do. I recognize his name and his face. I can even hear his voice in my head, although I can’t remember when I met him.”

  Summer/J’nae was standing next to Panur. Both were staring at Adam with insane eyes. Had he done something wrong?

  “What do you know about him?” J’nae demanded.

  “Not much. I overheard that TeraDon guy mention his name. I think he’s either a member of the Cartel or he’s working with them.”

  Panur and Summer/J’nae turned to each other.

  “He is in the Milky Way,” J’nae
whispered. “How did he get there?”

  “That is obvious. And what is also obvious is why.”

  “So, who is he?” Adam asked. “What’s all the fuss? As I said, I’ve met him. How bad can he be?”

  “No, Adam, you have not met Te’moc,” Panur stated with finality. “You only think you have.”

  24

  The five-ship squadron entered the AD-14c star system knowing the object of their search had already left. But there was nowhere else to go.

  After an abrupt change of course twenty days before, the TD ship carrying Te’moc’s elusive prize made a beeline for the system. The track wasn’t hard to follow; besides the tell-tale signal only he could detect was strong… and getting stronger.

  And then it disappeared.

  At first, Te’moc thought nothing of it. The signal was constantly popping in and out as the vessel made the hops between universes. But this last time it stayed gone, meaning so was his target. She was in another universe, and it appeared as if she intended to stay there.

  But Te’moc was already committed to the journey. He would go to where the source vanished if only to see if he could gain another clue.

  And that’s when he detected the second presence. It was extremely faint and could only be detected once in the system and without the interference from the much stronger primary signal. It was also stationary.

  After a series of sweeps across the system to locate the source, Te’moc eventually focused on a desolate and barren world, devoid of life. It took TeraDon and his people two days to locate the hidden entrance to an underground facility and bypass the security measures to enter. Armed Cartel troops led the way, cautious of any potential threats. They found no living threats, but they did find a tomb.

  They discovered the bodies of three aliens, all of the same race. TeraDon recognized them immediately. They were Aris, the same race as Kracion.