Amplitude

by Dean M. Cole

  Chapter 3

  “You’re from the future?!”

  Commander Angela Brown stared into the lens of the video camera and nodded soberly. “Yes, Director McCree.”

  As Angela watched the reactions of Bill and Teddy, she tried to decide what to say, what to do.

  Questions raced through her mind.

  Had Vaughn survived?

  Was he still alive?

  Had he made the jump with her?

  Was he back in Cleveland just as she was back on the space station?

  She looked at her ISS crewmates.

  Angela was certain that she could save Bill and Teddy, but what about people on the planet?

  Could she save anyone else?

  During her passage through the airlock, Angela had considered taking the Soyuz module down over Europe and land it behind the wall of light in Eastern France’s farmland. She could go there now and try to shut down the collider before it could wipe all animal life from the planet. However, she had quickly abandoned the idea. If Angela went in there half-cocked, without a plan, she’d likely end up inside the growing pile of dying life in the version of Earth that she and Vaughn called Hell.

  Angela would happily trade her life if it would save billions, but if she died without stopping the Necks, she’d seal the fate of Earth’s biosphere.

  Even if she somehow managed to make it in undetected and shut down the collider, she would be writing off half the world’s population, maybe more.

  No. Angela needed a plan to stop the Necks permanently, one that reset the timeline and stopped the robots from ever coming to this dimension. She was already working on that plan, but she needed people to help her execute it.

  Angela had figured out all those things before she and Major Peterson had completed the airlock cycle. However, she still hadn’t worked out how to save anyone else in the here and now.

  “Commander Brown!”

  Angela held up a hand. “Give me a sec.”

  “What do you mean you’re from the future, Angela?”

  She ignored the director as she worked through the problem.

  If Vaughn was back, he was too close to the light wave to save more than himself and Mark Hennessy. To survive the passage of the life-stealing wall of energy, they'd have to be hovering the Q-drive flight module in the vacuum chamber when it flashed through their region.

  Angela’s eyes widened.

  That was it!

  She pointed into the lens. “Director McCree, you need to get everyone you can suited up and into Chamber A.”

  Back before the world had gone to hell, Angela had read an update about Houston’s vacuum chamber. Johnson Space Center had modified Chamber A in support of the James Webb Space Telescope test program. The Apollo-era facility now had a high-vacuum pumping system.

  “Commander Brown …” The director hesitated. When he resumed, confusion and frustration twisted his words. “You want me to get people in spacesuits? And then put them in a vacuum chamber?”

  “There's a lot more to do than that, but it's a start. We’ll need a mix of military and computer specialists. And if you happen to have—”

  “Angela! Why on Earth would I do any of that?”

  She blinked and stared into the lens. Then Angela understood. She hadn’t told them what the light was, what it was doing. She looked away from the camera, suddenly unable to meet anyone’s eyes as the gravity of what she was about to say, what it would mean to all three of the men and their families, sank in.

  Finally, Angela gathered her courage and looked Bill and Teddy in the eye. Then she gazed into the camera lens again.

  “Director McCree …” Angela paused and swallowed. Then she gave a short nod and continued. “If you are physically connected to the planet when that light passes your location, you die.” She pointed toward the ground two hundred and fifty miles beneath them. “That wave of light is killing everyone it touches.”

  Teddy had been looking off to the side, but then his eyes snapped to hers. Moments ago, Director McCree had informed them that they’d lost contact with Moscow. Angela’s heart broke all over again as she watched the ginger Russian cosmonaut’s freckled face pale, turning lighter than his strawberry-blond hair. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his eyes lost focus as his gaze drifted off to the side again.

  The director’s voice boomed from the module’s speakers. “What are you talking about, Commander Brown?” Randy’s voice now sounded even more incredulous than it had at the prospect of her being from the future.

  “Randy, that light wave isn't some anomalous northern light. It’s not an aurora.” She gave him a meaningful look. “I know you already suspect as much. You told me so last time.”

  She continued before he could interrupt her. “The only way to survive its passage is to be physically disconnected from the planet. You can’t be attached to its ground, its water, or even its atmosphere.” Anticipating their questions, she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter if you’re miles in the air or miles underground. It will find you, and it will remove you from this planet … completely.”

  All three men fell silent.

  Major Peterson stared at her for a long moment. Angela watched him process the news. Bill looked from her drawn face to her suddenly longer hair and then to her too skinny figure. Then he shook his head. “That makes no sense.”

  Angela knew that the men had seen a plumper version of her a couple of hours ago. She had entered the spacesuit with shorter hair and her normal layer of subdermal fat, but now the matted mess of her hair rivaled Teddy’s mane, filling a considerable portion of the Destiny module. The radical change in appearance buoyed Angela’s claim, but Bill remained reluctant to accept what she was saying.

  Angela didn’t blame him. She was telling the man that everyone he loved, everybody he knew, was going to die in the next few hours. She had lived through it all, but now floating in the normal confines of the ISS, it was difficult even for her to believe what was about to happen … again. She shook her head. It wasn’t ‘about’ to happen. It already was, and every moment they wasted here reduced the chances of saving anyone.

  The sound of a phone ringing in the director’s office came through the speakers.

  Angela’s eyes widened. Could that already be Vaughn calling?! Then she shook her head. It was too early for the light to have passed Cleveland. About now, the Necks’ damned, life-stealing wave of energy was still crossing the Atlantic.

  Director McCree’s voice came through the speaker. “Stand by. I have to take this call.“

  Then Angela had an epiphany, and she remembered what the call portended.

  Agonizingly long moments later, the director’s voice returned. Randy sounded shaky and unsure. “I’m …” He hesitated and then sighed. “I’m back.”

  Angela spoke into the microphone, making sure to talk loudly enough that Teddy and Bill heard every word. “That was either the President or someone from the Joint Chiefs.”

  “It … It was.” Randy stammered. “That was General Tannehill from the Joint Chiefs. How do you know that?”

  Raising her eyebrows, Angela nodded. “He was calling to tell you that they lost the quick reaction force mid-flight.”

  “Yes … but how—?”

  “And,” Angela interrupted him. “They were watching a live video stream of the airplane’s occupants when it happened.”

  Floating to the right of the camera, Major Bill Peterson tilted his head. “When what happened?”

  Teddy snapped out of his fugue, suddenly becoming animated. “Da, what are you talking about, Commander Brown?”

  Angela looked into the camera lens and spoke directly to the director. “You figured out that the light started at the supercollider under Geneva. The President ordered a strike team to CERN. They were going to the collider to shut it down, but they didn’t make it.”

  Director McCree’s voice issued from the speaker. “She … She’s right, they didn’t make it, but they didn’t … die. T
hey …” His voice faltered.

  “They vanished,” Angela filled in for him. “But trust me, sir. They’re dead.” She shuddered, and her eyes lost focus as she stared through the camera. “Or they soon will be.”

  Before the men could ask more questions, Angela shook the visions of Hell from her mind and continued. “Next, the President will order a massive nuclear strike on CERN, on Geneva.”

  “How do you know about …?!” The director didn’t finish the question.

  Angela opened her mouth to say more, but then Randy released a resigned sigh.

  “Okay, Commander Brown. What do we need to do, and how does the vacuum chamber factor into it?”

  Major Bill Peterson blinked. “What?!” Anger flared across his dark face. He yanked the camera from Teddy’s hands and then turned it toward himself. He looked into the lens with evident incredulity. “You’re not buying this, Randy, are you?”

  “Bill, everything she has said has been one hundred percent spot on. The only way she could know all of those things is if she truly were from the future.”

  “But …” The major faltered. He turned and stared at Angela’s hair and then at her emaciated arms.

  The last of the man’s hope drained from his face. “Everyone? All of them will die?”

  Angela gave a quick shake of her head. “No, not everyone. We’ll survive, and I think we can save a few on the planet.”

  “Can we save my family?”

  It was Angela’s turn to falter. Her mouth clicked shut.

  Major Peterson looked at her expectantly.

  It took all the courage Angela could muster to meet his eyes as she slowly shook her head. “No, Bill. I’m sorry … But—”

  “But what?!” The major’s voice echoed loudly as his question bounced down the long corridors of the station. “What good does it do for a few of us to survive? Why should we go on if there’s nothing to live for?!” he scoffed. “We can’t repopulate the planet by starting with—”

  “Dammit, Bill!”

  Angela’s sudden outburst caused Teddy to flinch.

  She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “Listen for a moment, and I’ll tell you how we can save everyone.”

  “There’s nothing you can say that—!”

  “We can save your family, Bill!”

  Major Peterson’s head snapped back, and he blinked. His voice lowered. “What?”

  Angela shook her head. “I can’t save them right now, not today.” She held up a hand as Bill opened his mouth. “I don’t have anything close to enough time to give you all the details, but suffice it to say that we can reset the timeline.” She gestured at herself. “I already have once. That’s how I got here, but I can’t do it alone. To reset everything in a way that stops it from ever happening again, I need help.” She sighed as the weight of everything pressed down on her. She pointed at Bill and Teddy and then into the camera lens. “I need your help.”

  Bill’s mouth hung slack for a moment. He closed it and swallowed. The major looked over her tattered garments and her long hair once more. He glanced at Teddy. Then his eyes focused on hers, and he nodded.

  The director’s voice returned. “What happened? What’s causing this, Angela … or who? You said you have a plan for those bastards. Is it a terrorist group?”

  Angela stared into the lens. “No, it’s not terrorists.” She paused, trying to decide what to tell them. Then she shook her head. “We can talk about that later.”

  Bill and Ted looked at her expectantly. “I promise, I’ll tell you everything, but first, we need to save everyone we can.”

  Major Peterson nodded. “Okay … What do you need? How can we help?”

  Angela returned the nod. “You can start by getting the descent module ready and packing it with all of the rations and survival equipment you can fit.”

  Teddy emerged from his stupor like a man waking from a dream. “We’re leaving?”

  Angela nodded. “Yes, but not yet.”

  Bill’s ebony face softened. “You think we might be alone for a while? Is that the reason for the survival equipment?”

  Angela felt the passage of each lost moment as if it were a physical thing being ripped from her body. “I hope we don’t need any of it, but if I don’t get the director moving now, we might end up all by ourselves.”

  The two men needed no further prodding. Major Peterson exited the module first.

  Teddy handed Angela the camera and microphone. He turned to depart.

  Angela touched his arm. “I’m sorry for your loss, Teddy.”

  The Russian cosmonaut looked over his right shoulder, regarding her with his lips pressed into a thin line. Then Teddy gave her a short nod. He grabbed a handhold and pulled himself toward the exit.

  “Oh, and Teddy.”

  The cosmonaut paused and looked over his shoulder again. “Da?”

  “After you finish helping Bill, I need you to pull the two mice from their habitat and place them in a ventilated box.”

  He tilted his head and knitted his brow.

  Angela gave him a weak smile. “Please, Teddy? I don’t want to leave them up here to die.”

  Finally, he returned the smile and gave her a thumbs-up. “I’m on it, Command-Oh.”

  “By the way, we got their sex backward. It’s not Mabel and Nate. They’re Mack and Nadine.”

  “Oh … Okay. How do you know?”

  Angela gave him a wan smile. “Because Nadine—the one we’ve been calling Nate—is carrying Nate Junior and his siblings in her belly right now.”

  He nodded slowly and turned to leave. Then he looked back and stared at her, an indiscernible look on his face. “You’ve changed. You’re different now. That’s why I never doubted your words. It wasn’t your new look. It was you. You’re harder, tougher, more like Russian now.”

  Angela stared at him. She couldn’t tell if the man saw her change as good or bad.

  Without further comment, Teddy turned and drifted out of the module.

  Angela chewed her lip as she watched him leave. She wanted to call him back, wanted to hug them both, hold Bill and Teddy tightly and not let them go, but they all had work to do, and she had already let precious minutes slip away.

  She turned the camera lens toward her face and held up the microphone. “Director McCree?”

  “Still here.”

  Angela gave a short nod and then took a deep breath. “Okay, listen. You need to get as many people as you can suited up—”

  “I’m already working on it.”

  Angela blinked in surprise. “Huh?”

  “I just sent out a message.”

  “Good. Now you need to go meet up with them and get suited up as well.”

  “Yeah, uh … sure.” Randy sounded distracted. A light tapping noise came through the connection.

  Nodding, Angela continued. “Okay. Who are you pulling in?”

  “Everyone I can. There's a good mix of military personnel and hackers.”

  Angela smiled inwardly as she remembered how McCree liked to refer to everyone on the technical side of the business as a computer hacker. It didn’t matter whether or not they actually were programmers. At this point, Angela would take anyone she could get. There wasn’t time to get too specific.

  “He’s right, you know.”

  “Good …” Angela hesitated. “Wait. What? Who’s right?”

  “Mission Specialist Petrovich—Teddy. He’s right. You are different. I have no idea what you’ve been through, but whatever it was, it hardened you, matured you.”

  Angela frowned. “Focus, Director. Clock is ticking.”

  He released a low, mirthless chuckle. “Okay, Commander Brown. What makes you think that the vacuum chamber will help us?”

  “Because at this very moment, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Hennessy and Captain Vaughn Singleton are preparing to hover the secret Q-drive test vehicle in Glenn Research Center’s new vacuum chamber.”

  “Crap, Angela, how the hell do you kno
w about …?” McCree sighed. “Never mind. Keep going.”

  Angela hesitated as she considered telling Randy to order Sandusky Control to stay on schedule no matter what happened. She shook her head. No, that wouldn’t work. Anything she did might change something for the worse.

  “What’s wrong, Angela?”

  “Nothing. I was trying to remember the details as I heard them,” she lied. “Anyway, they were hovering the module when the light passed.”

  “The Q-drive worked? They managed to hover it?”

  “Oh, it did a lot more than that, but I can tell you about it later. Anyway, we think they survived because they weren’t attached to the planet or its molecular field.”

  “Okay. So you’re saying Hennessy and Singleton survived because they were disconnected from the planet’s molecular field? That’s an awfully big leap of logic. Who came up with that?”

  “Uh … You did, sir. You were the first one to speak with them afterward.” Angela’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah! He’s going to call you. Keep a phone on you at all times, and make damned sure that the office knows to forward all calls to you, especially anything that comes from Cleveland.” She paused and then added. “You'll need to figure out a way to answer your phone once you're inside the chamber. Have them send it through a radio or something. Just do whatever it takes, but when the call comes, please patch me into it.”

  “Okay, but if I'm away from a radio, I don't know how to call the space station from a smartphone.”

  “Oh,” Angela scoffed. “You’ll figure it out.”

  “Let me guess: just like I did last time?”

  “Yes, just like you did last time, but if you don’t have enough time to call me, just tell Vaughn that we will meet them in Nebraska.”

  “Vaughn?”

  “Yes, that’s Captain Singleton.” She shook her head. “I’ll explain later, just tell him.”

  “Okay, got it. Nebraska. Are you talking about Soyuz’s North American Emergency Landing Point Three?”

  “Yeah, the one in the farmland east of Omaha.”

  “I’ll tell him, but hopefully you can tell him yourself.”