by Frank Carey
"Matt, I'm right behind you," Marta said to Doc's retreating back. When he was gone, she got on the comm with whoever had called her. "This is McMurphy... OK, I'll head up to control as soon as I'm done in Sick Bay. McMurphy out.
"What's wrong?" Stenosh asked.
"We've lost all contact with the investigation team on Destiny."
"What's on Destiny?" Rista asked.
"The Engine of Creation that Gabe was supposed to activate and use to restore the Grange Universe, the one Josiah Muntz destroyed a while back."
"Is it just me or does it seem more than coincidental that Gabe collapsed at the same time something happens on this planet?"
Marta looked at him. "I get your point. Destiny can be used to save a universe or destroy ours. I've got to go. Can you brief Pris and Siv when they get back?"
"You mean if they get back... Chuff!" Stenosh said as his wife elbowed him in the ribs.
"We will inform them both."
"One more thing. Hold on to all that paperwork Gabe gave you. Knowing my grandfather, he'll take this matter up the moment he wakes up. It's probably not my place to say this, but he's fallen for your daughter hard."
"We can see that," Rista said. "Let us know if there is anything we can do."
"Roger that," Marta replied as the door closed behind her.
CHAPTER SIX
Gabe found himself standing on an asteroid while watching Earth explode as a massive shock wave pass through it. "Ouch! That had to hurt," a familiar voice said.
Gabe turned and saw Gia standing next to him. Standing next to her was a tall black guy with a body any guy would envy. "Hey, Gia. Who’s your friend?"
"This is Ter'rell. He's my partner..."
"Right. Partner," Ter'rell replied with a smirk.
"I see I'm missing something," Gabe said. "Speaking of missing something, what the hell is going on and why aren't I scared shitless? I'm not even in my armor, yet I'm standing here like I'm waiting for a bus while the Earth is destroyed."
"We rerouted your fear response to a subconscious level for the duration of this talk," Ter'rell explained. "Unfortunately, your body is still experiencing..."
"Are you two mad?" Gabe yelled. "My body is a freakin walking weapon. I could be killing people..."
"Gabe! Calm down," Gia ordered. "Your body is sleeping in Sick Bay while your bots feast on glucose. You may need to go on a diet when we're done, but no one is being hurt."
"She's right," Ter'rell said. "Anyway, you have more pressing matters to deal with." He nodded toward the remnants of Earth flying by.
"I assume this isn't real-time?" Gabe said.
"No. It's a simulation of what will occur in three days unless you go to Destiny and make things right," Gia explained.
"You have my undivided attention."
"Long story short: Zoe and her crew escaped from a Consortium holding facility, stole a ship, then disappeared. They reappeared on Destiny where they took the research team hostage. Things are about to go pear shape," Ter'rell explained.
"Our definitions of pear-shape seem to differ."
Ignoring Gabe's levity, Ter'rell continued. "She's going to try to remove a key component of the Engine. In all likelihood, her actions will activate the Engine..."
"Great! You don't need me anymore. I think I'll go soak my head..."
"But not the gateway!" Gia yelled. "She's going to cause a beam of unimaginable energy to fire into the center of this universe. This will produce a chain reaction, unleashing a superluminal shock wave which will spread outward, destroying everything in its path!"
"In days, your universe will be no more, but it doesn't stop there. The added instability could cause the structure of the multi-verse to crumble," Ter'rell said as he took up the narrative.
Gabe watched a chunk of planet fly by. "So, what do I need to do?"
"The only thing you can do: activate the gate. You are the only being in this universe that can do this," Ter'rell said. "Gabe, you will most certainly die."
"Been there; done that. My reason for being is to protect my family, the Earth, and now the League. Send me back... Now!"
Ter'rell snapped his fingers...
###
Gabe woke up in a medbed. Reactivating his bots with a single thought, he ordered the bed to release him. Once the lid was clear, he stood up and looked around the room. "Computer, ship inventory, fast courier."
"Working... Earth-Sec Fast Courier Hermes, Bay 22."
"Can it make it to Destiny?"
"Yes."
"Duration of flight?"
"Five hours at max speed."
"Initiate preflight and program autopilot for direct flight to Destiny, maximum speed."
"Authorization required."
"Authorization Adon 227 actual."
"Authorization accepted. Take off in twenty minutes."
"Record following."
"Recording."
"Message to General McMurphy: I am so proud of you. End message."
"Recorded."
"Message to Emma Adon: The happiest moment of my life was when I watched you come into this world. End message."
"Recorded."
"Message to DS Siv: You go, girl! End message."
"Recorded."
"Message to DS Priscilla Kitra: I love you. I don't care if you're pregnant or just have the flu. I love you. End Message."
"Recorded."
"End recording. Activate security lock-down of all corridors between this location and Bay 22. I want a clear path to the Hermes."
Alarms sounded. "Security lock-down initiated." The door to the room opened.
Gabe looked up at the security camera watching him. With a final salute, he went to stryker form, then disappeared.
###
"What do you mean he's gone?" Marta demanded as she strode into Sick Bay Security Center where the facility is monitored 24x7. "He was nearly in a coma thirty minutes ago."
Manfred, the lead security officer reached down and pressed a button on one of the consoles. A video feed from Gabe's room came up. Marta watched as her grandfather emerged from his medbed and barked orders to the computer. "He knows we're watching and listening," Manfred said.
Marta listened carefully. "He knows, but how?"
"He knows what, General?"
"We lost contact with the Destiny research team and all orbital assets about the time Gabe collapsed. We're trying to find out what happened, but it's taking time."
"You're right; how the hell does he know?"
The moment Marta heard the messages, she knew. "He's not planning on coming back. Shit! Have you broken the corridor locks?"
"Aye. Every corridor between that room and Bay 22 is filled with security including several EMEF teams. There is no way he's going to make it to that courier unless he plans to fight."
"He doesn't, yet he needs to find a way to that ship. What's the Herme's status?"
"Still in preflight mode. We can't get into the Bay nor can we shut the ship down."
"And there's no other way for him to get to the hangar?"
"Nope. Every internal path is under guard."
Marta thought for a moment. "Every INTERNAL path... What about EXTERNAL ones?"
"Dammit," Manfred yelled as he slapped a red button on his console. "This is Manfred. Launch all patrol ships! We have an intruder working his way to Hangar 22 on the external skin of the cube. Find him and stop him, but I want him alive and unharmed!"
"Sir! The Delphi is missing from its hangar!"
Marta hit a button, switching the main viewer to an external view of Hangar 22 as a ship came into view. It was the Delphi, but it wasn't slowing. It was skimming the outside of the Cube at a height of 50 feet. Behind it, a running figure in white appeared. "Found him," she called out as the figure--a humanoid wearing white armor--sped up and jumped into the Delphi's rear cargo bay through the open ramp. Once inside, the ramp closed as the ship disappeared into other-space."
"Bay 22 is now re
ading unlocked."
"What about the Hermes?" Manfred asked.
"The courier has powered down, sir!"
Marta started laughing. "What's so funny, General?" an unamused Manfred demanded.
"He played us! He was never going to use the Hermes, but he wanted us to think he was as a diversion..."
"What just happened?" Siv asked as she stood at the back of the room. Behind her stood Pris, a look of dread on her felinoid face.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The two researchers--Dr. Chris Todd, human, and Dr. Felix Oscar, elf--stared at the board and scratched their heads in disbelief. "Chris, are you sure about this?"
"Felix, we've checked and rechecked the figures at least five times using three different computer systems. That structure out there dates at over ten billion years in age."
"A manufactured artifact over twice as old as Earth. There goes everything I learned at university. Have you contacted Muntz yet?"
"Yeah. He's ecstatic, but he refuses to give up his sources or tell us anything useful. He does ask if Gabriel has arrived yet."
"When are they going to let the key keeper come to do his thing?"
"God only knows. The council is worried something might go wrong..."
The door to the room burst open followed by four heavily-armed mercs and two people wearing black battle suits. Once they were in place, a woman in a black one-piece uniform strode in. "Who's in charge here?" she demanded.
"Who the hell are you?" Felix demanded.
"Who the hell are you, ma'am!" one of the armored ones said as a minigun grew from its forearm. It pointed the weapon at Felix. "Say it!"
"Who the hell are you, ma'am?" Felix said.
"Dr. Zoe Muntz at your service. The gentleman with the minigun is Stryker-6 and his companion is Stryker-5. The others are unimportant. What is important is that I find the person in charge of this expedition."
"That would be me, Dr. Christopher Todd, Destiny Survey Team Leader. Dr. Muntz, are you related to a Dr. Josiah Muntz?"
"Aye, he's my addled-brain brother..." she stopped and watched as the elf reached over and activated a wall-mounted device.
"That's the emergency beacon. League forces..."
"Can't hear a thing, so they won't be here for a while. My people have surrounded these buildings with a jamming field. Now, take me to the Engine of Creation."
"Why?" Chris demanded.
"So that I can see it, silly human. Now move before I order my mercs to turn you into toast."
The two researchers walked past her then out the door with Zoe and her people following close behind.
###
With her mercs and strykers keeping watch, Zoe ran her hand over the control console. "No much to look at, is it?"
Chris rolled his eyes while Felix's tail drooped. "Dr. Muntz, you are standing at the top of a ten-plus-billion-year-old device that reaches down to the very core of this planet," Felix explained. "We think it draws power from the core and channels it to that platform over there."
"For what purpose?"
"According to Gabriel Adon, your brother, Josiah, thinks this energy can be used to restore the Grange Universe."
"Restore? How?"
Chris pointed to some ruins a hundred yards past the platform. "Our readings indicates those ruins have thousands of quantum spin signatures. Engineers at the Cube think it's a portal generator."
"So, the beam is emitted by the generator, then travels to the portal and into whatever universe it's connected to?"
"Yes," Chris replied.
"What about the platform?"
"The platform sits directly between the engine and portal. As for what it does? We're working on it."
Zoe turned back to the console. She took a scanner from her pocket and played it over the console. "Just as I thought. An epsilon field generator. That's how it initiates life in the new universe." She glanced at one of the strykers. "Stryker-5 get the extraction team up here. Chop-chop!"
"Extraction team?" Chris exclaimed. "What do you plan on extracting?"
"The epsilon field generator, of course. No more having to modify living organisms. Now, I can bestow life to my creations."
Chris and Felix stared at her in horror. "But..." Felix started to say.
"Take these two to the staging area so that they can join their fellow investigators. Be careful with them; we may need them."
Ignoring the two researchers' protests, four mercs escorted Felix and Chris back to the encampment while leaving Zoe with the artifact.
###
Felix and Chris rejoined the rest of their research team inside the camp's large combination dinner hall and meeting room. They were met with a barrage of questions as the mercs locked them inside.
"Calana!" Chris called out while Felix tried to calm the other team members.
"Chris! Thank the gods you're all right," a statuesque woman said as she pushed past the crowd to join him. He took her aside where they could speak in private.
"Who are these people and how did they get past you?" he asked his head of security.
She looked at him with glowing eyes while her claws extended then retracted. "Look, I'm a Tyen, not an army. I might be able to stop one stryker, but not a dozen of them. We need to get the hell out of here before she gets pissed and starts going off on a killing spree."
"I thought she was in some non-League prison."
"She was. Somehow, she and her crew got out. Any idea why she's here?"
"Yeah. She wants to remove the epsilon field generator from the Engine so she can use it to create strykers," Chris replied.
"Is that possible?"
"I don't know. The engineering team might know, but they aren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow. I think DCI Adon is the only one who could tell us."
"Yeah, and the council wants him nowhere near here until we can determine exactly what this thing does."
"Their caution may have just sealed our fate. Any chance we can make it to the ship?"
She shook her head. "No. I saw techs setting up automated machine gun emplacements around it as they dragged us in here. We'd be cut down before we got within a hundred feet of the ramp. Nope, we're stuck until help arrives," she replied.
"And when will that happen?"
"Unless these creatures can spoof my voice, we went overdue an hour ago. We can expect help no sooner than tomorrow morning."
"Great. Hopefully we'll survive until then."
###
It was the middle of the night when the building shook violently enough to throw the sleeping scientists to the floor. There they stayed as shock wave after shock wave emptied every shelf onto the floor around them. Finally, the more violent tremors subsided, only to be replaced by almost continuous rumbling from the direction of the Engine."
With help from his tail, Felix got to his feet and made his way to a cabinet where he retrieved a scanner stored there. He activated it and pointed it toward the artifact at the edge of camp. "Not good. I'm picking up a massive energy buildup from the Engine."
"We've got to get out of here," Chris said. He ran to the door, but found it locked from the outside. He pounded on it. "Let us out of here!" he yelled.
"Did someone call for a taxi?"
Calana turned and saw a figure in white armor standing in the center of the room's rear entrance, its eye slits pulsing bright blue. She could see "Stryker-1" stenciled across its left breast plate.
"Sorry I'm late, but some moron left guard satellites in orbit," Gabe said.
Calana could see a ship hovering just outside the door. "DCI Adon, I presume?" she said.
The armor suddenly retracted to reveal a human wearing a black Earth-Sec uniform. "And you must be Calana. Please, call me Gabe. It's good to see you all unharmed. Everyone, the ship out there is the Delphi and she's programmed to take you back to the Cube. Calana, all you need to do is say the word 'Cube' and the autopilot will do the rest."
"Gabe, aren't you coming?" Felix asked.
He shook his head. "I have to activate the portal before the Engine fires, or else this universe will come to an end."
"How the hell can you know this?" Chris asked.
"I was told by someone involved with its original operation. Now go," he said as his armor returned.
Calana ran over, reached up and kissed his armored cheek. "Thank you," she said before running out the door and into the waiting Delphi. Moments later, it lifted off as it started to rain. Gabe walked over to the front door and tore it off its hinges before stepping out into the lightning-filled darkness.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The fleet was an hour out from Destiny when it received the distress call from the Delphi. A short time later, the ship landed in the dorsal landing bay of the Heavy Cruiser Palosa where it disgorged its precious cargo of researchers. While most were led off to be debriefed, Calana was asked to wait. Soon, she was joined by Marta, Siv, and Pris.
"Agent Calana," Marta said before introducing her companions. When she finished, she asked, "What happened down there and where's Gabe?"
Calana explained. When she finished, Marta thanked her, then sent her off to be debriefed. When the Tyen was gone, Marta headed to the Bridge with her two companions in tow. On the way, she stopped at Sick Bay. "Pris, don't take this the wrong way, but would you be willing to let the CMO take a look at you?"
"Why?"
"Well, for one thing, Doc Sensa is one of the top Katalan docs in the League. For another, I just have a hunch."
"I don't understand."
"I helped train the Katalan contingent of the Cube Security Force and many of them were pregnant. To a woman, they were fiercely protective of everyone, especially their mates, something which you are not."
Pris hung her head. "Yeah, I guess I was a little hard on Gabe..."
Siv snorted. "I've seen softer diamonds..."
"Siv!" Marta said. "Look, Pris, like it or not, you and I are family, and my family is big on protecting its own. I get this feeling that something isn't right, so let's check it out."
Pris looked up and smiled. "That's right, I'm carrying Emma Adon's half-sister. OK, let's go check this out."
"Siv, could you go with her? I've got to go talk to the Captain."
