Invaders: The Chronowarp

by Vaughn Heppner

The Bermuda Triangle is a wide area, encompassing approximately 500,000 square miles of ocean. It is roughly bounded by lines between Miami, the island of Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared in the triangle throughout the years. Christopher Columbus claimed to have seen a fiery portent and at one point in the triangle, the ship’s compass did not work right.

  Despite all the triangle’s weird reports, lots of the world’s shipping went through the waters all the time. Many folks poo-pooed the idea of there being any weirdness about the Bermuda Triangle. They claimed natural causes could account for every recorded event.

  We were betting otherwise. We were betting the UFO and lost city of Atlantis theories had more fact than fiction to them. I’d been in an underwater alien base in the Arctic Ocean. I’d been to Far Butte, Nevada, an out of phase reality on Planet Earth. I knew nuclear bomb testing had woken up the Starcore six months ago in that out of phase reality. Heck, I’d traded insults with a Homo habilis and traded body shots with a Neanderthal bastard.

  An eerie Bermuda Triangle with alien portals in it—what was not to believe? It would actually be one of the easier truths to accept.

  The trick today would be in finding the place.

  “Maybe that’s why they needed the chronowarp,” I said. “Maybe the device doesn’t have anything to do with opening portals, but with finding a way into the right Bermuda Triangle.”

  “That is an interesting hypothesis,” Rax said. “I shall begin to scan for time anomalies.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I can because I know what to look for and because I am sensitive to time distortions.”

  “And because Hap’s plane has good sensors,” the monkey-alien piped in.

  “That is another factor,” Rax admitted.

  Hap began a long slow descent into the atmosphere. We were high over the Atlantic Ocean, heading directly for the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. I imagined the CAU had satellites watching us. This was quite different from six months ago when no one had known about Rax and me.

  It was also different because there was no privateer upstairs in orbit. This time, it was about portals instead of space ships. I would have liked to have the Guard ship’s teleportation machine working.

  Rax beeped.

  “Find something?” I asked.

  “Possibly,” Rax said. “Hap, could you edge toward these coordinates?”

  Hap studied a screen, made adjustments, and we banked to the left, heading down faster.

  “Missile coming?” I asked.

  “No missile,” Rax said. “I have detected a paradox at those coordinates. I am curious. Could the chronowarp have caused that as you suggested earlier? Wait a moment, please. I must test something immediately.”

  Rax’s lights jiggled around. A similar situation occurred on the nav board.

  “The distortion is closing,” Rax said. “I believe I have just discovered their trail.”

  “You think the opening leads to an out of phase place?” I asked.

  “Exactly,” Rax said. “Hap, can this plane go any faster?”

  “In space, it can,” Hap said. “Dangerous going so fast in atmosphere.”

  “Nevertheless,” Rax said. “You have to go faster. The opening is closing.”

  “How we get back out?” Hap asked.

  “That’s not the concern at present,” Rax said. “Getting in is. If we don’t…”

  “Think pardon,” I repeated.

  Hap chewed on a knuckle. “We go fast,” he said. “Hang on tight.”

  -55-

  The space plane zoomed across the ocean water. We’d come almost all the way down. I watched a rearward camera. Thrust from Hap’s plane was throwing water up on either side of us.

  We were down here near sea level on Rax’s recommendation. It was for the same reason cruise missiles hugged the ground: to avoid detection.

  We needed to surprise the Eshom. If it saw us coming—how did one find an electrical being trying its hardest to hide?

  “Of course,” I said. “Once we try to destroy the portal, it’s going to have to fight us.”

  “Kazz and Philemon will also fight,” Rax said. “They want to leave Earth. They want to use the portal to reach somewhere civilized.”

  “That’s it?” I asked. “That’s all they want?”

  “Maybe for Kazz it is,” Rax said. “I have no doubt Philemon will seek out another Min Ve, trying to sell him on the idea of plundering the restricted planet Earth.”

  “What about the Galactic Guard…?” I trailed off because I saw Hap perk up.

  “Speak more,” Hap told me. “What you mean? Is Galactic Guard funding slashed? Do they not come to Earth no more?”

  “I believe Logan is asking how long it will take the Guard to apprehend Philemon.”

  “Yeah,” I said. I’d almost blown it and asked Rax when, if ever, the Guard would show up on Earth again. I didn’t want Hap realizing it had been some time since a Guard ship had put in at our planet.

  “Do you see that?” Rax asked suddenly.

  I looked up through the main windshield. I saw endless ocean water, a possible ship on the distant horizon—

  “Hap see, Hap see,” the monkey-alien said in excitement.

  “I don’t see a thing,” I said.

  “You have inferior eyes,” Hap said. “It is pity.”

  “Where should I look?” I asked Rax.

  “To the right of Hap five degrees,” the crystal said. “It will appear like a heat shimmer—”

  “Yes!” I said. “I see it…”

  “Trouble?” Rax asked.

  “For a moment,” I said, “as I looked at it, I thought I saw stars there.”

  “Interesting,” Rax said.

  “Why’s that?” I asked.

  “That would seem to prove we have found a distortion to another phase of reality.”

  I swallowed uneasily. I knew this was what we were looking for. And yet, the idea of entering another Far Butte locale… It left me…worried was the right word. I didn’t want to say afraid, because I don’t like to think of myself as being fearful.

  “It’s closing faster than before,” Rax said. “Can you reach it sooner?”

  “Hap not like this,” the monkey-alien said.

  The space plane strained as we increased speed yet again.

  “Logan,” Rax said. “I suggest you strap in.”

  “Any reason why?” I asked, as I complied.

  “I have just computed some troubling possibilities,” Rax said.

  “Jenna, Sergei,” I shouted, “strap in.”

  The space plane roared over the water, building up speed. The wavy, shimmer ahead of us seemed smaller than before, even though we were getting closer.

  “What happens if we only partly hit the opening?” I asked Rax.

  “I believe that might sheer off part of the plane as some remains in this reality and the rest heads into the other phase.”

  Hap made a keening sound as his tail lashed back and forth. For once, I was in agreement with the alien.

  “Here it comes,” Rax said.

  The Ungul space plane struck the distortion in the Bermuda Triangle, and in that moment, we left our phase of reality and entered another.

  -56-

  I felt it as soon as we crossed over—weightlessness.

  “Logan,” Rax called.

  I grabbed the metal-encased crystal as it began to float from its former location. I looked around, but couldn’t find a spot for him on the consoles.

  “Keep hanging onto me,” Rax said.

  I did, keeping him near the navigational panel.

  Outside were what appeared to be small, nearby stars, flashing comets and heavy asteroids.

  “Hap confused,” the monkey-alien wailed. “What is this place? How we get here?”

  “This is a bizarre place,” Rax said. “I do not understand the physics of what we’re seeing. It is more than odd.”

 
Hap flipped switches. Gravity returned to the space plane.

  “Look at that,” I whispered.

  I saw a WWII fighter floating past as it tumbled end over end, a skeleton in the cockpit wearing a flight cap and goggles. My eyes widened as I saw a sea ship crashed against the surface of an asteroid.

  “This cannot be,” Rax said. “I…I will have to learn new mathematical symbolism to understand what I’m witnessing.”

  “Forget that,” I said. “We need a beach.”

  “Logan,” Rax said. “Do you see a beach? No. It is a mythological—”

  “I saw a beach in the Polarion teaching machine,” I said. “That means there has to be a beach. Maybe this realm…is a go-between place. Maybe there is another distortion that leads—”

  “Logan, Logan,” Rax declared. “That is sheer brilliance. Yes, this is a go-between realm. It is a fail-safe realm. I suspect Polarions built this place. It makes sense now.”

  “I don’t care about that, either,” I said. “Find a way to a beach.”

  “Yes, yes,” Rax said. “I am scanning, scanning—Hap. Pay attention to what I tell you.”

  The crystal gave Hap precise instructions. I didn’t fully understand them, but then, I didn’t have to. Hap did. That’s why we were paying him with a full Galactic Law pardon.

  I snorted to myself. The one good thing about this crazy realm was that nuclear-loaded bombers could not follow us through here to the beach. The Director couldn’t pull a fast one against us.

  At that point, Hap entered another distortion. This one swirled like an imaginary black hole. We zoomed out on the other side, flying under three suns. One sun was huge and red, a second one small and blue. The small one fed a stream of light and possibly particles to the vast red one. Farther away—or so it seemed to me—was a hard bright diamond of an intense sun.

  “We’re not on Earth anymore,” I said.

  “There’s no doubt about that,” Rax said. “Yet this place is connected to Earth through the distortions and the go-between realm. I have never heard of such a thing as this. Clearly, this is a Polarion invention. Logan, your planet appears to be a treasure mine of technological Polarion marvels. I wonder why they chose Earth for these things.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” I said.

  “No,” Rax said. “My guess would be much better than yours.”

  “Nothing like humility,” I said.

  “I state facts, nothing more. Yet, to equate your knowledge as being equal to mine is a gross insult to my years of study.”

  “You two give Hap headache. Quit arguing. Which beach should I skim?”

  “Beach?” Rax said. “I will—there, there, Logan, do you see?”

  I unbuckled and stood up, pressing my face against the windshield

  “To your left,” Rax said.

  We’d gained some height by transferring between places or realities. To my left was a tropical island beach with palm trees, white-capped waves, a fire with people huddled around it and a great stone—

  “What is that?” I asked. “And who are those people?”

  “The people are easier to explain,” Rax said. “I imagine they are survivors of the Bermuda Triangle. The stone building—Logan, I am getting spectacular readings from it.”

  “Energy readings?” I asked.

  “Yes, yes,” Rax said. “That could be a power source for the portal. Hap, you must find a place to land.”

  “Impossible,” Hap declared. “I go very slow. You jump—”

  “No,” Rax said. “You must land. “On all accounts, you must hide so the Eshom doesn’t spot us. We have to catch them by surprise.”

  I peered down at the people. They were small, but I was sure some of them were pointing at us. Could they really be Bermuda Triangle survivors? That was crazy if true.

  Hap took us lower. I’m not sure what he planned. One of the natives ran into a five or six-story stone building. Seconds later, a great clam shell wheeled aside from the top of the stone structure. A beam emitter poked out, aimed at us. The emitter crackled with a bolt of purple energy. Said energy struck us savagely.

  Hap shouted with dismay. The space plane bucked, and we began to go down.

  -57-

  The emitter fired again. Hap proved superior this time, twisting the space plane with consummate skill. The only problem was that we lost even more height, turned toward the hostile island—

  “This be tricky,” Hap said.

  The emitter lined up for a third shot.

  Hap flipped switches. A brace of small missiles zoomed from the underbelly of the space plane. Before the emitter could line up for yet another shot, the missiles slammed against it.

  One explosion after another destroyed the emitter and chunks of the stone building. No doubt, it was ageless, a relic from olden times. Hap’s missiles sent debris and big rocks flying.

  The fire beside the stone structure winked out. Many of the people around the fire lay dead on the beach, killed by flying rocks and debris.

  At that point, we’d lost almost all our altitude. Hap managed to lower us more evenly. Tropical trees and the white sand beach flashed past us outside. The water loomed closer and closer—

  The space plane skimmed and then skipped across the waters. Each skip jolted us, making our bodies pull against the straps holding us in.

  Soon, about fifty yards from shore, the space plane came to a standstill. At that point, the Ungul space plane began to sink.

  “Abandon ship!” Hap cried. “Each Ulaacon for himself.”

  Seals or joints had broken under the impact of the purple emitter bolt and from the strikes against the sea. Water gushed into the control cabin.

  “Hurry, Logan,” Rax said. “We must get to land.”

  I needed no more prodding. As water continued to pour in, as the space plane sank lower yet, I waded out of the piloting compartment.

  Jenna was unconscious in her seat. Sergei looked around with red-rimmed eyes.

  Using my monofilament blade, I cut them both free. Sheathing the knife carefully, I hauled Sergei to his feet. “Can you make it?” I shouted.

  He nodded without speaking.

  By that time, Hap pressed a switch by the outer hatch. It exploded outward. Hap took no more time than that, diving into the aquamarine sea and splashing like mad for shore.

  By then, I had Jenna. I slipped her into the sea, dove after her and grabbed her so her head remained up. Then I kicked and one-armed it for shore.

  Sergei stared at the water for a time. Finally, he swam after us.

  Luckily, the shore was close and the water was warm. Would natives greet us, and if so, how warm would our welcome be?

  Fortunately, no natives appeared. I dragged Jenna up the beach. She was conscious now, but obviously groggy.

  I could not see the former stone structure or any people. I saw endless white sand beach, tropical trees and a vast aquamarine sea around us.

  Sergei dragged himself to shore. “The men,” he said.

  I turned in dismay. The space plane sank under the waves. I’d sealed the cargo hatch shut. Had I doomed eleven Ukrainians to a watery oblivion?

  I started to head back to the sea.

  “Logan,” Jenna said. “You can’t. You have to find the portal.”

  I licked my lips. I didn’t want the responsibility of murdering yet more men. This was awful.

  “She is correct,” Rax said.

  “What are you talking about?” I demanded. “It’s over. We crashed. We’re doomed. We’re just another group of Bermuda Triangle survivors.”

  “No,” Rax said. “I detect the Guard ship. It is less than three miles distant in your terms.”

  “You’re kidding?” I said.

  “I state facts,” Rax said.

  “They’re here?”

  “That is what I have said.”

  I exhaled heavily, turned back to Jenna and Sergei, and wondered how we were going to do this without the space plane.
/>   -58-

  We stayed on the beach. Heading inland might have proven faster—if we wouldn’t have gotten hopelessly lost in the thick undergrowth. This way, we would eventually get to the portal.

  The question was, would we get there in time?

  Hap remained relatively near to our company. He stayed closer to the palms and other trees. He had a harder time walking like a man. He had that half-chimp gait. I could easily envision him scrambling up to safety in a tree.

  Sergei had grown stronger the longer we walked. Jenna had gotten weaker. She’d started to complain about a pounding headache. Worse, she winced painfully in a way that made me ache for her.

  “Why not stay there under a palm tree and take it easy?” I suggested.

  “And have the natives string me up?” she asked with burning eyes. “No thank you. I’ll take my chances with you.”

  We kept trudging along the hot sands, with the three suns burning down on us.

  “How far away are they now?” I asked Rax a short time later.

  “A half mile, no more,” the crystal said.

  Hap was naked except for his monkey fur. He had a cloth belt with a few tools dangling from it. I was wearing pants, shirt and boots and carried my jacket slung over a shoulder. I was sweating profusely and had begun to get seriously thirsty. Jenna had similar garments, but had dropped her jacket some time ago. Sergei wore pants, shirt and shoes.

  I had my beam weapon and monofilament blade. Jenna had a special CAU gun. Sergei had a bigger, regular gun. Rax had whatever he could generate with his crystal and sheathing.

  “Hold up,” I said. “Let’s take a breather.”

  “We cannot afford to waste time,” Rax said.

  “How will it help us to show up exhausted?”

  “Better than showing up too late,” Rax said.

  He had a point. If a thousand Eshom were boarding the Guard ship, nothing we did then would matter. So, we kept on trucking.

  I wiped sweat from my face with a damp sleeve. “Too bad for you,” I told Sergei. “There’s no more coming back now that the escape pod is gone.”

  “Technically, I never come back,” Sergei said. “When a clone dies, that clone has forever lost his life. My singular life is as precious to me as yours is to you.”