by Terri Lane
Sure, Reilly and Maksim had maintained an ongoing flirty banter whenever they'd seen each other, and sure, there was some serious chemistry there—but Reilly doubted that the big merc would hesitate long in writing her off if he determined that getting to her was a suicide mission. These thoughts felt uncharitable and mean-spirited, but she couldn't deny the logic behind them. Maksim didn't owe her anything. He said he'd be there to help her in twenty minutes, and it was now pushing thirty-five since she'd ended the call. Either he wasn't coming, or he couldn't come, and Reilly was on her own. It was time to stop hiding under the desk. It was time for her to get moving. The monster in the lab was distracted. Maybe if she was careful, she could make it to the door before it noticed her. After all, its sense of hearing didn't seem to be very strong.
Carefully, Reilly inched out from beneath the desk. The lab was dark, lit only by occasional bursts of sparks from the wreckage of the Door. She looked back at what remained of her life's work. The steel ring had been warped and bent in two places. A shower of sparks illuminated it for a moment, casting stark shadows on everything, and displaying the corrosion that had spread over the metal where the rings had been bent. She only got a glimpse of it, but it seemed to her like the metal had been crushed by a pair of gigantic hands. It was as if something had reached out of the Door and squeezed the frame out of shape like it was clay. She shuddered and turned back in the direction of the door. The monster was across the lab from her, and judging by the crunching and grinding noises coming from its direction, it was fully occupied at the moment. Reilly snuck a look in its direction at the next burst of sparks and got a glimpse of a broad, muscular back as the creature hunched over its meal. It might have been the back of a particularly muscular human, but for the long spikes that protruded from its flesh, all along its spine. It didn't have hair or fur; instead, its skin shone slick with something viscous that seemed to drip from its body as it moved, spattering the floor.
Reilly shuddered, then turned for the exit. It wasn't far. She just had to make her way back around the dividing wall that separated the testing room from the rest of laboratory. The way out of the testing zone was closer to her than it was to the monster. She could do this. She just had to be careful. She didn't dare stand. She crawled, slowly, deliberately, making sure that the floor in front of her was clear of things that would rattle or make noise before she moved. This was a task in itself since the lab was strewn with debris. It was also littered with enough…evidence that she was sure none of her colleagues had escaped the room. She didn't look at them. She couldn’t let herself think about that. It would be a very unfortunate time to suddenly be sick. She just had to keep it together and keep moving.
Reilly was at the door from the testing area. The floor was blocked by a body. She tried not to look at it as she rose into a crouch and stepped around it, but she couldn't help but notice that it was the wrong shape in several places. However this poor person had died, it had not been pretty. Fortunately, whoever it was had died face-down, so that in the dark it was difficult for Reilly to tell who it was. She was glad she didn't know. She crept past the body and into the laboratory proper, then stopped to listen. The monster was still eating. Good. Cautiously, Reilly stood all the way up, so that she could get her bearings. The door was only one room further. She just had to cross the main lab, which was only about ten meters wide.
Unfortunately, that thirty-foot stretch of the floor was littered with the remains of the laboratory testing equipment. Despite Lab 4B being a physics and engineering lab, they had possessed a full set of beakers and test tubes which rarely left the shelves. Reilly had never been able to get rid of them because according to her boss, the company stockholders wouldn't believe the place was an actual scientific laboratory unless there were ‘sciencey things’ all over the place. Some shell-shocked corner of Reilly's mind noted that this wasn't the first time that the stockholders had screwed her over. She wondered, somewhat ironically, if she would live for them to screw her over again.
Reilly didn't have a choice. The glass would make noise. Noise might draw the creature's attention, or it might not. She couldn't stand there forever. She fixed her eyes on the door handle. She just had to get there. Just across the room. Five meters. Seven steps? Eight? She gritted her teeth and stepped forward. CRUNCH. It seemed unbelievably loud to her. But still, she could hear the monster chewing on bones. Okay. She took another step, winced at the noise, and moved again. The monster didn't react. Reilly took a deep breath and took three more quick steps. There. She was right there. All she had to do was step forward, reach out, and—. Reilly's blood ran cold as she realized that she couldn't hear the creature chewing anymore. She turned to look back to the testing area, hands shaking, her shoulders tense with fear. “Oh, no,” she groaned, as she saw the humanoid form silhouetted in the testing area door, its features concealed by darkness. She could hear it breathing. In the shadowed shape of its head, she thought she could see a cruel light reflected in its eyes. “Oh, fuck,” she mouthed. Neither of them moved for a long moment. They just stood there, watching each other. With horrifying clarity, Reilly realized that it was waiting for her to run. It was a predator. They liked to chase.
Sparks blasted from the wrecked Door, and Reilly shrieked, turning and sprinting for the exit as fast as she could. The monster lunged at her, but she dodged to the side, missing the exit but escaping the first attack by little more than a few inches. The beast slammed hard into the wall but came back up at her faster than Reilly thought possible. She staggered back as it swiped its clawed hands at her in two heavy, overhand strikes, avoiding the nasty hooked talons by blind luck. She kept backing up, knowing it was futile, knowing it was over. She was being backed away from the exit. Soon enough she would—. Reilly's back struck the wall, and she knew she was going to die. The creature crouched in front of the exit door, ready to pounce. As another shower of sparks lit its face, she saw a hairless canine snout where humanoid features should have been. Its eyes, devoid of reason, glittered like beetle-shells beneath its brows. Its toothy jaws gaped wide in anticipation. Its body tensed, its muscles coiled, Reilly screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the end…
The door to the lab exploded from its hinges like it had been hit by a truck. Reilly opened her eyes just in time to see the heavy steel slab hit the monster broadside, like the open hand of a giant. Door and beast both shot across the lab, carried by tremendous momentum, and slammed hard into the plexiglass dividing wall that separated them from the testing area. Bones broke, and the monster shrieked in pain, a high, piercing sound that hurt Reilly’s ears. She just stood there, shocked, blinking and trying to speak. Finally, she managed to squeeze out a squeaky, “What the hell?”
A rifle barrel poked into the room, a little flashlight attached beneath it, shining LED brilliance down at the monster. The rest of the gun followed, along with the man holding it. Reilly realized that she had never fully appreciated just how big Maksim Sokolov really was. The Russian expat prowled into the room with grace that belied his size, gliding across the debris-strewn floor with sure, confident steps. He flicked a glance over at Reilly, but then snapped his attention back to the monster. It was still moving beneath the distorted shape of the door, though its motions were sporadic and twitchy. She couldn't be sure, but Reilly thought the impact might have broken its back. Maksim examined the monster for a moment, then, without ceremony, fired two shots into its head, ending its struggles completely. Despite herself, Reilly jumped at the gunfire, startled by how overwhelmingly loud it was. His work finished, Maksim lowered his rifle and turned back toward her. “Reilly,” he said, his Slavic accent creeping back into his words. “Are you alright?”
Mack was dressed in black combat fatigues and a practical black windbreaker that fell to his thighs. His face was broad and honest, though the five o'clock shadow and the faint circles under his eyes gave him the aspect of a man more tired than he was dangerous. He reminded Reilly of great Kodiak bears she had seen in the z
oo, dark eyes sleepy and melancholy, but hiding a capability for brutal violence that shocked her every time she saw his darker nature emerge. He didn't quite smile at her, but his expression softened out of its neutral mask by a couple of degrees. He took one hand off of his gun and held it out for her to take. “It's okay, Reilly,” he said. “You're safe now.” Unfortunately, as he said that, something in the building above them took that opportunity to let out a trumpeting bellow that shook the dust from the walls. Maksim's eyes crinkled at the corners with amusement. “Okay, so ‘safe' is a relative term. We need to move.”
Reilly got herself back under enough control to sputter, “Y-you’re late.” She was too shaken up for good banter, but she wasn’t just going to sit there and shake. “I t-thought big-time mercs like you were supposed to be p-punctual.”
Mack chuckled. “I got held up. I know a guy who flies a corporate mini-gunship. He said getting it off the airstrip was a bit of a job in itself.”
“A gunship?” Reilly stared at him. “You came here in an attack helicopter?”
Mack shrugged. “Flying seemed faster in this mess. And the pilot, Abdul owed me a favor.” He jerked his head toward the door. “Come on. We should probably go.”
An idea struck Reilly. “Wait one moment.” The government was going to want her data. If portals were opening up everywhere, there was no telling how much damage this would do.
“Reilly,” said Maksim, exasperation in his voice. “We really do not have time.”
But Reilly didn't listen. She quickly stepped past the slain monster and the body in the doorway and made her way back to her control desk. The monitor was a smoldering ruin, but that didn't matter. The computer tower, which had been bolted to the desk, was still mostly intact. She didn't waste time being particular about it. Maksim was right. They did not have time to mess around. “Mack, I opened the Door that caused all this,” she said as she popped the side off the computer tower. “If it's as bad out there as you say, someone's going to have to fix this.” She reached into the innards of her computer, seized the little block that was the hard drive, and yanked it out. It was a little brick of memory storage, solid and well made. It was much more durable than the old disc drives, and she was pretty sure it would survive the trip. “Okay.” She looked back up at Mack. “We can go.”
Maksim led the way from the room, his movements tense and brisk. His body displayed the same sharply attuned focus as his face, every movement reminding Reilly of nothing so much as a well-oiled machine. She moved as if to take the stairs, but Mack held out an arm, stopping her. He shook his head, his expression tight with concentration. His eyes seemed to track something through the ceiling. After a moment, he muttered, “We won’t make it out that way. Too many mirrors in the building. We’ll have to get to the roof the same way I came down.”
“Too many mirrors?” Reilly frowned, confused. “What do mirrors have to do with this?”
Maksim stared at her incredulously, as if he couldn't believe she didn't know. He looked back at the ruined laboratory, and understanding crossed his face. “Of course you wouldn't know. All the glass in there was shattered, and there was too little light for anything to reflect at all.” He slung his rifle over one shoulder, then strode over to the elevator and forced his gloved fingers between the closed doors. He wriggled his fingers and pushed, and soon, his hands were fully between the heavy metal shutters, grasping the depowered doors firmly. As he worked, he spoke, in a low voice that did not carry. Reilly had to stand closer to him to hear properly. “They come from the mirrors,” he grunted, even as he forced the elevator doors apart with sure, steady pressure. The darkness of the great shaft gaped before him, but he did not seem bothered, even though there were many basements in the NextGen building, and there was a long way to fall.
Reilly tried and failed not to shudder at the proximity to the dark throat of the building. She couldn't help feeling like it might shake and writhe and swallow them whole. She shook herself free of the strange thoughts. She was not usually prone to such childish fears, but today…today had been the sort of day to reignite the superstitious, frightened corner of her rational soul. It left her nervous in the presence of darkness; filled with anxiety over the things she could not see. She fought the encroaching terror the only way she knew how: by gathering information and trying to understand that which she did not. “The monsters come out of mirrors?”
“They do,” Maksim replied. The doors were now halfway open. With a single, smooth motion, the mercenary shrugged the rifle off of his shoulder. Then, with one hand bracing the open door of the elevator, one of his broad boots bracing the other, he carefully wedged his rifle between the doors so that they were held apart. It left a space barely wide enough for him to squeeze through. “Not just actual mirrors. Anything with a strongly reflective surface. Windows, puddles, the sides of glass-paneled buildings—it does not matter. The mirror turns black, and something steps through, coated in a film of black muck that sticks to everything and drips off of its body.” Maksim carefully squeezed between the braced doors, careful not to dislodge his rifle. Then, to Reilly's surprise, he leaned out into the elevator shaft, so far out she was sure he was going to fall. A moment later, she heard a great, vibrating pulse—one that she recognized as the rippling of a heavy taut cable. There were a series of loud clicks, and a moment later, Maksim stepped off from the edge of the elevator doorway and into the darkness. Reilly's heart leaped up into her throat, but the big mercenary didn't fall. Instead, he hung suspended in the air, his expression utterly calm and composed. He held out a broad hand to her and beckoned. “Come on. We need to go.”
Reilly hesitated. But before she could hover there for long, the same throaty trumpeting sound echoed through the vast building. This time, the cry was much closer. This time, she could hear that the unearthly sound had more in common with the anguished shrieks of a person than the dumb cries of a beast. For just a second, she had the strange notion that she should go and see what the poor author of that terrible scream might need, but as the bellow repeated itself, she became aware that whoever or whatever it was—they were coming closer. They were coming down the stairs toward her. And there was a distinct note of threat in that horrible bellow. Maksim beckoned urgently. Reilly gritted her teeth and slipped between the elevator doors, holding out her hands toward the indistinct shape of the suspended mercenary. For a single, terrifying moment, she thought she would fall forward into the darkness, and her heart began to thunder in her ears, almost drowning out the tortured roars that came ever closer. Then Maksim's strong arms were around her, firm and immovable as if they'd been carved from stone. One arm circled her waist, and the other let go, but he seemed to have no trouble holding her fast with one arm. The mercenary leaned slightly back toward the edge of the floor, and with a quick movement, he plucked the rifle from its position, letting the doors slide smoothly shut to enclose them completely in darkness.
For a moment, all that Reilly could hear was Maksim’s easy, unhurried breathing. Then, there came the snap of a thrown switch, and a tiny motor began to whine from just above her head. Though she could see nothing, she could feel them rising, more and more swiftly. Maksim clicked on a light, and Reilly followed its beam to see that they were both being dragged upward by a little boxy contraption. The rope ascender consumed the cable above it, only to spit it out below, and despite the combined weight of two people, it seemed to have no trouble in dragging them up through the shaft. Reilly blew out a breath, trying and failing not to think about the vast quantity of darkness beneath her. “Mack,” she whispered. “You rode this down?”
The unsteady light of Maksim's light showed only the white flash of his teeth as he said, “No. I took the elevator.” Reilly frowned, even though she knew he could not see her expression. He could not have taken the elevator. The power had been out. Mack continued, chuckling. “I cut one of the cables and secured one of the cut ends at the top of the mechanism. Then I released all but one of the brakes and
rode the car down to your floor. The car went on without me.”
Reilly’s frown deepened. “Even if you somehow controlled the descent of the elevator car, stopping yourself would have put a lot of force on your body. And unless I’ve completely lost my mind from shock, I’m pretty sure you kicked a steel door out of its frame—hard enough to warp it and throw it across the room.” She narrowed her eyes in the dark. “How are you doing all of this?”
Maksim laughed again. “The whole world is coming apart, and you’re suspicious of me?”
Reilly winced, but she didn’t drop the question. “I haven’t seen the world outside just yet. Just my Door, that monster you killed, and you. You’re the only one of those things that I can begin to wrap my brain around right now.” She laughed bitterly. “I need at least some answers so that I don't go insane.”
Maksim was quiet for a long time. “So you don’t know how this happened? You didn’t…mean for this to happen?”
Reilly was incredulous. “You think we did this intentionally? What do you think I was working on?”
Maksim didn’t answer. Something solid began to loom in the darkness above them, and the mercenary slung his rifle over his shoulder again and reached up for the ascender machine. Just before it would have pulled them right into the cable mechanism that usually ran the elevator, Mack switched off the little device. He spoke again, his tone cool and professional. “Hold on to me, and don’t let go. I need both of my arms.”
