The Black Tower: The Complete Series

by David R. Beshears

  “Event horizon?” Carmody was standing in the doorway. “You mean like a black hole? We’re in a black hole?”

  “I doubt that very much,” Church stated patiently.

  “But isn’t an event horizon part of a black hole?”

  “An event horizon is simply a boundary that lay between two incompatible environments,” said Banister. “It serves as the bridge between them.”

  “You’re oversimplifying, Banister,” growled Church. “You can’t throw the term ‘event horizon’ around and ignore where that leads.” He looked then to Carmody. “An event horizon is a surface of spacetime. It is by definition the point of no return. Once crossed, there is no coming back.”

  Carmody wondered aloud. “If the command center is in an event horizon, if it is the boundary between the outside world and tower floors, then we can’t go back.”

  “If command were in fact located in an event horizon, it would mean that we, these floors on which we travel, lay within a singularity.” Church looked sharply at Banister. “Infinite spacetime curvature. Zero volume. Does this look like zero volume to you?”

  “I never said the floors were within a gravitational singularity.”

  “You infer it by suggesting the command center is in an event horizon.”

  “Did you not hear what I said, old man? Only insofar as it serves as the boundary between two incompatible environments.”

  “Oh, I heard you, all right,” said Church. He tiredly rubbed his forehead. “I have the headache to prove it.”

  §

  Quinn waited for Carmody out on the front deck of the station. He directed Asher and Susan one direction before he and the private began in the other. Asher watched them start away, then looked to Susan.

  “Susan?”

  They stepped down from the deck and walked the path that followed along the wood-slatted wall of the building. Once away from the light that pushed through the small window set into the front door, they were walking in near darkness. They could just make out the wall beside them, the gravel path at their feet, the shadows of one another.

  “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” said Asher.

  “Much,” said Susan. “Thank you.”

  “Sure.” They walked in silence for a few moments. Asher wanted to tell her that he was glad she had come along, was glad for the chance for them to spend a few minutes alone, but no matter how he put the words together in his mind, they came out awkward. “Interesting scenery,” he said.

  “Very,” she stated. “You know, Doctor Church has a theory about the void. He believes that, as this is the thirteenth floor, and since we humans have this peculiar habit of removing the thirteenth floor from all our buildings, that the Adversary has done so here.”

  They stopped. Asher looked out into the black emptiness. “He removed it? This is the absence of the thirteenth floor?”

  “That’s the doctor’s theory. And believe it or not, Doctor Banister is leaning toward agreeing with him.”

  “Well, then it’s gotta be so.”

  Susan grinned and they started walking again. “That’s kinda what I was thinking.”

  They reached the corner of the building, turned and started along the side toward the back.

  “Are they letting you take it easy?”

  “I didn’t need to be injured for that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There’s not much call for an assistant these days. I do what I can, but…” she shrugged a shoulder. “They’ve always been close, if cantankerous, but they keep each other preoccupied like no other project we’ve been on.”

  “You been on a lot of these?” he asked lightheartedly.

  “Alternate worlds strung together like carnival beads?”

  “Let’s say… puzzles to be deciphered, mysteries to be solved.”

  “Many.”

  There was a shimmer of light up ahead, and they could make out the back corner of the building. Approaching, they found a pair of steps that took them up onto the loading platform that ran the length of station. The pole lamps at each end and the lamp on the wall shone bright enough to push dark from the platform and no further.

  Quinn and Carmody were just stepping up onto the deck at the other end of the station, directly opposite the head of the train. Asher waved at them and Carmody waved back.

  Steam continued to roll out from under the locomotive, as if ready to pull away at any moment. There was no sign of the engineer.

  Asher and Susan met the lieutenant and Carmody near the opening that served as the gate leading into the station. They stood beneath the softly glowing lamp on the wall.

  “Anything?” asked Quinn.

  “All’s quiet, Lieutenant,” said Asher. “But to be honest, anything could be hiding out there; so long as it keeps its mouth shut, we’d never know it.”

  “There could be a horde of demons out there, for all we know,” said Susan.

  “That was our impression as well, Doctor,” said Quinn. “That does appear to be the theme this time around.”

  At that moment the demon engineer climbed down from the locomotive and stood on the metal step, a lit lantern in one hand. He looked back along the train and slowly waved the lantern.

  “The train’s leaving,” said Susan.

  “Sure looks that way,” said Asher.

  “Should we—” started Carmody.

  “We’ve made our choice.” Quinn took a slow, deep breath. “This is where we look for the portal.”

  A demon leaned out from the rear platform of the caboose, gaily waving an arm at the engineer. He looked like one of those who had unloaded the baggage car.

  The door to the station’s baggage storeroom a few yards behind Quinn opened. Yet another demon came hurrying out and scrambled across the platform and up into the train’s passenger car.

  Two more demons came running from around the side of the station and scurried across the platform, reaching the train just as it started to pull away.

  “Okay, I know they weren’t all on that train when we pulled in here,” said Carmody.

  “They are certainly eager to be on it now,” said Susan.

  They watched then as the train disappeared into the darkness. The last they saw was the rear platform of the caboose, a lone demon waving a cheery goodbye.

  “How can that be good?” asked Asher.

  The train was gone. The world grew silent.

  The train station was alone in the black void.

  Episode Five / Chapter Four

  Quinn stood in the middle of the small breakroom staring at the stuffed doll he held in his hand. It looked like a grinning demon.

  Costa and Dr. Church stood beside him. Church fought to keep from smiling.

  Quinn was definitely not in a smiling mood. He tightened his grip on the doll and looked up at Costa. He said nothing.

  “Every crate, every box, every package,” said Costa. “Hundreds of ‘em.”

  Quinn looked down at the doll, then over at Church. Church shrugged.

  “May not mean anything, could mean everything.”

  “Very illuminating, Doctor.”

  Another shrug from Church. “Most everything the Adversary does has a purpose. The purpose of this? I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I haven’t a clue.”

  “Could just be playing with us,” suggested Costa. “Having a little fun.”

  “That’s possible,” said Church. “We’ve seen his attempts at humor on more than one occasion.”

  Quinn handed the doll back to Costa as he spoke again to the doctor. “This means the only fresh supplies we’ll be taking with us are what you and Doctor Banister found in the kitchen car.”

  “We’ll make do.”

  “We’re already down to near nothing.”

  “Now we have coffee and biscuits. We’ll be fine.”

  Costa was staring down at the doll. “That damned grin. Always that same, damned grin.”

  Lisa Powell appeared in the opened door, holding
up a hand to catch Quinn’s attention. “I think you better come out here, Lieutenant.”

  They followed Lisa out into the station lobby. Owen was sitting on one of the benches. She was calm, and unusually quiet.

  The Adversary’s acolyte stood behind the ticket window. He was dressed in cap and jacket this time around. He appeared to be going about the busywork of a ticket agent. Noticing the group enter the lobby, his expression brightened.

  “Hello there, folks,” he said cheerily. “And where might you be heading?”

  Church stepped around the benches and approached the ticket window.

  “Ten tickets to the fourteenth floor, if you please.”

  The ticket agent looked genuinely puzzled. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

  “The fourteenth floor,” urged Church.

  The ticket agent glanced down at a schedule on the counter behind the window. “I don’t recognize that location.” He continued to study his schedule.

  Church glanced back at the others. Owen sat silent on the bench; Quinn, Lisa and Costa stood behind her.

  Church turned back to the ticket window, glanced up at the wall behind the counter.

  North 8:00AM…

  “Ah!” he beamed. “We are traveling north, my dear man! North!”

  “Yes sir!” said the ticket agent. “We have a train leaving first thing in the morning!”

  “Then put us on it, man!” Church slapped the counter with the palm of his hand. “Ten tickets, one way.”

  §

  Owen and Lisa came into the station lobby from the hallway. Owen and Ramos had gone at it again, and Lisa suggested they take a few minutes.

  Most of the team was in the little breakroom getting their gear ready for the departure, and it was crowded in there. Carmody was in the baggage storeroom digging through crates and packages on the off-chance that there may yet something useful.

  And Banister was in the lobby. He was standing near the end of the counter in quiet conversation with the ticket agent. Owen watched as the agent handed him the bundle of tickets.

  Banister didn’t look nearly as pleased as he should, considering the circumstances.

  “Now what do you suppose that’s about?” she asked.

  “Our tickets,” said Lisa.

  “Hmm. Yes.” Owen stepped around one of the benches and sat down. She watched the ticket agent give a polite grin and start back around behind the counter. Banister started across the lobby toward the hallway.

  “Everything all right, Wes?” asked Owen.

  “Yes, of course,” answered Banister. He held up the tickets. “All set.”

  Something’s not right… thought Owen.

  Banister continued down the hall. Poking his head into the breakroom, he saw that everyone looked about ready. He caught Asher’s attention.

  The two of them continued down the hallway and went into the restroom.

  “Something wrong?” asked Asher. He noted the tickets in Banister’s hand.

  “I’m afraid so.” Banister held the tickets up between them. “It would appear we are two tickets short.”

  “What? Well let’s—” Asher was ready to head out to the lobby.

  Banister put a hand on Asher’s arm. “Our friend out there tells me there are only eight seats available.”

  “What?”

  “Full up, I’m afraid.”

  “What does he expect us to do? We’re not going to leave two people behind.”

  “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Banister handed the tickets to Asher.

  Looking at them more closely, Asher could see the tickets had names on them. “Assigned?” he asked. He saw his own name on the first ticket.

  “That’s right.”

  “Who does he plan on—”

  “Myself and Private Carmody.”

  Asher stared numbly down at the tickets. He swallowed hard, took a deep breath and then pushed the tickets back to Banister. “We’re not doing this. Not a chance.”

  Banister refused to take the tickets. “Yes. We are. The situation was made very clear. Private Carmody and I are to remain behind. There is no alternative.”

  “Of course there is. We’re all staying.”

  Banister smiled tiredly, shook his head. He tried to give Asher a consoling look, but it only looked sad. “I’ll speak with the young lady. In the meantime, you must keep this to yourself until the train pulls away.”

  “We can figure something out.”

  “I’m sorry, Peter. I’m only telling you because you’ll have to explain to the others what’s happened. But you must wait until you’re well away from the station.” Banister grinned. “We can’t have Church jumping off the train.”

  §

  The 8:00AM northbound train arrived at the station at 7:57 and, planned or not, there was a mad rush to get aboard before it departed. Everyone was gathering gear, hauling and dragging it out onto the platform and handing it to others on the train, hurriedly following after.

  Dr. Banister and Carmody boarded the train with the others. They as quickly stepped off on the other side, quietly and quickly walked out into the black, leaving their gear just inside the door. Once beyond the reach of the light that spilled out from the passenger car windows, they stopped and waited in the darkness.

  Banister could hear Carmody’s short, shaking breathing. He reached an arm around her and tried to comfort her. They watched as the train cars jerked and pulled and the train slowly began to pull away.

  §

  Asher stood on the rear platform of the caboose. He watched the train station drift into the dark until there was only the soft fuzzy glow of the lamps that stood at either end of the platform. Then that too was gone and there was only the dark.

  The door behind him slid open and Church stepped outside.

  “Ah, Peter,” said Church. There was a hint of concern in his voice. He stood beside Asher, looked back into the train. “Say… I seem to have misplaced Wes. I don’t suppose you’ve seen him?”

  §

  Banister sat on the bench beside Carmody. The station was quiet. More quiet than it had been since they first arrived.

  Banister looked around them, then at Carmody, then forward.

  Alone…

  “Well,” he sighed. “I suppose that’s it, then.”

  “Yes sir.”

  They sat silent. Their gaze was in the general direction of the ticket counter, but they were looking at nothing in particular.

  “It could be worse,” he said after a long, uncomfortable minute.

  Another few moments of stark silence.

  “I don’t think so, sir.”

  Carmody was calmer than she had been. The situation still sucked, but she had resigned herself to it. Whatever happened now, the team had made it to the next floor.

  §

  She had made thirteen floors. She had barely made it off the first, and since then had nearly bit the dust a dozen times.

  She looked side-glance at Dr. Banister. So had this old guy. Probably came close to buying the farm even more often than she had.

  It’s been one hell of a ride.

  But damn it, they had only just started. Eighty floors, and she falls on the thirteenth…

  Damn it.

  “We didn’t get very far,” she mumbled.

  Banister grinned, chuckled lightly. “I was just thinking the same thing, my dear. All these so many weeks, all these floors, and there is so very far to go.”

  “I guess they’ll have to do it without us, eh?”

  “I’m sure they’ll do fine,” said Banister. “A more difficult task without us, to be sure. But they’ll make it.”

  The ticket agent came around from behind the counter and walked towards them. They hadn’t noticed him back there, but then the Adversary’s acolyte had a way of doing that.

  He came up to them and took a slight bow. He held a pair of tickets out to them.

  “Your tickets,” he stated.


  Banister reached up hesitantly and took them. He handed one to Carmody without bothering to look at it. “Tickets?”

  “You can’t board without a ticket.”

  “We going somewhere?” Carmody looked at her ticket, saw that it had Dr. Banister’s name on it. She reached over and traded with him.

  “You certainly don’t expect to stay here,” said the ticket agent.

  “But I thought—”

  “We have an unscheduled train arriving within the hour. You must be on it when it departs.”

  The ticket agent turned sharply about and returned to his position behind the ticket counter.

  Banister turned to Carmody. “Well, my dear. A most curious turn of events.”

  “I’m good with that, sir.”

  “Me, too.”

  They sat quietly then, and waited for the arrival of the unscheduled train.

  §

  Banister and Carmody were standing in the lot outside the tower. The sky overhead was slate gray and the air smelled of rain. A pair of powerful industrial lights mounted on tall poles lit up the wall of the tower where the door had once been located.

  There was no one around. Looking back over his shoulder, Banister saw the Quonset hut that served as the command center. It stood alone a couple of hundred feet away.

  If they listened very closely, they could just hear the sound of the train in the distance. It faded, drifted, and was gone.

  “Doctor?” Carmody turned slowly about. “Is this real?”

  “That is a very good question, my dear.”

  ~ end of episode five

  Episode Six

  Fog and Shadows

  Prolog

  A thick fog drifted across the world. It glowed, as if there was a sun up there somewhere shining down on it. Beneath their feet, the ground was as smooth and as cool to the touch as linoleum, the same color as the fog.

  There was no horizon; there were no objects visible. There was only the fog, slowly drifting, shifting in this strange, alien light and shadow. There was an odd feeling that there was something out there, something almost within reach, almost within sight; take a few steps in any direction, reach out your hand and…

  “Nobody wander off,” said Quinn.

  “That would involve moving, and I’m not going anywhere,” said Owen. She dropped her pack to the ground and sat on it.