by Mark Wandrey
“Ms. Patoy?” the man asked. She nodded. He wore casual street clothing and showed no signs of being armed. Down the hall, one of their regular escorts gathered the flock.
“Yes,” she said.
“Follow me please,” he said and headed for the elevator.
“Will I be coming back?’ she asked as she followed him.
“I was only instructed to collect you.” He wouldn’t answer any more questions as they rode the elevator, not to the lobby, but to the 2nd floor mezzanine. As the doors opened she saw a temporary office. There were dozens of desks with computers on them displaying technical data and spreadsheets. A few people glanced over at Mindy and her escort as the elevator doors slid open. She was quickly progressing from concerned to confused when one of the men turned and stood up.
“Hello Mindy,” he said.
“Dr. Skinner?” she asked in surprise. She had heard that he’d gone back to Florida after the portal had been recaptured.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m back. George tells me you haven’t made any progress.”
“Dr. Osgood? I explained to him—”
“Yes, the POV issue,” Skinner said, shaking his head. He gestured to his right. “Let’s chat, shall we?” They walked a short distance, and he opened the door to a room full of people working on computers. “Can you leave us alone for a minute?” he spoke loudly, his tone indicating his statement wasn’t a question. Everyone looked up from their computers, realized who was speaking, and quickly left Mindy alone with the older scientist.
“Your presence here is telling,” she said before he could begin. Leo raised a single eyebrow. “The report is correct, LM-245 is going to hit.”
“It’s on target for a May 21st rendezvous with Earth,” he said. Mindy stepped back involuntarily and fell into a chair that happened to be there.
“It’s a big rock,” she almost whispered. He nodded somberly. “Global killer?”
“We honestly don’t know. Scientists have done so little research on asteroids. It could be a ball of gravel, or….”
“Or solid nickel iron,” she finished for him. “Worse than the Chicxulub.” He shrugged. “What were you going to say?”
“There’s an effort to stop it,” he explained.
“Those two launches,” she said, to which he nodded.
“We’ll go public soon, since that damned TV network exposed it. As if what’s going on in India isn’t bad enough, riots are now breaking out all over our country.” She looked at the expression on his face. She saw an anger she’d never seen there before. Why was he so mad? “Anyway,” he said, visibly calming himself, “we don’t know if the longshot will work.” His eyes bored into her. “We need to know where that damned planet is.”
“Why is it so important?” she demanded. “It’s far away!”
“People,” he said, “decision makers, want to know.” He shook his head. “Demand to know. They want confirmation that this is an alien world, and they want to know where it is.”
“Dr. Skinner—”
“Call me Leo,” he said, with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Leo,” she began again, “I knew that was an alien world all along, even back in Seattle,” she said, gesturing vaguely over her shoulder. “We have people over there, right?” He didn’t say anything. “What have their tests revealed?”
“We haven’t sent any scientists,” he said. Her jaw hung in surprise.
“Who have you sent? NSA agents?”
“No,” he said defensively, “of course not. They’re all soldiers specially trained in wilderness survival.”
“Leo, you’re with NASA, why not send astronauts at least? They have survival training, too. If the planet is going to die, what good are soldiers? We need to learn to live on that world.”
“Eleven other countries have portals,” Skinner said, “now ten. Not all of those countries are friendly to our cause.”
“What’s our cause?” she asked him. The look he gave her caused a shiver to run up her spine.
“Peace, justice, the American way,” he said, almost flippantly. “Can I count on you?”
“I’m already doing everything I can,” she said. He scowled. “I explained several times, pictures aren’t the same as the real thing.”
“You’re a radio astronomer,” he reminded her.
“I started out on optical telescopes.”
“You know there are others who say they can crack this?”
“Then, why haven’t they?” He hesitated. “Because they can’t, and you know it.”
“What do you need?”
“To see through the portal,” she said. “To look at the alien sky and feel it.”
“You can’t go through,” he said.
“I didn’t say I wanted to.”
“You will if that rock comes.”
“Of course, Leo,” she said, getting annoyed. He went over and opened the door, holding it for her. The same guy who’d brought her was waiting patiently. “So?” she asked as she walked out onto the mezzanine landing.
“Go back to work,” he said, and closed the door. She had a feeling she’d just made a big mistake.
* * *
The bunker didn’t look pristine anymore. Too many people had been through, and survival supplies were piling up. Several of the large, cavernous rooms in the rear were full of cots, ready for incoming personnel. Still, the conference room was a sea of apparent tranquility. Twenty-seven seats surrounded the table, but only one man sat in a chair. He faced several computer screens, each of which held a person’s face.
“We’re sure New Delhi had one of the portals?”
“We’re very confident,” another speaker said. “We had a sideways view from a spy sat.” As before, the Occlumency software created fuzzy halos around each person, making it impossible to recognize them. “With a blast that big, it’s impossible to set the exact epicenter. However, Space Command says it was probably a park in New Delhi.”
“Where we know their portal was,” another said. All heads nodded in agreement.
“The fucking things are nuclear bombs,” someone else said, the gleam of many silver stars discernable on the epaulets of his uniform.
“Way beyond nuclear,” someone else said. “We don’t have anything close to a gigaton. Figure more than ten of those huge old Soviet bombs…”
“Tsar Bomba,” another offered. The officer gaped. “Aliens,” the speaker said with a shake of his head. “Maybe antimatter?”
“What does it matter,” the man in the bunker said, “beyond confirming that these things aren’t from Earth?” No one had anything to add, so he continued. “Any report on Excalibur?”
“On course and operating as planned,” someone said. When he last spoke, he’d been somewhere other than where he was now. “We’re preparing for the contingency plan.” Everyone around the table nodded. In Langley, several people watched the decrypted meeting and developed their own plans.
* * * * *
Chapter Sixteen
May 5
After the surprise meeting with Dr. Skinner, Mindy did her best to focus on the problem and not make waves. She took the jump drive from her pocket and left it in a desk drawer in the trailer, next to a pile of pencils, some gum, and a lipstick. It fit in with the rest of the junk in the drawer. She’d purposely chosen an old drive which only held a gigabyte of data. It was hardly worth a second glance.
The day complete, the guard escorted her back to her hotel and left her in her room. She kept her activities routine, she didn’t want to draw any undue attention to herself. On the morning of the 5th, she had a private escort again, only this one was an NSA agent.
“Would you come with me, Ms. Patoy? And please give me your ID.” Starting to shake with fear, she took it out and showed it to him. He quickly snatched it from her.
“You can tell Dr. Skinner I’m doing the best I can,” she said, instantly realizing how lame she must sound. He grunted and turned away.
“Should I take my things?” she said, trying to keep from crying. He looked back and shook his head. Numbly, Mindy followed him.
When they reached the elevator, he took her over to the security station, further increasing her anxiety, and causing her to visibly shake. Would they throw her on the street with none of her possessions? Everything she had was in that hotel room. She couldn’t even get money from her account without identification. The man escorting her handed the ID to the security supervisor, and waited. The supervisor looked at it then nodded before speaking.
“This is the one they told me about?” Mindy stared, wide eyed as he stuck the ID into a machine that gobbled it up with a loud grinding sound. “I guess you’re someone special,” he said. She didn’t understand. He took an envelope from the counter and handed it to her. Her hands were shaking so badly she almost dropped it twice while opening it. Inside was a new ID, and a handwritten note. The ID had a little dome icon in the upper corner that only those with access to the portal had. The note read, “Mindy, you got your access. Obviously, you’ll mainly have night-time access, as that won’t interfere with our operations as much. This wasn’t easy, so you’d better deliver. Signed, Skinner.” She shook her head, laughing and crying.
“You okay?” the supervisor asked.
“Yeah,” she said, smiling and wiping away the tears, “I am now.” He handed her a clipboard noting the new ID issuance, and she signed next to her name.
“You’ll be in the same office space,” he told her, “you just have unrestricted access to the artifact.” Is that what they call it? She wondered silently as she handed the clipboard back. “Johnson will escort you to the dome.”
“Thank you,” she said, following the agent out into the street.
* * *
She’d seen the portal a thousand times in images and digital movies, yet none of those did justice to the real thing. When she first entered the dome, the portal was active, a shimmering circle suspended over the pearly opalescence of the dais. A bored-looking researcher sat on the bottom step of the dais, an e-reader in one hand and a burrito in the other. The other side of the portal showed a forest near dusk. It wouldn’t have been out of place just a few miles away in the woods of the Harriman State Park or even in a few areas of Central Park.
“Don’t wander outside the zone marked in green flags.” Mindy turned, confused. She hadn’t understood what the NSA agent said. He looked annoyed and repeated himself. “There are green flags all around the camp perimeter, inside the barricades. We’ve had a few run-ins with surviving cultists. The flags mark safe zones away from the barricades where you won’t catch stray fire.”
“Oh,” she said dumbly and nodded. He left without another word, some other duty calling him. Left on her own, she moved around the area, examining equipment. There were only a handful of people in the dome, including the bored man sitting on the dais. They stood next to equipment, or sat at workstations examining computer displays. Once she’d gotten past the four heavily-armed agents at the dome’s doorway, no one gave her a second glance. She walked up to the dais and examined the ever-changing symbols around the portal’s glittering edges.
“Cool, isn’t it?” She looked at the young man who was examining her over the edge of his reader.
“Sure is,” she said.
“First time?”
“In person,” she admitted. He nodded.
“I recognized the look.”
“What are you doing?”
“Reading,” he admitted, shrugging at the reader. “I’m supposed to be examining data, but I can do that later.”
“No, I mean sitting there.”
“Oh,” he said, “keeping the portal active.” He gestured at the glowing ring and the view on the other side. “If someone is on the dais, the portal will stay open for 10 minutes at a time, evenif no one goes through.”
“Why keep it open?” Mindy wondered. He set the reader on the glowing dais and pointed. A video recorder on a tripod sat on the dais, aimed through the portal. On the other side, a world away, sat one identical to it. Headphones with boom microphones hung from both tripods.
“That’s a laser communicator. Aside from sign language or holding up cards, it’s the only way to talk to Ft. Eden.”
Instantaneous communications across light years, she thought. “Ft. Eden?”
“That’s what we call the camp they’ve built on the other side—the village the army people are building.” He walked down the steps, explaining how they’d used solar-powered hand tools, paracord, lightweight alloy screws and local fibers to make buildings and furniture. “They’re working on a palisade to keep out the dinosaurs.” Mindy’s eyes grew wide, and he laughed at her. “Here.” He called up an image of a Komodo sloth on his e-reader.
“Holy shit,” she said. It did look like a dinosaur, a Dimetrodon, but it had no back fin or tail. “Are there four eyes?”
“Yeah, the eyes are giving the life sciences and animal biologists fits, not to mention the six legs!” She looked back at the picture and, sure enough, the creature had six legs.
“Aliens,” she whispered. He grinned and nodded.
“When you’re done flirting with the pretty astronomer, can you turn the damn portal back on?” They looked at one of the other researchers sitting next to a computer. “I only got half the last transmission before it shut down.” Mindy grinned a little—he’d called her pretty. As usual, when she was in scientist mode, she didn’t realize when someone was hitting on her.
The man she’d been talking to grinned sheepishly, obviously annoyed his co-worker had called him out, and stepped back on the dais. The portal sprang back to life.
“Thank you,” the other man said, though his voice lacked any sincerity.
“Can I…” she asked, pointing at the steps.
“If you’re allowed in here, you can,” he said. “And, since the men in black outside didn’t shoot you, you’re allowed.”
“They wouldn’t really shoot me, would they?”
“In a New York minute,” he said without any hint of humor in his voice. She looked at him, and he looked back. She swallowed. He returned to his e-reader, and she walked up to the dais. Approaching the portal seemed like such an easy thing, but after what happened in New Delhi, she found it disturbing. A similar device unleashed a gigaton blast halfway around the world and destroyed an entire nation. Was there a wad of antimatter at its core? Or, was it something worse?
“It won’t bite,” the man said. She shot him a baleful glance and quickly stepped onto the bottom step. It was unyielding, like metal or stone. She didn’t feel anything unusual through the soles of her shoes. She climbed the other two steps and stood on the top, just a couple of feet from the portal.
There is another planet over there, she thought as she stepped closer.
“Careful,” the man said.
“Is it dangerous?” she asked.
“No, just one way. The army guys on the other side probably wouldn’t be thrilled to get unexpected visitors.” She nodded and moved slightly sideways, to the edge of the portal where the symbols moved. The display reminded her of The Matrix with the scrolling, disappearing symbols. Those had been mostly Japanese kanji, while these were unlike anything created by human hands. They were spiky, with unusual curves and intricate shapes within shapes.
“Has anyone tried to analyze these?” she asked.
“There’s no baseline from which to start,” said a voice she recognized. “Welcome to the team.”
“Hi, Dr. Osgood,” she said, turning to smile at him. He stood by the door, bright morning light shining behind him. “So, it’s like Egyptian hieroglyphs prior to 1799?”
“Precisely,” he said. “We recorded them for hours and identified 1,728 individual symbols, or icons, as our language/code specialists call them. They don’t think it’s a language, but rather some kind of alien control script that programs the portal.”
&n
bsp; “Have you tried…” Mindy reached out toward the symbols, “touching them?”
“Some,” he said, the concern in his voice evident. She pulled her hand back. “Enough to know they don’t respond. We’re concerned about messing things up.”
“How?”
“New Delhi,” he said.
“Right.” Mindy glanced through the portal at the serene wilderness, dimly lit by an unseen light source. “Are the days there a different length?”
Osgood gave her an appraising smile. “I heard how smart you are. How did you know?”
“Timestamps on the images. Based on my observations they were getting later.”
“Very good. Yes, that world has a day twenty-three hours long.”
“Any idea how big the planet is?”
“Simple gravity observations by the people who’ve gone through the portal suggest there’s a little less than one G, so we think it’s about the size of Earth.”
“That is, if the core is like ours.”
He smiled again. “Good point.”
“You really should send some scientists.”
Osgood climbed the stairs to join her. “That was their idea as well.”
He gestured, and she looked back at the portal. Two people had appeared, a man and a woman, both wearing woodland camouflage and carrying shouldered rifles. Mindy was a little surprised to see a woman on the other world. Osgood picked up the headset and put it on. The helpful tech plugged in a second one and handed it to Mindy. On the other planet, an older military officer donned one. She could hear the alien wilderness in the background.
“Lieutenant Colonel Wilson,” Osgood said, “this is Ms. Mindy Patoy. She’s the astronomer who’s been trying to figure out what planet you’re on.” Mindy nodded and tried to keep from gawking.
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” he said. “This is SGT Simpson; she runs a lot of the day-to-day operations here at Ft. Eden.” Mindy nodded, not really paying attention. She could hear chirping barks, an occasional rustle of leaves, then another flurry of barks.
