by Pam Uphoff
***
The god was looking much more fierce, after all the spell breaking spells they could layer on through the bubble.
Gauge looked at him smugly. "Let’s see. At ten thousand to one, these three months of testing spells has felt like oh, probably less than fifteen minutes to the fellow. Do you think he’s figured out we’re helping him?"
"I don’t know. It’s a bit odd how he’s reaching out like he’s feeling for something. I’m surprised he’s moving so fast, now." Quick frowned at the living statue. "I assumed he was double layered, since he hadn’t moved appreciatively in almost fifty years."
"Oh! Maybe he’s peeled off one layer already! I wish we could get someone to help us with the other one." Gauge exchanged glances with Quick. "We don’t dare ask Disco. They’d send him back to Comet Fall."
Quick drummed her fingers. "Or Ajha. I think that young man knows more than he ought."
"Well of course he does. But the statue is moving so quickly, I think he’s about to let himself out. I’m going to ask the Director to step down here. He’s less . . . fraught with potential." Gauge started tapping keys on her comm.
"Huh. According to who?"
"Director? The Comet Fall God has started moving more quickly, we think he may have removed one of his layers of bubbles. Would you like to observe?"
A long silence. Then Izzo snorted. "I’ll be right down. One forbid he should let himself out some night."
Gauge clicked off. "The Director will be right down."
It was only a few minutes before both Izzo and Ajha walked in.
"Umm, well, he does seem to be looking for something." Izzo walked around the statue.
Ajha poked the statue’s chest. "When he whipped those bubbles on, they closed right across here, in . . .
The statue’s fingers also reached his chest. Bronze peeled away and left Ajha poking the chest of a rather ordinary man.
" . . . front of him. Whoops." Ajha flinched back. "Err, hello?"
"Who the hell are you?" The God stood, staggered a bit unsteadily. "Where am I?"
"I’m Ajha Clostuone, this is Director Izzo, Subdirector Wrla, Princess Gauge and Princess Quick. Are we correct in thinking that you are Barry Virtue?"
"Sigma. Barry Sigma, the God of . . . but it’s not working here? Is it? How interesting . . . The comet, what happened? I was shielding from the comet strike."
Izzo nodded. "We aren’t sure which comet you mean. The planet was struck, despite all efforts of the gods, in the year 2236. Then another comet was mostly averted over a thousand years later, in 3493. Or by the new calendar, 1376."
"Do you mean to tell me I’ve been stuck in a bubble for a thousand years?"
"One thousand two hundred and eighty-nine, now."
"Christ! I need a drink!" The fat man looked around the bare room in frustration, then his voice softened and an expression of concentration crossed his features. "And some clothes." An illusion of clothing sprang up around him. It wasn’t detailed, just a mental suggestion that he was dressed and not worth studying.
"I would be honored if you would be a guest in my home." Izzo nodded politely. "I suspect we can outfit you, as well as feed you and provide that drink you wanted."
Barry Sigma eyed him, and nodded. "And we can study each other."
***
Gauge eyed the unfortunately low level of the wine in the bottle and scowled. She wasn’t going to impress Barry with this. And then Quick would be the one to get him talking, take all the credit.
She stuck her head out the door. The corridor was empty. She could hear masculine tones from the right. She slipped out and scuttled to the next door to the left. Knocked and entered. Queens wasn’t home. Gauge headed for her liquor cupboard.
Qeez is three months pregnant, she can't drink. So I'm doing her a favor, removing temptation.
No wine. One, she should have nipped down to the wine cellar earlier. She grabbed a bottle of brandy, half full and uncorked her wine. Carefully poured a cup or so of brandy in.
"It’ll probably taste awful." She poked deeper into the cabinet, aha! A bottle of red wine on its side. It had been opened, but looked full. She uncorked it and filled her bottle. Good enough for a little get to know each other, come over for a drink, eh? She looked at the remaining half bottle, but corked it and returned it to the back of the cabinet. I don't want to get so drunk I lose control.
She put Queens’ cupboard back into shape, and slipped back out.
***
"I thought you might want to come by for a drink." Gauge felt her smile going flat, as she noticed that Barry already had a glass in his hand.
Quick shot her a smug look. "Barry was just telling me about the history of their world. It's fascinating how it diverged from ours."
Barry snorted. "I've been bubbled so long, I suspect you know more about it than I do." His gaze dropped to the bottle in her hands, and he held out his glass. "Come in, the more the merrier."
Gauge spotted the empty wine bottle on the table and smirked herself.
She poured her, err, fortified wine into Barry's glass, then looked pointedly at Quick. Quick grudgingly fetched another wine glass. Gauge filled it and, wanting to look magnanimous, Quick's.
"Well. Here's to your new life." The wine burned all the way down and she was still gasping for breath when Barry slung an arm around her and kissed her. She returned it with interest, and didn't even mind when Quick horned in on the action.
I think Queens had something illegal in that bottle, tucked away out of sight.
She reached a toe back to kick the door shut. They were definitely going to need some privacy. Right. Now.
Sometime in the small hours of the morning she woke up enough to give herself a hangover cure. She collapsed back onto the grass. Grass? She looked over and recognized the warm body cuddled up to her as Quick. My! What fun they'd had. On the floor. In bed. Outside. In a car. Across . . . a gate?
Gauge realized she was stark naked, just laying there under the full moon. She stood up and looked around. How many gates had they gone through? There were two in sight. Glowing slightly. She staggered to her feet and walked over to the nearest. A daylight scene not much different from where she was standing. A double row of crushed grass led from that one, to the orange sunset gleaming through the next.
Barry had disappeared. Escaped.
"Quick? I think you'd better wake up."
"Wha?" A sleepy murmur from Quick. "Oh, Barry!" A long pause, then Quick joined her. Stared at the car tracks leading from one anonymous gate to the other.
"We could try to capture him ourselves." Quick sounded wistful.
"He has a car."
"Drat!" Quick turned and stepped through the gate that had the long grass crushed away from it.
Gauge followed, hoping there was a clear back trail. All the way back to One.
"You know. It wouldn't be nearly so embarrassing to report this to Izzo, if only we had some clothes on."
Interlude
Peter kept his voice steady with an effort. “Reported by Empire’s Exterior Directorate 1407px/3524ce/1409yp. Princesses recovered. Barry Sigma’s location unknown. Director Izzo’s limo still missing.”
He met Fire’s gaze and they both started laughing.
“Oh, One!” Fire giggled. “Talk about embarrassing . . .”
Once they stopped laughing, they realized they had an entire weekend, two whole days off.
Peter was torn between spending the time with Fire, and popping back home for a clothes shopping spree. “If I hiked straight through, the gates and corridors were rarely more than a kilometer part, and usually more like a hundred meters or so. So I could leave right after work, I could get at least halfway before I camp for the night.”
Fire shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re from an uncontacted world. You just walked in and started looking around?”
“Yep.” Peter grinned. “And I think I’ll start by calling Ronald—Dr. Ronald Newton, his sp
ecialty is the Earth’s magnetic field and ground level anomalies. I’m a grad student, running his instruments and recording all the raw data. We found this weird portal . . .”
She laughed, and hiked with him to his now semi-permanent camp two worlds away with a view to die for.
“Wow!” she admired the waterfall, while he poked buttons.
And got Ronald immediately. He was unexpectedly clear and loud. And the time delay noticeably shorter.
“We’re camped at what you called Portal One-Three-Zero. Progress is slow, due to all the atmospheric testing we’re doing. The government scientists can't believe you just wandered around without protective gear.”
They’re halfway here . . . Wait, did he say . . . “Testing the air? Huh, never had any problems. But I’m glad they’re making that much progress. You really got someone’s attention. I don’t suppose you have any diplomats along, do you?”
“Diplomats?”
“Ronald . . . I told you about the world full of embassies? We need an official delegation to talk to them.”
“Oh, we’ll talk to the chiefs after the troops have secured the area and made sure it’s safe for an appointed representative.”
“Chiefs? Troops? Ronald . . .”
A bit of crackling, then a stranger’s voice. Masculine, irritated. “Rhodan. This is Major Stephen Phillips. Mr. Nelson was not supposed to inform you of our presence. You will say nothing when you return to that gathering area.”
“Yes, sir!” Peter tried to sound alert and obedient. Oh shit! “Sir, have you gotten to my reports about the various tech levels of the worlds with embassies here? There are a lot of high tech civs here, in a modern city.”
“Oh good grief. Horse power and wagons. There no evidence—and we’ve looked—for motorized traffic through the portals.”
“They have dedicated portals—they call them gates—from Embassy to their home worlds. Nobody uses the Maze for anything but a bit of fun exploration, and camping. And fishing.”
A silence, then in deepening, threatening tones, “In fact it would be best if you stayed in your camp and avoided them. At our rate of progress, we should reach you in three days.”
“I sent Ronald, Dr. Newton, an upload of the electronic books in their public library. There are a dozen high tech civilizations here.” Is he even listening to me?
“So they’re dangerous, and they’ve been spying on us.”
“They’ve got a city of embassies, trying to avoid cross-dimensional wars, sir. You just need to talk to them.”
“Stay. Where. You. Are. That’s an order!”
“Yes, sir!” Peter tried to sound relieved. And I hope he assumes that’s because I’ll be back among people from home, and not because I’m tying my boots so I can run back to Disco to confess all and warn them.
“You’d better sit there, Genie!”
There goes any hope they’d listen to me.
“Sir, you cannot just attack. They . . .”
“Sit there or you are dead. Got that?”
Peter clicked off and stared at the phone. “Fire? I need to . . . we need to get out of here. Right now.” He headed for the gate.
Fire was right after him. “Peter! What happened?”
“My world is sending the army.”
“Oh . . . that’s not going to work.”
A quick jog halfway down the road, then cut across the backs of the two embassies there.
He panted and staggered around the restaurant. I ought to have been joining everyone for the morning run and exercise!
Down a slight ramp to the fancy stone bridge and up the other side to . . . stare at Xen Wolfson’s door. To turn away . . .
He met Fire’s gaze. “It’s not treason when your country is doing something this wrong. Right?”
“Umm . . .”
He braced himself. “But I have to do it anyway.”
“Do what?”
He jumped at the voice behind him. Xen Wolfson.
He swallowed. “I found this place exploring through the Maze, when my boss and I found this . . . portal. Despite my sending them stuff from the library from all these advanced civilizations, they’ve decided that this place is a threat to them.
“They’re sending an army.”
“Oh good grief. Why do so many governments think a show of force is a good idea? Dare I ask how many gates away your world is?”
“In a straight line . . . fifty. The . . . expedition . . . is maybe thirty away.” Peter threw his hands up in frustration. “I checked out almost three hundred worlds before I met anyone! They can have all the land they want without getting near us. You. Whatever.”
A giggle from behind the tall man. A woman with short red hair . . . I think this was really bad timing . . . at least they’ve got their clothes on.
“When did common sense and decency ever stop a government?” the redhead giggled again. “So when should we plan the arrival party?”
“That major I just talked to told me to sit and do nothing for three days. I . . . think they’ll be rushing their time table.”
Wolfson flashed a grin. “Arguing with them, were you?”
“I was trying to convince them that the wagon tracks and hoof prints they were finding was not an accurate indication of the tech level here.”
The woman burst out laughing. “Oh, the poor babies! Are they in for a shock.”
Wolfson shrugged. “Possibly. Peter’s got a passable glow, and no training whatsoever. Others may have been trained. So c’mon in and tell us about your world.”
Peter gulped and followed them inside, and sat at a small table. Fire edged up cautiously and sat like she was ready to flee.
“Coffee?”
He nodded. “I don’t know what there is to say, I’ve been trying to read up on several Earths’ histories to find a split point, and failing. It’s all pretty familiar.”
“Tunguska Event?”
“The meteor that exploded over Siberia, you mean?”
“Yep, what year did it hit.”
“1908 . . . I think?”
“Right. Main Tunguska branch. Other common split points were the terrorists setting off a nuclear weapon. Bogota or Los Angeles.”
“Really? LA got nuked!” Peter blinked in disbelief.
Wolfson pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “Yep. That Earth. So . . . how about an explosion in Wisconsin in 2117?”
Peter shook his head. “Another nuke? Or a meteor?”
“Sabotage of a powered gate. All right. How about genetic engineering?”
Peter froze . . . “Uh . . . it’s highly illegal, since 2100. There were some issues with the Chinese Genies, their government actually nuked a town to be sure of killing them all. All the other nations shut down research. In NorAm, the Genies were emancipated, but watched carefully. Very few of them ever had children, and the genes are all nearly lost.”
“A nuke in China? That’s a new one. So, just a few artificial genes diluted into the population, and occasionally concentrating, like in you.”
“Me? No, no, it was just my Grandmother. I can’t really do anything, just sorta, if I try, people don’t much notice me.”
“Grandmother? Umm what year is it, on your Earth?” Wolfson was watching him calmly, not withdrawing in disgust.
“2172.”
“Fascinating. I am so going to dig into details sometime. But tonight, perhaps I should go tell your people to behave themselves.”
A giggle from the redhead. “Can I watch?” She looked over at Peter. “Relax. He rarely needs to hurt anyone to make them stop shooting and listen . . . umm, just out of curiosity, what was your grandmother’s name?”
“Is. Gramma Chloe’s eighty-seven years old.” And looks much younger. It’s starting to scare people.
She blinked. “I see, that is interesting.”
Fire had her hands over her face like she was hyperventilating, her eyes wide. "Chloe? Chloe One? The Prophet who was murdered at the Arrival? Is your Grand
mother?"
"It could be just a coincidence of names." Xen grinned. "But first, let's deal with these military types."
“Umm . . . I’ll come and introduce you?” Peter swallowed. I’m dead.
Wolfson eyed him, shrugged. “Right. I’ll get a ute and be right back.” He walked down the hall, making plucking motions as he walked, and slapping his arm . . .
A giggle from the redhead. “He stores a lot of things in dimensional bubbles. He’s picking up supplies. Probably weapons. Maybe dogs. A shelter of some sort. He tends to over prepare. C’mon.”
She walked out the front door and Peter followed her.
“I’m Rael, by-the-way. Withione Al Media Montevideo, if you want to be formal. From the Empire of the One.”
“The old one, I take it? Umm, I’m Peter Rhodan.”
“Ooo! Like the giant radioactive pterodactyl?”
“No. My name’s got an H after the R. And not the sculptor either.”
Giggle. “So you get a lot of comments, eh? Yeah, well, I pity any poor girl named Rael, especially if she has red hair.” She bounced happily across the bridge and up to the road.
Oh. My. God. There really is a giggly redheaded ditz. Who apparently can kick ass at need. Now I’m going to have to consider whether some of that stuff in the reports is true.
But I did NOT hear a horse!
***
It was a nice big vehicle, designed for off road conditions, plenty of space for cargo behind the three rows of seats. Xen got out and Rael slid into the driver’s seat. Peter got waved to the front. “Since you, hopefully, know the way.”
After which he just had to hang on and point, in as much as the minimal improvements to the path were not up to fast driving . . . well, not that fast, but Rael didn’t seem to be at all cautious about driving through the gates.
She glanced at Peter and grinned. “You can’t see through them, can you?”
“No . . . you can?”
“Yep. To those of us with no dimensional talent, they’re clear as glass.”
