“If you walk through the east side of the gate on Earth, you’ll come out the west side in Outland. If you walk through the west side on Earth, you’ll come out on the east side.” Bill shrugged, palms up, in a helpless gesture. “Unfortunately, that meant Richard and Kevin would have to guard both sides of the gate from critter incursions. So we pushed it up against the wall to block one side.”
“I can’t see it at all from here,” Monica said. She had stopped a few yards back while Bill and Erin talked.
“You’re looking at it edge-on. The gate itself is on Earth, so all we see on this side is the interface. It has no thickness, so from the side it’s invisible. If Richard or Kevin walked through right now, they’d look to you like they just appeared out of nowhere.” Bill laughed. “I am completely nerded out over this.”
Monica made a face. “Thanks, Mr. Science. Let us know when you’re done with the nerding.” She turned to the others. “Remember, one hour at most. If Richard has to come looking for us, that’s five of us on this side. And let’s try not to wander out of sight of the gate.”
Erin had her camera out and took pictures as they walked. A couple of times she stopped and used the zoom to take shots of the mammoths. Monica waited patiently each time until Erin was satisfied.
During one of the stops, Erin turned to Monica. “I’m still a little weirded out by the hills on this side. It doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason for it.”
“Yeah, I get it. So far, this looks all very normal for Pleistocene wildlife, but no people. I have to wonder what caused that, and what other differences it might make. With ten thousand-odd years of alternate evolutionary history, it’s not totally out of the question that we could run into something I can’t identify.”
“What about disease, Monica?” Bill said. “Like when the Europeans discovered America?”
“Native Americans are the same species as Europeans,” Monica replied. “If we spot any humans, we should probably back off immediately. But failing that, diseases jumping species is really unlikely without a lot of ongoing contact. Just make sure you clean your shoes after we go back.”
When the group got within about fifty yards of the mammoths, the largest individuals positioned themselves between the humans and the smaller juveniles, and trumpeted what was very likely a warning or challenge. Monica held up her hand and the explorers stopped. The mammoths stomped their feet a few times but otherwise seemed satisfied with the current standoff.
Erin took picture after picture at various zoom settings, while Monica used the binoculars to examine them as closely as she could.
After a few minutes, the adults resumed browsing through the grass, and the juveniles started a shoving match.
“Interesting,” Monica said. “They don’t identify humans as a known danger. Silly mammoths.” She smiled at the others. “But it supports our theory that humans aren’t a factor over here. Either rare or nonexistent.”
Matt’s phone played a tone. He canceled the alarm. “We’re at a half hour. We need to head back.” There was no argument, and the group turned and started back to the gate.
About halfway back, Bill said in a low voice, “Don’t look now, but we’ve got company at four o’clock.”
Monica lifted the binoculars to get a better look. “Oh, boy. More Smilodons. I hate Smilodons.”
“I guess you kind of have a history …” Bill said.
“Well, that’s why God invented shotguns.” Matt pointed his weapon upward and fired a round.
The result was exactly as effective as anyone could have hoped. The menacing forms vanished.
“You’d think they teleported,” Monica said with a nervous laugh.
“Yeah, along with—” Bill’s comment was interrupted by twin thuds as two small objects hit the ground. Erin jumped.
Bill walked slowly over to the objects, then started to laugh, almost doubling over. He turned to Matt, tears streaming from his eyes, and said, “You took out a couple of birds, O Great White Hunter. Want squab for lunch? The special today is passenger pigeon.”
Matt looked up. “I guess we should be thankful they didn’t all empty their bowels at the same time.”
Monica picked up one of the dead pigeons and turned to grin at her friend. “Don’t worry, I won’t bring it to class. But I’ve never dissected a passenger pigeon before.”
“That was awesome!” Bill gushed, once the team walked back through the gate. He seemed to have developed a permanent grin.
Richard got a doleful look. “Wish I’d seen that.”
“Mostly it was your basic hike in the country,” Erin said as she put her shoes back on. “From any kind of distance, deer are deer and moose are moose, except a lot more of them, of course. But mammoths aren’t anything but mammoths.” She activated the LCD screen on the back of her camera and flipped through some of the pictures for Richard.
“Well, that’s fine,” Kevin said. “You keep your mammoths. If the only large animals I ever meet are in zoos, I’m good.”
“Anyway,” Richard said, “proof of concept is successful. We can go through, wander around, and come back. No one turned to pudding. The portal is stable; the six-foot gates work. We’re good to go.”
“So, Operation Yellow-Brick Road is on.” Bill exchanged a high-five with Matt.
Monica smiled at everyone as she held up a dead pigeon. “And I’ve just seen animals that are extinct on our Earth. I’d say this qualifies as a good day.”
19. First Expedition
June 29
Bill slid down off the bumper and settled to the ground with a grunt. “Next time, let’s hire someone.”
“We’re not moving furniture.” Richard gestured at the rented van, which contained all the portal equipment, plus supplies and luggage. “Actually, I’d hate to hear your complaints if we were.”
“We should give the two of you lightsabers and let you duke it out,” Matt said. “Just to stop the arguing. Are we ready, Richard?”
“Yep. You and Bill in your pickup, and welcome to him; Erin and Monica in Erin’s car; and Kevin and me in the van. You lead, and remember to use cruise control and don’t speed. We don’t need nosy cops wanting to look inside.”
“Jeez, even for me that’s over the top,” Bill said. “What’re the cops going to do? The equipment isn’t stolen until someone reports it stolen. For that matter, will they even have a clue what it is?”
“That’s funny coming from you, Captain Paranoid,” Richard retorted. “Isn’t this the part in the movie where things go wrong?”
“Every part of the movie is where things go wrong. You have to pick your moments to care about.”
“Sure, sure,” Richard said. “Let’s get moving.”
“Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” Bill grinned at Matt as they pulled into a long gravel road.
“You should drink less coffee, maybe you’ll last longer between stops,” Matt said as he struggled to keep his truck out of the ruts. The road had definitely seen better days.
The convoy reached the end and pulled up in front of an old home with weathered clapboard siding. The house was a few decades overdue for a paint job. To the side, Bill could see that the fence was missing boards, and what was left was rotting at the bottom.
“Uh …” Bill turned to Matt, unsure what to say.
“Erin doesn’t like to talk about it, but her family is very poor. That’s why she’s always had multiple jobs. She’s sensitive about it. Try not to bring it up, okay?”
“Dude, I’m not that much of a jerk. Even to Richard, which believe me, is a strain.”
Matt bobbed his head in agreement, and they got out of the truck. Bill looked over at Erin. She had a slight flush on her face and wasn’t making eye contact with any of the crew.
A woman came out of the front door and hurried up to Erin, arms out. Erin yelled, “Mom!” and rushed to hug her.
Monica rushed up behind her, yelled, “Zia!” and hugged them both.
“Hello, Monica,” Mr
s. Savard said. She turned to her daughter. “Has she burned down any buildings lately?”
“Nope. She’s been very well-behaved. For her.”
“Hey! I’m standing here!”
Erin motioned to the rest of the group and did introductions.
Bill examined Erin’s mom while trying not to be obvious about it. Gray hair, plain clothing, a slight stoop spoke of a hard life. But she had a penetrating gaze and a quick smile, especially for her daughter. This was a close-knit family.
“Would anyone like coffee?” Mrs. Savard said.
And she had good taste, apparently. “One of my favorite subjects,” Bill replied.
Erin led them into the house. They went to the kitchen and settled in around the table. The furniture was old but well-kept. The kitchen was neat, organized, and felt lived-in. Bill found himself feeling less embarrassed for Erin.
While she made coffee, Mrs. Savard told Monica, “I heard from your mother. They’re having a great time. Sophia says she’s tried to email you, but she can’t get it working from there.”
“My mom’s a technofeeb.” Monica shook her head. She turned to her friends. “My parents are in Italy, visiting family. Apparently, rural Padova is not at the cutting edge of internet communications. Just like my mother.”
There was a bark at the kitchen door. “Someone smells food,” Mrs. Savard said, and opened the door. The black tornado that ran in did its best to visit everyone in the room at the same time. Eighty-odd pounds of Lab-pointer cross caromed around the kitchen, attempting to sniff each person, get patted, and check for food, all at once.
“Wow, that’s one energetic dog!” Bill commented.
“So, Erin, tell me about this camping trip?” Mrs. Savard said, when the storm had died down.
“We’re heading to the Black Hills for a few days. We somehow got the idea that we’d like to do some gold panning. Mostly it’s to get away from the university for a few days.”
“Mm hmm,” Mrs. Savard said, then smiled. “In deference to your friends, I won’t guilt you about never visiting. But make sure you stop on the way back, and tell me how it went.”
They spent what turned out to be a pleasant hour or so, talking, resting, and otherwise getting ready for the next leg of the drive. Eventually, coffeed up and with extra cookies in hand, the group prepared to leave. Erin’s mother collected promises from Erin and Monica to visit more often.
In a few minutes, they were back on the road.
Erin cringed, knowing what was coming. Monica did not suffer failure gracefully. Someday she would make a great middle manager. Until she killed someone.
The drive to the Black Hills had gone without incident, and they arrived ahead of schedule. A steady stream of other vehicles going ten to fifteen miles an hour above the posted limit gave them the cover they needed to push things a little.
However, summer was high season in the area, and there was a dearth of available accommodations. After much searching and phoning, they ended up with a couple of rooms in a Super 8 in Deadwood.
“Nice planning, Einstein. You’ve never heard of reservations? When I say ‘five-star,’ what exactly pops into your teeny mind?” Monica was in full glare mode.
Richard sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry! How many times do I have to apologize? Look, we’ll spend very little time here, hopefully. If we can find out where …”
“Yeah, yeah. Pan for gold, everyone’s rich, isn’t it wonderful. I know the drill. But if that bed ends up having a coin slot, you’re gonna hear about it, buster.”
“Hey, at least you and I each get a bed,” Erin said, trying to defuse things. “The guys have to all fit into one room, and two of them will have to sleep on those fold-out abominations.”
“Two rooms was all we could get …” Richard started to explain for the umpteenth time.
“I wonder why that is, d’ya suppose?” Monica asked.
“Well, whatever. We’re stuck with it.” Richard turned to the others. “Okay, folks. Dinner, then a couple of us will ask around about tours and such. If we can avoid having to go on one, we’ll save some time. We just have to get the vehicles close to where we want to be, pop over, and do our thing. So, restaurant. Opinions?”
Monica smiled at Richard. Or showed him her teeth, anyway. Erin was pretty sure it wasn’t friendly. “Steak. You’re buying.”
Well, the good news was that any kind of romantic complications between Richard and Monica were now off the table, Erin decided.
20. Logistics Fail
June 30
The next morning, Erin and Monica were already halfway through breakfast when the men shuffled into the restaurant, moaning like zombies. It took Erin a moment to realize it was mostly Matt and Bill, and the moans said, “Coooooffffffeeeeeeeeee ….”
Richard, not surprisingly, looked more irritated than anything. Kevin, as usual, seemed to barely register his surroundings.
It took a few minutes to get resettled, then they began strategizing for the day.
“It’s kind of a good news, bad news thing,” Richard said. “On the one hand, we have enough information from scouting around to be able to start right in on gold panning. No need to take one of those tours just to figure out where everything is.”
“On the other hand, we won’t be doing it from the parking lot.” Bill made a vague out there gesture with his hand. “That’s way too public. We’re going to have to find somewhere off a side street or something like that. Which will mean a hike to the creek.”
“Yep. But I’m not going to take the hit for that.” Richard glanced at Monica. “We knew this part would have to be ad-libbed.”
Monica smiled at him. “Okay, big guy, you get a bye for that one. How will we do this? Split up, look around?”
“I think so. Everyone downloaded that app I mentioned?” Richard looked around, to nods from the others. “We can keep track of each other’s position and trade information.”
They settled the bill and straggled out of the restaurant. After a few exchanges, the crew took off in pairs to reconnoiter.
Erin and Monica got back to the parking lot an hour later, to find everyone else already there.
Richard pointed back up the access road. “Believe it or not, I actually found something pretty convenient. There’s an overgrown side road a little ways back, although ‘road’ might be charitable. It’s not paved. But it curves, so you lose sight of the main road right away. It’s a bit farther from the creek, of course. We’ll have to use compass bearings to make sure we don’t get lost.”
“Or spray-paint cans, for marking the trail,” Bill added. “That’s why I brought them.”
Matt grinned at the group. “Bill does tend to overpack, but sometimes he’s right.”
They all piled into the vehicles and followed the van. Richard hadn’t been exaggerating. The side road was little more than two parallel wheel tracks. It had not seen recent use and couldn’t be described as anything close to flat. Erin began to fear for her crapmobile’s suspension.
After they got out of the vehicles, Bill said, “Next time I’ll go to the bathroom first!”
But Erin had to admit the location was perfect. They were invisible from the main road. Nothing gave any indication that people had been here recently.
The portal generation hardware, after several rounds of improvement, now consisted of a box not much bigger than a tower PC. One power cable and several fiber-optic cables ran from the portal generator box to a set of connectors labeled A through D. Each gate had corresponding cable receptacles. Bill carefully unloaded the small gate with its pole and the large gate.
Richard and Matt manhandled the electrical generator out of the van and placed it with the equipment. Erin helped lay out supplies for the hike. This included weapons, basic survival equipment such as first-aid kits, axes, and machetes, as well as water and food. Beside this pile, they placed a couple of sets of screening boxes and a manual water pump. Erin pulled out a list an
d carefully double-checked to make sure nothing had been forgotten.
Richard, as usual, assumed control of the proceedings. “Okay, I think we’re about ready to go. We don’t want another rant from Bill about bad movie scripts, so he and Kevin will be staying on this side, just in case.”
“Honestly, it’s not a bad idea,” Erin replied.
“Yeah, I have to admit, Bill’s paranoia can occasionally be useful.”
Richard went over the equipment and supplies and gave instructions for dividing up the loads. And, finally, they were ready. Richard signaled to Kevin to activate the portal. They turned to the six-foot gate, and … nothing.
“Er, I’ll check the script again, but isn’t this the part where the gate opens?” Bill said.
“The hell?” Richard said. “All right. Drop everything, people. It’s debugging time.”
The crew removed their packs, dropped what they were carrying, and settled down to wait. Kevin methodically checked hardware from the gate back to the generator, while Richard did diagnostics on the tablet.
After several minutes of investigation, Kevin sat back and shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong, Richard. We have power. The software is happy. The gate is happy. Just no connection.”
“Okay, let’s try the pole-cam,” Richard replied. They swapped the connections to the pole-cam, held it up, and activated it. “So, this works. Shit. All right, let’s point it downward.” Richard carefully angled the pole so that the camera faced down, while Bill watched the monitor. He frowned at the image.
“Er, doesn’t the ground look closer in the monitor?” Bill asked.
Erin came over to look. “No question. The ground is higher on the other side. Maybe the gate can’t be opened underground.”
“Well, no, it wouldn’t,” Kevin said. “Unless the soil was pretty loose, the gate would have to cut the soil, and I know that is not possible. There’s not enough energy in the system for that kind of effect.”
Bill glared at him. “You couldn’t have brought that up earlier?” This provoked a return glare from Kevin.
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