The Far Side

by Wylie, Gina Marie

  “In the war that followed, Melek, terrible things were done on both sides, but in the end, we withheld their utter destruction. It was something we could have stretched out our hands and done to them. But we’d only fought because we were attacked and we remembered that in the end. Now they are one of our best allies -- except in trade, where we compete a great deal!”

  “You will get in trouble when you get home?” Melek asked.

  “I suspect so. About the only thing that would have stopped our friends from coming for us would have been the authorities. I have no idea why, but that has to be what has happened.”

  “If there is anything I can tell them... assuming the King doesn’t decide I’ve gone too far myself, Ezra, I will willingly tell them.”

  The ship’s master was staring at the single, triangular sail and the way it was hung so that it could swivel through about one hundred and twenty degrees. Melek smiled to himself. Well, here was one more person who could be counted on to sing the praises of Andie and her ship that could sail into the wind, and who had already said that whatever they had paid Andie wasn’t enough.

  One of the crewmen joined the captain and spoke to him for a few minutes. Melek couldn’t hear him, but it was just a minor distraction. The wind on his face, the sea rushing past a few feet away was a heady drink.

  Behind him he heard Andie tell Ezra something, and then Ezra shouted simple instructions to the men on the sails, and the ship once again changed course. Melek looked around and could see no reason to change course -- they were still headed into the harbor.

  He turned to Ezra and waved at the new course. Andie laughed and said something to Ezra and Ezra shrugged helplessly to Melek. “Andie says now she has proved that she hasn’t forgotten how to trim the sails. Now, she says, it is time for your ship’s master to learn. The best way to learn is to do it yourself.”

  Melek nodded, unsure though what the master would say. The master had, in fact, already come to stand next to the tiller and was watching everything intently. Melek readied himself to try to politely explain things, but the master spoke first. “Captain Melek, Adnar was telling me something interesting.”

  “And that would be?”

  “Barzan is a fisherman with two sons, and a powerful thirst for beer -- so these days his sons fish and he drinks. Yesterday, as soon as the dralka left, Adnar says he saw the brothers put to sea in their fishing boat.

  “He thought they were having trouble with their sail, since the sail had unfurled only half way, a diagonal like our sail now. He didn’t think any of it, as sails do hang up like that from time to time.”

  Melek nodded like he knew what the other was talking about, even if he didn’t.

  “Adnar says he didn’t really think about it, but their heading wasn’t as westerly as it should have been. It was only when we’ve been sailing like this for a while that he remembered. It could be nothing...”

  Melek thought for a moment, and Ezra watched, not entirely sure what had been said, but waiting patiently. Melek hated thinking about something like that, but what are you supposed to think once you’ve seen one bit of treason?

  He smiled at the ship’s master. “Right now, Master Ged, Andie expects you to take over the sails and the tiller and see if you can trim the sails to once again head for Arvala.”

  The man’s eyes lit, thoughts of incipient treason gone from his head.

  He listened carefully as Andie explained in general and let him slowly get the feel for the push of wind, sail and water on their course.

  Even Melek could feel the ship respond to slight changes in course. It was like a living thing, responding to suggestions and hints. It was a profound experience, and for the first time he had some appreciation of why men so loved the sea.

  It took the master a lot longer to get on the proper course, but finally they were once again heading straight for the city. The smile on the Ged’s face told Melek that the man was enjoying pure bliss.

  Melek took a few steps to Ezra. “When we get to shore, I will tell the master and his crew that they are to spend until sundown on the ship, learning from Andie. I will post a guard on the dock to make sure none leaves. Please ask Andie to keep them entertained for an hour or so.”

  “Is there a problem?”

  “I hope not, but one of the sailors thinks he saw another ship that could sail into the wind leave the city yesterday after the dralka flew over. If it was such a ship, then my kingdom faces a terrible danger. It could be that, even now, Tengri ships are headed this way in great numbers and that there are those here in Arvala waiting to deliver us to their chains.”

  “Do what you must, my friend. We will do our part!” Ezra told him.

  Fifteen more minutes and they were being moored, and Andie called everyone together first to ask questions and have them answered, for comments and suggestions and for what she called “Advanced Sailing 201.” Melek wasn’t sure what the numbers meant, but both Kris and Ezra hadn’t seemed curious.

  As for himself, he told the dock watch to keep everyone on the ship, no matter what, and then he headed for the barracks to gather up some men to go bar-hopping.

  * * *

  Oliver Boyle watched the men who were working where his neighbor Otto’s house had once been. The City of Los Angeles had screamed bloody murder at the Federal government for what they had originally wanted to build -- something like a nuclear reactor containment dome that would have necessitated billions of dollars, years of work, and would have scarred Laurel Canyon for all time.

  The result was not much less ugly, but at least it was only two stories tall, instead of the ten stories they’d originally demanded. It consisted of a cinder block inner wall with solid, reinforced concrete slabs for an outer wall. He wouldn’t let them mess with the original foundation, which had caused hard feelings, but now there was a third, inner shell about ten feet tall, essentially an air-tight, welded steel tank.

  They had very carefully cut holes for piers at the outer edge of the old foundation, and steel I-beams had been driven into the ground there to support the inner shed.

  Everything about it was frustrating. It was taking too long! And if the government had been in charge, it would never have gotten done. Otto Schulz’s condition had started to worsen once again, but he’d essentially made Oliver his conservator and authorized him to do what had to be done.

  As frustrating as the speed was, the fact that someone had to stand over the workmen constantly to monitor what they were doing was also a pain. Twice it had been careless accidents, once was almost certainly an attempt at sabotage. The battles with the power companies, the oil companies and the like had moved into the courts, where the average judge, based on their life-times of liberal jurisprudence, never gave the big companies an even break.

  So, the money for this was coming equally from his and Otto’s funds. Kurt, Jacob, and he were at the site, one of them, twenty-four/seven. Linda Walsh was there eight or ten hours a day, running around in a scooter or limping on crutches. The government had done their level best to keep her and her friends from organizing the ten million man march, had failed and no longer cared -- they had other worries more urgent.

  Linda told Oliver that the fusor was ready, the plans were ready, and they simply had to get the final clearance to install it and then it would take another twelve or fourteen hours to get it up and running.

  She’d already learned a lot about working with the government inspectors. They were trying their best to be obstructive, and Oliver and Jack Schaeffer had them in court twice a week.

  The latest round of changes had specified a Level 5 Bio-containment facility with space for twelve beds. He’d managed to work that down to Level 3, because at Level 5 they’d have needed a building five times the size. Linda had told him that they couldn’t afford to have less than twelve people on call if they needed them, so that’s what they had.

  There were two government doctors, two from NASA, two more who Oliver had hired and Helen w
as supervising the whole shooting match. There were a dozen support personnel as well. It was like the nightmare scenario for a movie director gone mad, throwing in the kitchen sink.

  Helen had pointed out the ultimate irony. She’d never mentioned to any of her questioners that she’d actually gone through the door to the Far Side and she hadn’t mentioned that so had Otto. Kurt hadn’t told anyone he’d been there too. She told Oliver that she was having bioassays run on her blood and lymph fluids a couple of times a week, and while there was some unfamiliar DNA there, none of it seemed to cause disease.

  Now they were nearly done, and the time line had stretched to nearly eight weeks. Kurt appeared, with Jacob at his side, a surprise, because they’d been working on the night shifts. “We talked to Linda,” Kurt told him. “We’re going to have an initial team of four, and backups after that, set in pairs, up to the twelve.”

  He grinned wolfishly. “I’m a licensed firearms dealer, and I’m authorized to possess and own automatic weapons. We know Ezra took along a P90, plus a 9mm Glock. It’s my understanding that Andie had a 9mm Beretta that she gave to Kris.”

  “That’s what Kris told me,” Oliver told him.

  “Well, we’re going in assuming the worst case... of course, the government would freak if we took what I’d like to take. So we’ll have full P90s -- it is, we understand, Andie’s favorite weapon.”

  “The ones they used on Star Gate?” Oliver asked.

  “That’s the one. Frankly, it’s a good choice. It’s light, reliable and puts a lot of rounds downrange. Nine hundred rounds a minute, although you only have a fifty-round magazine. These have sights that don’t rely on ambient light, plus they’re a generally all around good weapon.

  “We won’t have RPGs or grenades. The government would shit a brick, and they would be pretty sporty underground. We will have some flash bangs and some concussion grenades, which are, mostly, non-lethal.

  “In addition, we’re going to bring along more MREs and water first. Linda is a trooper, Ollie, a real trooper. She remembered how Kris and Andie staged the supplies through before anything else, and we’ll do that as well. She made what she calls the ‘Gate Room’ large enough to have that to hand. A quick insertion team to look around -- two of us and her. You understand that the odds are good that they aren’t going to be waiting right there for us?”

  “I know.”

  “Yeah. After the first three of us, including Linda, go through, if we don’t find them right quick, we’ll come back and the first four guys will hump supplies until we have everything on the Far Side. Linda gets an exemption from that.”

  “And they all have signed releases, saying they understand the risks and that they will be quarantined when they get back?” Oliver asked.

  “Yeah. The I’s are dotted and the T’s crossed, Ollie. No sweat. Jacob, Linda and I are going through first, with Bill Cassidy and Sean Patrick up second. Once anyone goes in the ‘Gate Room’ they’ll get a dollop of indelible paint on their hands and won’t be allowed out of containment until the docs clear us.

  “Once we’re through, we’ll have to play it by ear. Best hope is that they’ve stayed close to the cave, and it’ll take a minimal time and just the initial team to return them. After that -- well there are so many scenarios that it’s hard to guess what they could be.

  “Ollie, like I said, I have to plan for worst cases here. We’ll have twelve guys on site, with releases signed, ready to go on a few minutes notice. Once Linda opens the door, no one can leave the Gate Room without going through the quarantine. You made it clear, Ollie, that you don’t want any cheating.”

  “Helen doesn’t think that it’s a big risk, but even she admits that there is some risk and it would only take one pathogen to ruin humanity’s existence. So, we will be careful as we can be.”

  “Just so you know. I have another thirty guys on standby, their releases signed and weapons for them. None of that is in the Gate Room, but I do have 20,000 magazines for the P90s.”

  “A million rounds?”

  “Yeah, you can’t get that many without a special order and some delay, so I thought, better safe than sorry, and I can always sell it at cost anywhere -- half the military and police forces in the world use these weapons.”

  “Okay.”

  “Once again, yeah. Like I said, the government would shit a brick if I stocked anything heavier, ready to go. If more than twelve men are needed, it will have well and truly hit the fan. I have people within radio range, and we’ll send a message back with our requirements. If the morons for the government stay cool, we won’t get rough and will keep to the quarantine requirements, although we’ll have to build a quarantine site on the other side, based on that cave.”

  “It sure sounds like you’ve prepared well,” Oliver told him.

  Kurt laughed. “Eight gets you ten, we’ve forgotten something simple that will bite us in the ass if things go in the toilet...” He paused and laughed. “See how easy it is to fuck up in this business?” He took a small memo recorder on a lanyard around his neck and said into it. “Lots of TP; check with some ladies about tampons and what not.”

  Oliver laughed. “I see that, indeed I do. Helen will know what Kris uses.”

  Kurt gave him a thumbs up, and then led Jacob off to see about a secure storeroom where Otto’s garage used to be. There had been a lot of egg breakage in the neighborhood, Oliver thought as he looked around. The government had bought out the neighbors before he’d gotten out of jail and he’d made the government an offer they couldn’t refuse about the property. With luck, he promised the land back to the original owners for what he’d paid for the properties.

  Two days, that was what Linda had told him earlier. How was it that time had seemed to rocket past until now, and now it was dragging?

  Chapter 19 :: Gray Dawn

  Oliver shook Linda Walsh’s hand, happy to see that she’d tossed her crutches -- her casts had gone a week before. She, Kurt Sandusky and Jacob Lawson were standing in a group, just outside the containment area. Oliver shook the other two men’s hands, then shook hands down the line of others who, if they were lucky and so was Oliver, wouldn’t be needed.

  He’d wanted a glass wall, but the government bureaucrats had nixed it. So, they had video cameras, and there was both a radio repeater and video repeater that would go through the Far Side door if everything worked.

  “The machine is up and running, all is nominal,” Linda told them a short time later. “Ah! The door is forming!” Linda turned to a rather husky brunette, visible in the monitor and mock saluted her. “Jo -- it’s all yours now!”

  “I’ll gi’ ya all she’s got, Cap’n!” the woman replied in a badly done Scots accent.

  They watched the door form and Linda’s voice was calm and collected. “No hazards detected. Kurt, your turn.”

  Kurt Sandusky walked up to the blue rectangle carrying a temperature probe in his hands. “There is a steady breeze blowing from this room into the Far Side. Looks like Linda got the atmospheric pressure pegged. Wait one.”

  He leaned forward, flashlight in hand, and his head vanished through the door.

  Oliver was frustrated after a second when Kurt stepped through the door. The video feed was showing nothing but bare rock, and Oliver thought he’d scream. Kurt reappeared carrying a handful of yellow notebook paper. He made a cut off motion to Linda who stared at him for a moment, and then began shutting things down.

  “Houston! We have a happy face!” Kurt told them on the commlink.

  “Then why shut it down?” Oliver asked, trying not to let either his anger or frustration show.

  “Because there was a thick wad of paper sitting under an air horn. Look at the top sheet.” He held it up to the camera, and there were three words, all underlined, with a large exclamation mark at the end. The paper said simply “Read Me First!”

  Kurt waved the papers. “Assuming the girls aren’t stupid, I thought we should read this first. About half of the wat
er is gone, as are all the MREs. There is no conceivable way that three people could have eaten them all in ten weeks, unless they were pigs. Even after ten weeks, there should have been something like four hundred pounds of rations left, which three of them couldn’t carry off.

  “All things considered, I came back.”

  He waved the papers. “Is someone recording this?”

  “You bet,” Oliver told him.

  “And it’s going out live on the web,” Linda added. No one had ever found out how she’d gotten audio of her captivity out, but the fact was that she had. The government had x-rayed her, run CAT and MRI scans on her -- all without success.

  “Okay,” Kurt told them, “taking this from the top.

  “’I am Andie Schulz, inventor, of Los Angeles, California, the United States of America, found on the planet Earth. According to my watch it’s a few minutes after 8 pm on June 17th.

  “I’m sitting in a cave, writing by the light of a Coleman lantern. Kris, Ezra, and I are well and in no immediate danger -- however, that’s now. In a short while we’re leaving here and heading north. There is a group of people about two miles southwest of our location who already have expressed their intent to harm us. Kris killed one and captured another -- we’re fairly sure that they won’t be happy about that.’”

  Oliver looked at Helen who had blinked. “Kris?” she mouthed. Oliver nodded.

  “This is a small chamber that is part of a larger complex of rooms that has, to put it mildly, a varied history. Unfortunately, our earthly prejudices are going to screw up your perceptions of what we’ve found. Take everything you know about political correctness and file it under ‘not objective reality.’

  “I don’t know the name of this planet, but the people who live here call this the ‘East Finger.’ They also have a ‘Middle Finger’ and a ‘West Finger,’ each are south-running peninsulas some hundreds of miles long. On the bottom of this stack is a word map of this ‘East Finger.’ Making a map here is considered treason -- you have no idea how hard it was to convince them to let us describe it even with words.