Vortex of Evil

by S D Taylor

  “How do they determine the flavors? They were mostly fine, but there was one in there that tasted like sardines. It wasn’t what I expected.”

  “The sauce tonight is random. It is designed to produce a variety of taste sensations. Some nights they have a theme, but this is the night to explore the senses. Try new things.” Dara held his glance for long enough time that he found himself stroking his beard before he looked away. Since she had approached him that night about this mission, she had been giving him a weird vibe that he hoped was based on her implied cover story that they were lovers.

  Erin and Doug sat together but avoided establishing any thoughtlinks. “I bet you didn’t expect to be sitting here with me tonight, enjoying this view and having a nice dinner.”

  Erin smiled. “After the past few weeks, I have given up trying to expect anything. I just try to go with the flow. But it was a nice surprise that we ran into each other today.” She was always playing up the official line since it never left her mind that they were listening in on them. How do you like the spife?”

  “I can see the utility of a utensil like this, but it would help to have a slightly bigger one for soup. It takes quite a while to get through a small bowl with one of these.”

  “I think they focus on small bowls here. Eating to excess is discouraged. The resource conservation theme and all that.”

  Doug picked up the small bowl and drank the remaining soup. “There are alternatives.”

  Erin wondered if they ever used the stunpulse to enforce manners. At least the kids were at the other table. She was amazed at how easily Jelk was able to use the spife. She wondered how he could eat but the mechanical hands seemed more than capable of working with small utensils. She wanted to ask him about what sense of feeling he had in them but decided it wasn’t the time or place to continue her research on the twenty-fourth century. Maybe they would have a chance to talk later.

  The main course was a traditional Chinese preparation of a whole salmon, along with a large variety of vegetables that had been steamed and covered with an herb sauce. The “outsiders” were all impressed with the food and how tasty it was. It was obvious that Dara was pleased by this reaction. Erin continued to wonder how to reconcile a Dara who cared what they thought about her favorite restaurant with the Dara that pretended to cut off Peter’s leg to see how she would react. Maybe she was like the sauce. In the presence of humans she continued to change “flavors” constantly to keep things interesting.

  The Doug who had just arrived was about to comment on the dinner when the first rumbling started. He knew instantly what it was and turned to Dara. “We are having an earthquake and we need to get out of here quickly.”

  Dara glanced around with a military precision and stood up. “Come on. There is a stairway over this way. Follow me.” With that she grabbed the hands of her two boys and they all moved quickly though the door she indicated. They were halfway down the stairs when the first heavy shock hit. Only half of them remained standing after the shaking and Olunda had a broken leg. Jelk scooped her up while Erin grabbed little Jinnee. Dara, Doug and the boys had made it to the bottom of the stairs but the older Doug had fallen hard when he lost his footing. He came up with a bad limp as he followed Jelk down the last section of the stairs just as they collapsed. Everyone made it through the door as the ground began a distinct rolling motion and the mushroom-shaped restaurant swayed back and forth. With younger Doug’s help, Doug managed to keep up and they all made it to an open hillside where they were safe from any falling debris or falling restaurants. Fortunately, all the other patrons were able to escape but there were a number of them with broken bones or lacerations. The Dougs tried to help with triage and first aid since it was uncertain if any emergency help would be dispatched to their remote location.

  The Eagle Flight restaurant was a tribute to Transarctican architecture and was able to survive the heavy earthquake. But not everything in Transarctica did as well. From their vantage point, they could see that at least two of the hotels down below in Lopfa had portions of their facade fall away and there was smoke rising from several small fires.

  Dara looked at a small watch-like instrument on her wrist and then turned quickly to Jelk. “The grid is off-line. All the controls are down. This could be our chance.”

  Jelk gave her an intense stare and nodded. To be safe, he grabbed her by the arm. “Should we call Peter?”

  “Yes. Call him now.”

  Jelk stepped away and Dara motioned for all the adults to join hands, which they quickly did.

  “The Yir-Lak grid is down. This could be our chance. Jelk is calling Peter.”

  Erin tried to hold her thoughts in check, but she couldn’t help it. “What is going on? What is the plan?”

  “We are all getting out of here. Now. We are moving up the timeframe by two days. We will fill you in on the way. We will leave as soon as we get the hover vehicles here.”

  “What about your dog? What about little Balla? She is down there in the hotel room.”

  Dara had a sad look on her face and she glanced at her children. “It isn’t just Balla. My sister and niece are down there as well. But there is no way we can go get them now. It can’t be helped. When the hover vehicles get here, we can go find them.”

  The younger Doug’s thought jumped into the conversation. “We aren’t leaving them behind and we can’t take a chance on a tsunami. We need to get them now and bring them up here.” He turned and headed towards the moving steps that the earthquake had turned into non-moving steps. “I will find them and meet you by the kayaks. When hover vehicles arrive, come get us.”

  Dara spoke out loud. “Wait, Doug. Take Jelk with you.”

  Doug spun around and faced her. He had his intense, action face on. “No. You don’t know what could happen next. You need Jelk here to protect everyone. I can take care of this myself. See you soon.” He turned and was jogging towards the steps.

  Erin knew she couldn’t talk him out of it, but then she also knew he wouldn’t be looking back. She exchanged a quick glance with the older Doug who was nursing his bruised shin. He smiled and waved her on. “Be careful. We can be somewhat rash at times.”

  “I’ve noticed that. See you in a bit.”

  Dara halted Erin with five words. “Don’t forget the room key.”

  Erin ran over to Dara, who grabbed her wrist as she handed her the key. “My sister looks like me but taller. Her name is Bealma. Look for her and a little blond girl. Please save them. My niece’s name is Julti.” Dara thoughts were intense and their eyes met. Erin could see the pleading in Dara’s eyes and she was convinced there wasn’t any deception going on. She nodded and raced to catch up with Doug who had just disappeared over the hill. Dara shook her head as she watched them go. They would risk everything for what they believed in. Even if doing the right thing meant helping their sworn enemy. She wondered what Transarctica would be like if there were more people like them living there.

  Chapter 41

  “You have to be kidding. We are going to die trying this.”

  “Don’t worry. I have done this before. We just need to figure out how these sleds work. It helps to be able to brake.”

  The tram plaza featured Transarctica’s version of an alpine slide that went all the way to the bottom of the mountain where the shuttle had dropped them off. But they didn’t know if the slide had been damaged in the earthquake. There were four different tracks of various difficulty and speed. Over Erin’s objections, Doug picked the steepest and fastest one.

  The tram was not functioning and the alpine slide was the only alternative to a slow hike down the mountain. Fortunately, there was a two-person sled so they could ride to their deaths together.

  Erin crawled in behind Doug and they were off. The sleds had small wheels but also had a magnetic microhover device next to each wheel so that they rode down the track on a cushion of magnetism unless the batteries ran low. The wheels were the backup system. Erin hoped the magnetic br
akes worked well. With her arms around Doug’s waist, her thoughts linked and he was able to catch the certain death and at least we die together messages.

  “I will try to restrain myself. And you know my thoughts don’t lie.”

  “Just focus on your driving. I trust you. I am mostly worried about the track. What if there is damage?”

  “We will have to hope for the best in that case. Help me watch the track ahead.”

  Erin had her eyes closed and was planning to keep them that way until they reached the bottom. But Doug was right. They both had to keep an eye out for any danger.

  The ride was similar to an Olympic bobsled run with high banked curves and narrow straight sections with high walls on both sides. At reasonable speeds, it would have been fun but the track that Doug selected was the fastest and scariest way to get down to the bottom. He knew it was likely that a tsunami would be coming and it was hard to tell how long they had or how dangerous it would be for the people in Lopfa.

  Cruising through the upper part of the track was uneventful. There were cracks noticeable in several places, but the magnet layer that held the sled suspended a few inches above the track went right over the damage without problems. Erin held Doug so tightly that he began to wonder if he could breathe sufficiently. She heard his thoughts and loosed her death grip.

  They both saw the missing section on the corner in time to fully understand what was about to happen but not in time for Doug to completely brake to a stop. He had the sled down to about thirty miles per hour when they hit the broken section. The impact tore the wheels completely off, throwing the sled into the air and onto its side. They were both wearing helmets or they would have been knocked unconscious by the jolt when their heads hit the concrete. As it was, the impact left them dazed and unable to control the sled that was now sliding on its side, heading into one of the steepest parts of the track.

  “Goodbye, Doug. I think this is it.” Erin yelled in desperation.

  “Hell it is. I don’t plan to die on an alpine slide.” With that, he stomped on the magnetic brake and even on its side the brake managed to get enough pull from the side wall that it slowed the sled to a crawl. Doug counted to three and rocked violently to the side and the sled popped back into its normal position. Without the front wheels, they would have to rely on the magnet microhover pad to carry them along.

  Doug released the brake and they were going again. Erin noticed that he kept the speed more reasonable as they entered the lower section of the track. Things were going fine for the next three curves but then they entered a straight section and saw several sleds piled up ahead. Doug stood on the brake and managed to stop their sled about fifty feet before the wreck. A section of track had dropped away about four feet due to a landslide and three sleds had crashed full speed into the gap. The three occupants, two boys and a girl, all in their teens, crashed into the gap and lay grotesquely sprawled in their black jumpsuits and helmets. Doug verified that all three were dead.

  “It just isn’t fair. These three kids are just having fun in a place like this, in Transarctica where fun is kind of rare, and they end up dying.” She could feel the tears running down her face.

  Doug, ever practical, pushed the sled in the best condition up the far side of the gap and climbed in. “Come on. We don’t have much time. We can grieve for them later.”

  Erin knew he was right yet again, but she never ceased to be amazed by his ability to focus on the task at hand, no matter what he encountered or what he lost along the way.”

  She put her arms around him and they were off. He wasn’t focused on the thoughtlink and Erin heard him thinking about the three young people. “I don’t have time to cry. However sad that makes me. However DAMN unfair, I can’t let it distract me. We have work to do.”

  The thoughtlink revealed a side of him that she didn’t get to see normally. She could see that he did react to these things, but he was trained to focus and not show his emotions. She was glad she had the opportunity to share his thoughts. But she wondered if all of his thoughts would be as positive.

  “Don’t worry. It’s ok if you know that I have feelings. Just don’t tell anyone else. And I am glad Dara told you about her sister and niece. I didn’t think to get that info. I was worried more about the dog.”

  “I am glad you love dogs. I just hope we can save everyone, including ourselves. Seeing those bodies back there makes all of this seem risky.”

  The new sled was bent but it worked well enough. They reached the bottom and were taking their helmets off when they heard the tsunami warning sirens begin to blow.

  There was a shuttle bus waiting in the parking lot. It had a full load of young people waiting to return to their hotel. When the bus driver saw Erin and Doug arrive by sled, he ran over and asked if they had seen three young people on the track.

  Doug looked at the bus full of teenagers and back at the worried driver. “The track was broken by the earthquake. They went off the track and I’m sorry, but they all died in the accident.”

  The man stared at him in disbelief. “Dead? How can that be? They said this slide was safe. We felt the earthquake but didn’t think it would cause that much damage.”

  “It was probably bigger than you realized. There was a big landslide took out part of the track. Who is that on the bus? Do they know the three that died?”

  “Yes. They are part of a Yir-Lak Youth gathering. Those three were the last ones to go down the slide and when they arrived we were going to return to the hotel.”

  “Can you give us a ride to Ponder? We have an emergency and it appears there is going to be a tsunami soon.”

  The bus driver looked at Erin, then back at Doug. He seemed surprised by such a question. Apparently asking for such favors was somewhat unusual in the highly regimented world they were living in. “I’m sorry but only Yir-Lak Youth members can ride on this bus. I am sure there is another . . .”

  He didn’t finish his sentence as Doug punched him hard in the diaphragm. It knocked the air out of him and he sat down in place with Doug helping him. “Sorry friend, but we need to go. Stay here and you should be safe from the tsunami. You will feel better in a few minutes.” Doug took the key that hung around the drivers neck.

  Shaking her head at Doug’s negotiating style, Erin followed as he quickly ran back to the bus. There were twenty five teenagers of both sexes on the bus and they were engaged in animated discussions. None had paid attention to the bus driver and the sudden ‘illness’ that caused him to need to sit down in the parking lot.

  “Ok, everyone. There has been an accident on the track and I need all of you to get off the bus and go wait with the bus driver.”

  “I thought we were going back to the hotel. We have been waiting here for twenty minutes. What is going on? Will there be another earthquake?”

  Doug decided their emotional health would have to take a back seat to the situation. “There was a big landslide caused by the quake and part of the track collapsed. Your three friends had a terrible accident when they hit the missing section of track.”

  “Are they ok?”

  “I’m sorry to have to tell you that all three died from their injuries. There will be an investigation and I need all of you to wait here until the investigators arrive.”

  Several of the group looked at Doug with either fear or skepticism and hesitated to move. He went ahead and threw in a comment about the tsunami warning and said the hotels would not be safe for the next two hours. He was betting they were used to authoritarian structure and an older person issuing instructions would convince them to comply. He was right.

  As soon as the last young person left the shuttle bus, Doug sat in the driver’s seat, plugged in the square key and punched it. It wasn’t a sports car but Erin was surprised when the sudden acceleration made her grab for the handrail as she took her seat. The electric motor seemed to have an excellent amount of power, especially when the bus only had two passengers. They roared past the bus driver who was n
ow surrounded by the group of young people. He pointed frantically at the speeding bus but he was still unable to form the words “stop them.”

  Doug and Erin arrived at Ponder a few minutes later after an exciting ride down a winding road in an electric shuttle bus that was designed for transporting tourists at twenty five miles per hour. Doug was surprised by how well it handled the tighter curves. Erin was surprised they arrived alive. She jumped out and headed for Dara’s room while Doug turned the bus around in the circular drive and jumped out to look for Dara’s sister. He was going to get them to high ground as quickly as he could once Erin retrieved the dog.

  Erin used Dara’s child key to open the door to her room. The adults could enter the room by touching the scanpad on the wall, but for the children there was a key. Erin heard little Balla whining softly as she entered the room. There was a small gate on the bathroom door that kept the dog contained there. Even in the future they preferred that your pets didn’t do anything unexpected on the carpet. Balla became excited and was wagging her tail furiously as Erin approached. There was a small backpack with her dog food and water bottle so Erin scooped up the pack, put the thin blue leash on Balla and headed for the door.

  An aftershock hit just as she reached the hallway. Erin lost her balance and had to go down to one knee. Balla was unfazed and used the opportunity to jump up and lick Erin in the face. The simple love and trust of a dog was hard to beat she thought to herself. She had worried about the risk of trying this rescue but seeing the happy little dog convinced her they had done the right thing. Now it they could just get out of this alive.

  The shaking didn’t last more than five seconds and she was soon on her way. There wasn’t much damage to the hotel lobby but many of the guests were heading for the doorways or standing around in the lobby looking confused. A young girl about ten ran up to Erin and asked her for help finding her mother. Erin paused, but then quickly asked her where she had last seen her mother.

  “After the big earthquake, she told me to stay in the room while she went to see what was happening. But she never came back.”