Timelines

by Bob Blink

  Dave had warned me about this discovery last night. I had told Naiya at home last night, but it was news to the others. He hadn’t given me the details, explaining he would discuss the disturbing findings his team had stumbled upon in the piles of output being fed to them by John’s people.

  “One of the interesting items that Cindy brought me a couple of days ago was the file list and the associated creation dates corresponding to each. They go back a long way. It appears that the system contains files going back just shy of 180 years.”

  “You’ve examined some of the files from that far back?” Carol asked curious. “Is there something that provides parallel support that earlier files aren’t simply missing?”

  “That’s a good point,” acknowledged Dave. “But we have a few of the files from that period and have looked at them.” He explained to all of us. “Since John’s team learned how to date the files, we asked them to concentrate on files from the most recent periods. We were hoping to find clues that might help us understand their current activities, feeling the historical background should be secondary.” He paused momentarily. “But once we found an indication of the beginning of the project, there has been some hope that files from this period might explain the purpose or goals of their project.”

  “Have you found anything?” Naiya asked.

  “Not so far, at least nothing explaining their ultimate goal. However, a number of the files from the early period are related to system alignment and initial tunnel formation. They spent a long period, maybe twenty years, just getting the system up and running to their satisfaction.”

  “You said something earlier about their being desperate,” Carol questioned. “Please explain what you mean.”

  Dave leaned forward and continued. “We have found several references in more recent documents, documents dated about the time your brother was taken Carol. If we are interpreting the material correctly, and we are scanning everything we have to try and find more detail on this, time is running out for them. I know that sounds strange when we are talking about a time machine, but they have a deadline. From the scattered references, we think that fifteen years ago they were looking at a maximum of forty to forty-five years remaining. For some reason they had to be finished within that time span.”

  “That would mean now they have at most thirty years left,” Carol mused out loud.

  “That’s correct,” agreed Dave. “And there are other clues. “From the records we have found, there have been many tunnels opened and closed over the almost two hundred years they have been here. Typically they have usually been very methodical. A pathway is opened, and adjustments made. We found one documented case where two pathways were opened at the same time, and there was commentary in the document against the rash approach being applied at that time.”

  “And now we see four pathways being opened simultaneously,” Naiya noted. “They are shot-gunning their approach.”

  “There’s a lot of speculation in all of this, but, yes, that’s what we believe. It seems that with time running out they are attempting to apply a less studied approach to their manipulations.”

  “Have you found anything that suggests how many aliens are involved?” Mike asked. “We are assuming a small team, but is there anything to suggest that is accurate?”

  “Nothing specific. The material seems to imply a bigger team early on, but that is just a feeling. I wouldn’t want you to plan based on that vague impression.”

  “Did you find any documentation from the most recent visit?” Carol was clearly uncomfortable with what she was hearing.

  “Very little. We found only a single note indicating four ‘somethings’ were initiated. We assume the un-translatable word corresponds to our pathway or tunnel. Even the sloppy documentation is uncharacteristic showing a changing attitude.”

  John added, “We even get hints from the little of the conversation we were able to recover between the aliens.”

  “You actually pulled something off that recording?” Al asked. We had all heard it, and there was so much background noise that none of us had expected the translator to be able to recover any of the conversation.

  “Actually, we didn’t use the translator,” John explained. “We have been building up an electronic database of our own using the alien speech association to English words. The approach is similar to what the CIA uses for voice recognition of monitored phone traffic. That system was able to recover bits and pieces from their exchange. The translation includes words like hurried, careless, troublesome, and in one place we get terminate project. It wouldn’t probably mean much without the material that Dave has found indicating the troubles they are having. I agree, things are not going the way the aliens hoped.”

  “Maybe we can make things even worse for them,” Carol added with a touch of anger.

  “John, is there any chance something your team did in scanning the computers files, even remotely, might have triggered the failure in tunnel development.” Al was obviously looking for a method to terminate the progress of the other tunnels.

  I could tell that John had considered the possibility already. “We don’t think so. We have been very careful to try and stay away from anything that could possibly affect the control functions. Besides, we have performed the same steps with respect to each of the four pathways being formed, with only the one having shut down. So, my guess is that something just went wrong. Maybe Dave’s discovery that they don’t normally initiate this many tunnels at once is the clue?”

  I had been hoping that John might say something along the way, but it hadn’t come up so I asked, “Is there anything on this graphic you were talking about earlier that would indicate percent complete, or the equivalent.”

  He grinned. “Wouldn’t that be handy? Actually, we have been hoping to discover something like that, but the structure they use in their displays is so different, it might be there and we have just missed it so far. We’ll keep looking.”

  “Do you think we have enough evidence to convince the military of the threat?” I asked. I already knew my opinion, but wanted to see where the others stood in light of the new information. Jeff had been frustrated the last few days. He had given me a well thought out plan, but he felt we should be moving on it now, not holding back. I didn’t think we needed them as yet, but the potential need to destroy the alien system might push us that way sooner than I thought.

  “Not yet,” answered Carol before anyone else could speak.

  Dave agreed. He had lots of bits and pieces, but without the background provided by years on the project, it would be difficult to build an airtight case as yet. Especially for a military type who might be more interested in the usefulness of the device itself. “Once we bring them in, there is no turning back,” she said.

  Naiya nodded agreement. Okay. So for now, we would continue to go it alone.

  I turned to Al with a question that had been in the back of my mind for some time now. “Any luck with that odd communications device? Assuming that is what it really is. What about the personal flying devices the aliens use?”

  He sighed. “Not much, I’m afraid. This is one area where we could really use some outside help. We simply don’t have the right people to reverse engineer this stuff. Even if we did, it looks like a multi-year task before it would start to pay dividends. It definitely isn’t something that is going to help us near term.”

  “Has Mark raised any question about the absences from the office of late? Most of my people haven’t been there in a couple of weeks.” John and his team had lived in the center until recently. They still weren’t going into the office, having too much to do and the office would only offer distractions.

  “He’s too busy with all the new programs that have come in,” I answered.

  For all the key people, funds keep coming in from the fake companies they are supposedly working for. That cuts down on questions. One of the advantages of a consulting firm is that people can disappear for long periods without raising
eyebrows. That was working for us during this key period. It was one of the reasons we had set up the business this way in the beginning.

  Chapter 36

  Time Complex

  Effective Date: Friday, 29 September 2006

  Everyone had been a bit on edge since the tunnel failure, wondering whether this information had been somehow sent to the aliens. If it had, Mike realized, then they could be on their way to us at this moment. Every person who spent time in the complex was acutely aware of the possibility. Due to the added stress, the waiting game made it hard to remain focused for days on end.

  A day passed. Then another. Then a week. Then, without warning, the first of the new tunnels changed suddenly. One of the men stationed in the tunnel room was surprised by the change and reported the unexpected disappearance of the light pattern. A quick check in the area where the lights had been now revealed a new tunnel, looking in all ways undistinguishable from the others in the room. Had we not been present for the process, it would have looked as if it had always been here. From the interior of the tunnel room, there was no way to determine to which time this particular tunnel led. John wasn’t in the complex. He hadn’t been for several days, but he had left one of his people in a support role. Warning everyone against venturing into the tunnel, Mike hurried up the ramp to the lab room in search of Chris. He wouldn’t actually have needed him he discovered as he entered the lab room. The four monitors that had been activated showed the graphics for the four tunnels that the aliens had started. The second monitor had been static for some time, corresponding to the tunnel that had apparently shutdown earlier for unknown reasons. Now the last monitor on the right was also static, but in this case it appeared that various status information was now listed across the face of the screen in the alien characters.

  Chris was already capturing the data presented on the screen, as well as searching the system for any new file entries that may have been posted, logging the completion of the tunnel. Perhaps there would be clues to the status of the other tunnels. We hadn’t found any progress indicators, so there were still no guidelines when the remaining two tunnels would be completed. It seemed likely that they would finish soon.

  “I’ve sent one of the men to radio John,” Mike explained to Chris. “Is there anyone else I should have them contact?”

  “John will know whom to bring,” Chris responded, the nervousness easily detected in his voice.

  Well, why not. This was the indicator they had all waited for, yet feared. If they were right, the tunnel completion was the likely precursor to the alien’s return. However, this time a surprise was waiting for them. Mike and his team were ready to ambush them. There wasn’t a nice way to put it. We couldn’t afford to take any chances. Based on what had been learned, the aliens were an enemy. They couldn’t be given a chance to get to the controls. That meant a surprise attack that would hopefully take them down before they could react and put up a defense. Mike knew that Carol hoped that one could be taken and perhaps questioned, but that wasn’t a priority for him. Swift elimination was more important. Carol had talked enough about the possible protective shields the aliens might have that he wasn’t interested in taking the chance even one of them could survive long enough to be a problem.

  At least the team had been given the time to make preparations. It had taken a bit of work, but they were as ready as they were going to get. The empty room opposite the long corridor leading to the entrance the aliens would use had been modified. The doorway had been significantly widened, and the middle third of the wall had been cut though and removed over the entire length. Cutting through that alien steel had presented some interesting challenges. If the walls had been made of the thicker alien steel, they never would have been able to do it. The sheets they had removed were now being used to make a low wall roughly five feet in front of the wall to the room itself. This low wall ran the length of the room, turning sharply at ninety degrees at the left end, it continued along the left wall in the direction of the ramp. The sheets were re-enforced with steel supports and multiple layers of sand bags on the rear side. In addition to providing an additional layer of defense, the low wall provided a corridor that the team could use to slip out of the control area and over to the ramp and down to the tunnel room. Using the alien steel as the front surface would hopefully make the changes difficult to detect long enough for the alien team to all enter the corridor. Once they had, the attack would begin, and then it wouldn’t matter if the changes were discovered.

  Set into the recess of the room itself were the large laser and the plasma digger, as well as combat stations for four men. Each was armed with a semi-automatic version of the 50 caliber Barrett rifle. Holding ten of the massive rounds in a magazine, the larger rifle would have a slower rate of fire than the typical military firearm. Still, Naiya was insistent that the heavier and more powerful cartridge was advisable. It wasn’t like we would be falling back and carrying the heavy rifles if things went badly. Three additional firing positions were set up and fortified in the corners of the control center. These wouldn’t have a clear line of fire down the corridor, but would provide a cross fire capability if any of the aliens made it down the hallway far enough. The two positions that Mike had initially placed in the tunnel room before the group meeting were still in place, but we hoped that none of the aliens would get that far.

  The corridor itself had been configured with a number of shaped charges that would propel shrapnel like projectiles from above down at the floor and along the length of the corridor. Several were configured as bombs, and had been rigged so they could be launched through the lock door once it was open into the space beyond. This might catch anyone lagging behind by surprise. The entire complex was wired with a high performance explosive that we had managed to acquire uptime. If things went very badly, those who were able would evacuate to the tunnel room and would trigger the thirty-second timer delay as they left. It was unclear whether the explosives could take out the center, but if the attempt to blow it up became necessary there would be little to lose by trying. Even if it failed.

  Noise was going to be a problem. In the confines of the small time center, just the concussion from the heavy Barretts would be destructive to human ears. Hopefully it would be disorienting to the aliens as well. Each man was equipped with a special sound suppressing helmet, and all communications were via the closed circuit network installed for this action. Once the firing started, conversation wouldn’t be necessary. It would be over in seconds, win or lose.

  Mike walked out of the lab area, and stepped across the hall towards the men he had positioned there. They all knew what had happened, and he could see how tense everyone had become. There wasn’t much he could do about that, but he would need to rotate the men more often now. Just because the tunnel had completed didn’t mean the aliens would be here immediately. Two tunnels remained unfinished. Besides, it was only a guess when they would return. They could still be in for a long wait.

  “Jeff,” Mike remarked, seeing the man in combat gear in the back of the room. “You shouldn’t be here. You’re our contact to the military after this encounter is over.”

  “Other than yourself, I’m the only man here who has been in combat. I belong here. Everything you need from me is documented. Just make sure you get video of what happens here so they understand what they might be up against. I’ve had it with sitting around on my ass.”

  Jeff had been invaluable planning the defense, making many useful suggestions, and working tirelessly getting the dirty work done. Mike trusted him, and couldn’t deny having another man on the line that knew what was coming would be to their advantage. He knew that Jim wouldn’t like it, but for now he decided to let Jeff stay. He wondered how long it would take Jim and the others to get here. He’d had a message sent to them as well when they discovered the tunnel completion.

  ------------------

  We arrived less than an hour later. John, Carol, and I met Mike in the tunnel room. Naiya and D
oc were setting up on the other side of the tunnel outside the complex. They would be coming inside in a few minutes, but in the meantime Mike was giving the rest of us a status dump on what had happened that morning. He was only partly through the sequence of events from the morning, when the second set of swirling lights disappeared. Another tunnel was complete. John didn’t wait, but turned and headed for the ramp.

  “I want to see the monitor,” he exclaimed as he headed upstairs.

  The rest of us followed close behind him. Events were happening fast now. Upstairs the word had already preceded us. John and Chris exchanged a few words and then all of us gathered around the monitors. Three of the four were static now, with two having the strings of characters superimposed on the screens.

  “Any ideas on the last one?” Carol asked.

  “I would guess soon,” John answered, but there is nothing on the screen that resembles a task complete status. I’m guessing they all take a characteristic time with a small tolerance. It’s probably repeatable enough they didn’t feel the need for such an indicator.”

  Just then we all heard a loud thump accompanied by a vibration that ran through the entire complex. John had felt it once before. There was no need to ask; it was clear from John’s face what it meant. “They’re here,” he whispered.

  Mike was behind us in a second. He had donned his own helmet, and was handing one to each of us. Put these on in case things break loose before you can get clear. You’re not in body armor. Get the hell downstairs.”

  Chris and John were first down the ramp. Carol had her rifle in hand. It was only good for one shot, but she knew it worked against the aliens and felt she should be on hand just in case. Mike wasn’t buying it. “Go!” he shouted. She hesitated a moment longer, than sprinted across the hall, and headed down the ramp. I was following close behind, when I noted Jeff behind one of the rifles. I stopped and started in his direction when one of the men started pointing down the long hallway. The door was opening.