by J. N. Chaney
Terry listened to Ludo’s voice, letting it carry him. Like before, he was in the dark, quiet and unmoving. He was alone. He swam in a sea of thoughtlessness, in a place devoid of time. He had been here before, but now it was different. Now there was no laughter. No interruptions. He felt nothing.
He had done it.
After what felt like hours, he heard a voice saying, “Wake now, my friend.”
Terry let out a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes. He was calm and relaxed. A welcome change. The pain in his body was gone, and there was no sign of the girl. How long had he been absent? “How did I do that?”
“You let go,” said Ludo. “It is not easy. Continue on this path, and you will grow stronger.”
“Stronger?”
“You draw strength from within. I have seen it before on our hunts together. I watched you do it when the soldiers came. You have great potential, Terry, but you must learn to control your fears.”
Terry considered his friend’s words. He remembered all the times he’d called upon his strength. Most of them had been under the threat of death or danger. He always assumed adrenaline was the key. Had he been mistaken? Was there a better way? He didn’t quite understand how meditating could make him stronger, but he trusted his friend. If Ludo said this would help, Terry believed him. “Okay,” he finally said. “Tell me what to do.”
“Let us continue,” said the farmer through the stone. “There is much for you to learn.”
Chapter 15
Doctor Mei Curie’s Personal Logs
Play Audio File 190
Recorded: January 23, 2351
CURIE: After transferring all my personal logs to a local data pad, which I’ve also disconnected from the network, I finally feel comfortable recording my thoughts again. Doctor Tremaine’s eyes are everywhere, which she doesn’t seem to try and hide during conversation. She probably thinks she knows everything we’re doing here, and maybe she does, but it doesn’t mean I have to make things easier for her. I had Zoe remove the network chip from this device, along with a few others throughout the camp. I don’t work well with someone watching over my shoulder. No one does.
After arriving at a hypothesis about the source of the radiation, I’ve been working on a way to fix it. Specifically, I’m going to reconstruct the original wormhole and then stabilize it. To do this, I’ll need to create a steady magnetic field around the anomaly. Doing so should cause the micro-tears to collapse in on one another, which will reform the original rift.
Of course, there’s some risk involved. If the new portal operates the same as the old one, we’ll essentially be replacing radiation with Variant. And if I remember my history, the gas spreads like wildfire. The key difference this time, however, is that everyone here is safe from the gas, so the risk is minimal. We also have the added benefit of knowing what we’re building, unlike the poor fools who created the original. If things go bad, I’ll shut the magnetic field down, and the portal should collapse. If it doesn’t, we’ll bury the damned thing and that’ll be the end of it.
Either way, we’re almost there.
End Audio File
Ortego Reconstruction Outpost
January 23, 2351
Mei sat in the conference tent with the rest of her team, getting ready to go over the final leg of the mission. Even Tabata was there.
She cleared her throat. “Thank you all for coming. As you know, we’ve located the source of the radiation. The working hypothesis is that we’re dealing with a series of microscopic wormholes. I’ve also come up with a way to test this.”
“What have you found?” asked Tabata.
“I believe these micro tears are the remnants of the original wormhole John and I encountered and subsequently destroyed four years ago. In order to close the smaller tears, we’ll need to reform the original portal. It’s the only way to prove the hypothesis.”
“You want to stabilize it?” asked Zoe.
“Correct,” said Mei. She took a duffle bag from below her seat and set it on the table. “This is what we’re going to use.”
“What?” asked Bart.
Mei unzipped the bag and grabbed one of the metal rods inside, handing it to Sophie so she could pass it around. “Ortego used a massive machine to initialize a magnetic field to create the original wormhole. We can’t afford to build another one of those, but these little guys should be enough to get the job done.”
An air of silence filled the tent.
Mei sighed. “If you have questions or concerns about any of this, please speak up.”
Zoe fidgeted in her seat. “You’re asking us to reopen the thing that killed the planet.”
“It’s dangerous,” said Sophie.
“More than dangerous,” said Tabata.
“I know,” said Mei. “But if we don’t do this, the radiation will continue to climb, and not even the coils will be enough to stem the tide. None of us knows how bad it will get if we let it continue. The results could be catastrophic. You all know this.”
“You’re right, of course,” said Tabata. “But how does opening the wormhole help?”
“It confirms the hypothesis, which is the most important part. We have to know what the cause is if we’re ever going to fix it.”
“Why not bury it?” he asked.
“Burying it is my last option. We don’t know how the anomaly will react, and I’d much rather understand what we’re dealing with before I toss it in the ground,” she said.
“The last time somebody did this, we got Variant,” said Bart. “You’re sure you wanna take the risk of a repeat apocalypse?”
“The planet’s already been filled with Variant. Maybe less now than there used to be, but the gas isn’t going anywhere. Opening the portal for a minute or two won’t make it any worse.”
“Fair enough,” he finally said.
“Okay, I think we’re with you so far,” said Zoe. “But how does opening the portal stop the radiation?”
“These micro tears are unstable. I think the instability is what’s causing the radiation. If we can unify them into a single bridge, we may actually be able to collapse it for good.”
“So we’d activate it for, what, a few seconds?” asked Bart.
“Precisely long enough to see if it works, then shut it off. If we’re successful, we can reactivate it later for further analysis.”
“You think we’ll need to?” asked Zoe.
“I don’t know,” admitted Mei. “But at least we’ll have the option.”
“There’s no risk of the portal staying open after we try to shut it down?” asked Bart.
“Not this time. If you recall, the original Ortego facility used solar panels and Fever Killers for power. They couldn’t shut the portal down in time, so the consistent energy supply kept the lights on. The magnetic field we’re creating here is totally different. If one of these rods gets detached, the whole thing stops, and the portal destabilizes into micro-wormholes again. The risk is far lower.”
“If we shut the portal down and the micro-tears reform, won’t the radiation come back?” asked Bart.
“Yes, and I’m expecting it to. All we’re doing right now is testing to see if I’m right. If the rift forms, we’ll start looking for a better long term solution.”
Zoe blinked. “When did you have time to come up with all this?”
“I don’t sleep much.”
“Count me in, ma’am,” said Sophie.
Zoe and John both nodded.
“I have no objections,” said Tabata from across the table. “I’m here if you need me.”
“I appreciate the support. We’ll need everyone’s help.”
“Okay, so what’s the full plan? Break it down for us,” said Zoe.
“First, Bart, I need you to work on getting a few more mobile coils up and running. The two we have are working fine, but the radiation will keep rising until we resolve this, so we’ll probably need them
soon. Plus, it’s good to be prepared. The two we have could die at any moment.”
“Not confident in my work?” he asked, raising his brow.
“You’re good, but the parts we’re using are ancient. It’s their age I don’t trust.”
He gave her a thin smile. “Fair enough.”
“Zoe, I need you and your flippies to keep excavating. If we have to bury this thing, I want to have as much data as possible from the basements.”
“You got it,” she said.
“Sophie, you’ll be assisting me with installing the rods and monitoring the field.”
The assistant’s face lit up. “You mean I don’t have to stay in the camp?”
“No, not this time. If Tremaine wants something, she can leave a message. I need my team.”
Sophie grinned, but quickly composed herself. “Yes, ma’am.”
Mei nodded, and turned to Tabata. “I hate to ask this of you, Doctor, but we could use your medical expertise at the site, should anything go wrong.”
“Rest assured, Doctor Curie, I will be there.”
“What about me?” asked John. “I’m going with you, so you’d better find something for me to do.”
“Of course,” she said. “Someone has to carry the supplies.”
He dropped his head. “Figures.”
“Everyone know their jobs?” asked Mei, lifting the duffle from the table. “I want that portal open by the end of the week, which means we have four days to excavate, build, and prepare. Let’s make it happen.”
******
Somewhere on Kant
January 25, 2351
Terry spent the bulk of his days meditating in the cell. He was finally able to sustain himself in the void for as long as he wanted. It was a huge relief.
“Why waste time with such a dumb game?” asked Janice. “It’s so boring. You should play with me instead.” She ran around the room, waving her arms. “Play play play!”
Janice hated the meditations, always taunting him before he started the process. Terry knew better than to listen. A few minutes of meditating, and he wouldn’t see her again for hours.
She giggled. “Won’t be long before they kill you, brother.”
He ignored her, closed his eyes, and breathed. He recited the mantras, banishing his make-believe companion in the process.
Today, Ludo would teach him a new technique meant to cleanse his wings—whatever that meant. He could never understand him when he talked about flying or wings. All he knew was the lessons were working. He didn’t care why.
At the appointed hour, when the suns were at their zenith, Ludo called to him from the other side of the wall, requesting he take his position. Terry did, relaxing his body and performing his routine.
“Today will be different,” said Ludo.
“Different how?” asked Terry.
“Today, my friend, you will free the ghost from its cage.”
Free the ghost? He wanted to ask what Ludo meant, but he didn’t. For the sake of his friend, he would listen. For the sake of himself, he would try.
Ludo began the session with a new, wordless mantra. It was composed of meaningless sounds. This was something Terry had heard him do before, but never in a lesson. Ludo said each word soft, but deep, pulling the sound from his throat and stretching it out when he exhaled. He did this until Terry joined him, and together they repeated the mantra for several minutes. “Ahhmm…” Terry let the word fill him, the deep sound of the M vibrating his mouth as he exhaled. He repeated this many times before the exercise was complete.
“We do this to strengthen our wings,” said Ludo. “Now we must stretch them.”
What followed was another chant, though the word changed. “Hummm…” They repeated the sound as they had the first, and Terry found himself relaxing.
By the time the hour had passed, Terry learned five sounds, each with a different function. All revolved around strengthening his supposed wings.
“Rest now,” said Ludo after a long while. Terry looked at the barred window to find most of the daylight gone, replaced by the soft glow of moon. “Today, we have cleansed our wings. Tomorrow, we shall stretch them.”
“I don’t understand,” said Terry.
“You will see, my friend. Tomorrow, you will see.”
******
Somewhere on Kant
January 26, 2351
The next day came, and so did the meditation hour. Like before, Ludo led with the new mantras, but this time the process was much shorter. “I will speak and you will breathe,” said Ludo. “Focus on my words and let go of your thoughts.”
Terry took a deep breath and released it in a long and steady sigh.
“You are jumbled inside, Terry,” said Ludo. “Your ghost is tied to the ground and mangled.”
Another breath. Release.
“You were not always this way,” he said. “When you were born, your ghost was like an endless piece of rope, stretching far and free. The world has twisted you, however. It has made you what you are. You must untangle the knot and get back to who you used to be. You must free the ghost.”
Another breath. Release.
“Inside you there are wings mightier than the strongest of birds. They have been pinned to the earth by forces in your life. Anger, greed, envy, desire, hate—these are your weights. They must be lifted.”
Another breath. Release.
“Imagine yourself standing on the edge of a mountaintop,” said Ludo. “The snow is cold, but you cannot feel it. The light is hot, but you cannot sense it. The wind is strong, but you cannot feel it. You are there, but not there. You are aware, but unaware. You are you, but you are not you. Now tell me, what do you see?”
In his mind, he saw the place which Ludo had described, and he saw around him all the things which Ludo told him to see. A whirling wind bellowed through the mountain, bending the necks of trees and tearing blades of blue grass from the ground to carry them into the sky. Terry walked in the snow, and he heard the crunch of his feet as he pressed the white ice with his toes. He looked behind him to find a long and endless series of footsteps following him. He had come a long way. He had traveled far.
As he moved to the edge of the mountain, he saw a great chasm stretching wide and deep, filled with forests and rivers, villages and people, and beyond them, still, a sea so vast it nearly swallowed him. Terry saw them clearly, as though he were really there. “So many things,” whispered Terry. He described the sight before him, which wasn’t particularly difficult. It was all so clear.
“Good,” said Ludo. “You see much. Now listen, for this is important. The world before you is one we have made together, but now you must forget it.”
“Forget it?” asked Terry. “It’s beautiful.”
“It is not yours,” said Ludo. “You must craft your own world. Build it to your liking and fill it with your thoughts. You must do this, and it must be yours and yours alone. You must remember every detail. All the blades of grass, all the clouds in the sky, all the rocks at your feet. Remember these things so you may build them again and again, every time you close your eyes. Once you have mastered this new world of yours, then I will teach you to fly.”
******
Ortego Reconstruction Outpost
January 27, 2351
Mei was optimistic. It took Bart less time to build the second set of mobile coils, which put them ahead of schedule. She thought about asking him for more, but four was enough for the moment. In the meantime, he could work on building explosives to take down the rest of the building in case they had to bury the portal.
During this, Zoe managed to collect an enormous amount of useable data from the ruins, thanks to the flippies.
John, Sophie, and Mei spent most of their time in the basement. They brought some lighting fixtures so they wouldn’t have to do everything with their night vision on. The green hue gave Mei a headache.
She wanted to run experime
nts with the rods to make sure a magnetic field would actually do the job. Sophie observed her mentor and assisted where she could. Mei explained every detail to the girl. She wanted to make sure someone else knew how to shut the field down. If anything happened to Mei, Sophie would know what to do.
They fiddled with the rods, fine-tuning their frequency for hours. The field had to be exactly right, otherwise the rift might not form and they’d have to start all over again. Given how impatient Tremaine had gotten lately, Mei wagered she was running out of time before the old woman found out the truth. She had to act fast.
Nevertheless, Mei was staying positive. The first official test was scheduled for this afternoon, and so far she had no reason to doubt her success. Still, anything could happen. She wasn’t a fool. She was prepared for failure, hence the extra coils and explosives. If the whole thing went to hell, she’d end the story here.
At half past noon, the team arrived at the Ortego site, equipment in tow, ready to make history. Bart, Mei, Sophie, John, and Mortimer the Flippy all waited in the basement of the Ortego building.
“Coils are coming online,” said Bart, his eyes on his pad. “Should only be a few minutes.”
“I’m good up here,” said Zoe. Her face appeared in the corner of Mei’s visor. She had knotted hair and looked exhausted, although the radiation suit hid most of it.
“Sophie and I will proceed with the field activation process, so I suggest everyone step back and give us some room,” said Mei.
They did as she asked. She unzipped the bag and removed the first rod. She gave another to Sophie. They’d previously gone and marked each and every one of the spots where the rods would go, measuring the distance so they were equally apart from one another. “Remember,” said Mei. “It’s just like I showed you.”
Sophie nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Mei twisted a ring at the center of the rod, releasing the pin at its core and snapping the rod into place. The room cracked with a loud pop as the rod sent a thin needle into the floor for support. “Next.”
