by Paul, Alan
“Our INTEL says otherwise. One combat SYN should be enough to handle a Synthetic Co-pilot.”
“I can handle one of those without a Combat SYN,” Longcra flippantly interjected.
“Listen, you want to drop us into an alien environment against Jason Bjorn in the seat of the Chameleon? You’re fucking crazy, Captain, because you could send in a battalion of Combat SYNs and he’ll sit back, blow them all to smithereens. I know Bjorn, and with that force multiplying bitch SYN of his, you’re going to need more fire power.”
“Seems like you’re yellow,” sneered Sergeant Longcra.
“No one has ever said that about me before,” Learner said defensively.
“You’re just worried about your own skin.”
“You bet I am; it covers my body.” Learner stood angrily, and faced Sergeant Longcra who sat calmly and confidently in the knowledge of his past combat experience.
“At ease, both of you! Rotterdam, the situation is under control. We have neutralized the Chameleon. The ship is a dead stick; you will secure the ship and wait for the Time Bubble.”
“Call me fucking stupid, Captain Hargrove, can you speak more concisely? What is a Time Bubble?”
“Although the Anannaki have perfected this technology we’re only on the threshold of its development. There’s a time variable in this technology when we can open another Quantum Foam Bubble. But we estimate it can take between twenty-four to seventy-two hours.”
“That’s a long time to be hanging our asses out there, Captain.”
“Sir, can I be reassigned? This guy seems to be nothing but a liability!”
“No, Longcra…Rotterdam has more than enough experience to see this mission through.”
TESERAK DISPLACEMENT
Chasm Fat Boy is a hidden military complex deep within the Pacific Abysmal Plain. The joint Vril and Devonian military base was no more than a mere ghost town now. Nearly all the assets had been dispersed, and only a small rear guard existed. They had been anticipating a looming attack from Polaris Security Forces ever since Jason Bjorn’s vehicle disrupted their cloaking tower, exposing the secret base. Once an old mining camp, the base was protected by an array of electro-magnetic initiators that spanned between the canyon’s walls. The force field generators ionized the sun’s deadly radiation, protecting them below. Under the base existed a labyrinth of tunnels that belied alcoves of Vril secrets.
The Raven was parked in the open and in close proximity of the Teserak. The Quantum Foam Generator was attached deep below to Core Displacement Stations that energized the wormhole drive.
“What are you still doing here?” Learner asked.
“Do you think I would miss such a historic event? You’ll go down in Vril history for your actions here today, Mister Rotterdam,” said Mitchell Thacker; his undying loyalty was self-evident.
“This whole mission is a cluster fuck, Mitchell. If I don’t come back would you please look in on June for me?” June was Learner’s wife.
The two of them walked behind Sergeant Longcra and the Combat SYNs; a small hovercraft carried their gear.
“You don’t even have to ask, sir. However, I have great confidence in your ability. You will survive. You always do, and when you come back, your infamy will be unchallengeable. You will be ripe to contest for top leadership. I’ll have to call you Master Paladin Rotterdam. It has a ring, sir.”
Ignoring Mitchell, Learner’s mind decayed down a slope of negativity. “I don’t like this whole deal, Mitchell. It keeps sliding farther sideways on me… maybe I should’ve paid Bjorn what he wanted, and all this would have been avoided,” he said before donning his bio-suit helmet.
“What’s done is done, sir, and there’s nothing you can do about it now,” said Mitchell.
“You stay close to Captain Falger, he’s a tough son-of-a-bitch.” Learner’s voice squelched behind his helmet’s speaker.
Standing at the edge of the Teserak, they watched large intensity lasers focus their energy into a finite point, creating a singularity of infinite potential, giving birth to a glowing black Time Bubble, and it was as if they were looking into a giant black snow globe containing star clusters of the Galaxy.
The surface tension of the circular wormhole flexed and buckled when Longcra, and the SYNs pushed through, causing ripples in the time-space continuum.
Learner was to enter last but he was hesitant to step through the warp, and he paused before the glowing black sphere.
“The Bubble will only hold for a couple of minutes,” Captain Hargrove said through Learner’s earpiece.
Learner said nothing, and stood only inches from the Time Bubble when Hargrove spoke again. “Minutes could mean a differential in hours or days, Learner.”
Although he had only waited a minute longer after Longcra and the SYNs had stepped through the Teserak, and due to the instability of the wormhole, even such a short delay might affect the time-space continuum.
He felt queasy when the superficial strain of his entire being was stretched and popped between Quantum Foam Generators, and he could see stars of the Milky Way Galaxy glistening in blackness of space pouring like water around the Bubble. Although a quick transition between the QFGs, there was a moment when Learner could actually see in great detail what was happening on the Martian surface before he emerged through the Bubble next to the Chameleon.
Learner violently vomited in his helmet but did not have much time to compose himself after the Bubble collapsed behind him. He drew his pistol, and started firing wildly at the Giant man-like creature that was skewering Longcra with a huge spear. His aim was off, and the Giant creature held Longcra in the air like victory trophy. Nothing could be done for the doomed man, and he thought, “Humanoids!”
Learner looked for both Combat SYNs as he watched the bamboo forest shimmer from a large number of Humanoids that closed in on one of the SYNs, who was putting up a valiant fight. Learner realized the Giants had not seen him yet, so he slinked away.
The swamp made good cover, and making himself as small as possible, he slid beneath the brackish water and swam away from the hand-to-hand combat that took place in front of the Chameleon. He wanted to see if he was being followed, so he peered up over the boggy surface to see that the SYN was standing on a pile of dead Humanoids, putting up an intrepid fight, until he was finally overwhelmed. Individually, or even a handful of Humanoids were no match for the Combat SYN but their numbers overmatched him as they converged on the ill-fated SYN as dozens more of the fearless creatures melted out of the forest swamp. He counted nearly thirty of the Humanoids still standing.
Learner was shocked at the incredible strength the Giants exhibited when they pulled the SYN’s limbs off with ease. One Giant used his large teeth to tear into the Synthetic’s flesh, de-gloving his arm from the elbow down. The scene was most gruesome, and from moments ago, Mitchell’s words reverberated in his head. “What’s done is done, sir, and there’s nothing you can do about it now.” Learner then whispered into his foul smelling helmet, “Yeah, I could’ve never stepped through that fucking wormhole.”
After the battle, the Giants started destroying the Cargo Sleeve; using large boulders to punch through the hull, and with a combined effort, Learner watched them easily peal the metal skin back, exposing the Chameleon. He watched as one of the Humanoids emerged from the Sleeve waving the exterior hatch of the Chameleon, like it was some kind of prize.
Regrettably he thought, “I should’ve done the deal with Bjorn,” and assumed at this point, the Giants most likely killed him and his SYN. Learner would now have to wait in hiding in hope the cavalry would pop out of the next Time Bubble but soon.
Q UANTUM FOAM
Lexis returned from her excursion, and dropped a few more items she cleared out from the Chameleon.
“I see you’re feeling better, Jason,” Lexis said.
“Again, I want to say thank you for saving my life, Lexis.”
“You are welcome but you must now tell me about you
r brother.”
Jason sighed, leaning up against the cave’s wall, and spoke. “OK, I was drafted, and serving Off World with the Polaris Marines when I got the Priority One message. It coldly stated that my brother, wife, and child had been killed. It took over a month for me to travel home. When I arrived home, the bodies had already been recycled.”
“What of the killers and why did you say your brother was the killer?”
“When I found out my wife and child were living with Rafe the whole time I was away, it compounded my pain.”
“I don’t understand, what was wrong with that, Jason?”
“She left me for my own brother and never told me.”
“She left you?” Lexis was still confused, and then asked, “Did she have sex with your brother?”
“Yes, Lexis.”
“I am sorry for the pain that caused but how did Rafe kill or not kill your wife and child?”
“My brother was the head of Security on Level 2, and he had uncovered something he shouldn’t have. Some underworld boss put a hit out on him. My wife and child were in the wrong place at the wrong time, Lexis.” Jason choked up.
“Is that why you never had children ever again?”
“Yes, her betrayal had killed my only child.” There was a silent pause in the cave.
Lexis looked into Jason’s eyes and spoke lovingly. “Jason.”
“Yes, Lexis?”
“I am going to have your child.”
Jason, looked at her with a puzzled look on his face, and said doubtfully, “You are going to have my child? You can’t have children, Lexis.”
“Yes, it was part of my free will programming.”
“What do you mean?” Jason still did not understand what she contemplated.
“I have genetically incubated your semen in my womb.”
Jason did not remember that part of the SYNTECH contract. He wondered, “What kind of small print did I miss?”
“We can’t have a baby right now, Lexis. We need to offer a stable environment for the child.”
“It is already too late but I can slow the gestation rate to allow us some time to get out of this situation.”
Jason started to feel claustrophobic looking around the small cave, and he spoke. “We need to get to one of the polar cities soon, Lexis.”
Jason contemplated how crazy his life had become, and he thought, “Why not throw more confusion into the mix?” He then watched Lexis’s back suddenly arch straight up, and she tilted her head facing toward the entrance.
“What’s wrong, Lexis?”
“Jason, I have detected a disturbance in the space-time continuum.”
“What?”
“A wormhole was opened briefly near the Chameleon, and logic dictates they will be searching for us.”
“Lexis, I don’t understand what’s going on here. What in the hell did I do to have the Polaris Corporation bear such a device against me?” Jason stressfully asked while his heart raced with anxiety.
He pondered, “The only race outside of the Polaris Corporation to have access to wormhole technology was the Greys,” otherwise identified as the Anannaki. For millions of years, the Anannaki have cultivated life on many planetary systems, including Earth. These original designers of life used their superior technology to clear a path for the ascension of mammals; by ridding the Earth’s surface of dinosaurs, and genetically modifying Man’s ancestral links, they gave rise to modern Man.
Many times when Mankind was at the brink of going extinct, the Anannaki guided the hand of humanity through those narrow epochs. They taught Man how to make fire in the darkest of times, gave him language, and showed him how to cultivate the land. They helped Man build great pyramids in hope to inspire but tens of thousands of years later when Mankind mastered Off World flight, the Anannaki’s presence on Pluto was discovered.
The Anannaki remained vigilant in their hands off approach, avoiding Mankind’s every attempt to communicate with them. However, the Polaris Corporation considered this unacceptable, deeming their existence a threat; and after decades of military planning, the Polaris Corporation invaded Pluto, capturing the alien colony.
After seizure of the proto-planet, the secret of Anannaki travel was revealed, Quantum Foam Generators opened up a vast network of wormholes throughout the Galaxy, unleashing a chain of events that nearly drove them to extinction. SYNTECH’s vast army of Combat SYNs spread across the Galaxy; portal after portal was captured. The passive Greys had no chance against the Polaris Corporation’s plan of self-manifest-destiny, and their desire to conquer and control all.
Near Orion’s Belt, the majority of the Anannaki were forced to move back to their home world, where they lived in pure subjugation. The incorporation of the Anannaki marginalized them, and without having any real authority over their own lives, they were forever banned from using their own Off World Transportation. They were forced to toil under corporate supervision as Quantum Foam Operatives.
When the Polaris Corporation incorporated their home world, they moved their planetary Quantum Foam Generator to an uninhabited moon, and placed Polaris Off World Ring Technology as the only means for them to travel. The Corporation strictly managed the wormhole network, and traversing the huge expanses of the Galaxy was now a corporate affair.
“Wormhole TECH only works between QFGs,” Jason stated.
“Without assuming, there is a high probability that the secretive modification done by the OPSS has turned the Chameleon into a small Quantum Foam Generator,” Lexis replied.
“The whole thing doesn’t make any sense to me, Lexis. I think we’re in real trouble here…” Jason’s panicky tone increased, “…we don’t know where they are or how many of them came through. They’ll eventually find us.”
“Then we must do the unexpected, Jason.”
In a capitulating tone, he asked, “Which is what, Lexis?”
Lexis then looked in the eyes of Jason, and said, “Attack them, and destroy the wormhole generator!”
Like some game, he could see a gleam of excitement radiate from her face. “Must be her combat programing,” he thought while listening to her.
“You will be the bait this time, Jason.”
“What’s the plan, Lexis?”
“You will go near the wormhole and de-cloak drawing them out into my crossfire. There I will cut them down like blades of grass under Sam’s lawnmower.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“We need to act, and move fast. Your Power Suit will help even the odds to whatever they throw at us.”
Jason moved uncloaked through the marshy water. Somewhere to Jason’s flank, Lexis stalked waiting for the snake to reveal its head. Jason trained his heavy weapon through the bamboo. The over-under weapon system was too heavy to be carried unless wearing a Power Suit; a SYN could carry one with ease, and both he and Lexis brandished the Polaris super weapon.
The over-under weapon system consisted of a smart grenade launcher under the gun barrel. This technology was much more powerful than a plasma rifle, and above the barrel was a vehicle destabilizer.
His sensors picked up no life forms as he neared the Chameleon but that meant nothing, since the enemy’s positions would not be revealed until the enemy opened fire. The powerful Exo-suit, otherwise known as a Ersatz Power Suit, was state of the art, and could absorb hits from a pulse rifle.
The legs of Jason’s mechanical suit dredged up the bog’s muddy bottom. Jason nearly stumbled over a well-camouflaged dead Humanoid that was floating in the murky water. He noticed a thick blood slick staining the slough.
“They’re killing anything that moves.” Jason’s imagination raced in a state of near exhausting paranoia, and as he moved closer he could see the exposed nose of the Chameleon. He flinched when he saw all the damaged she sustained, and yelled, “My baby!”
Pressing forward, he noticed the pile of dead Humanoids, their height and skin amazed him.
“A quagmire of death!” said Jason
when his sensors picked up a large group moving away from him.
Jason quickly rushed forward through the bamboo until reaching the edge of a savanna; there he zoomed in on a group of Humanoids shimmering amongst the tall grass. He could see Longcra’s dead body being carried off at the end of a large spear.
Lexis de-cloaked next to him and said, “Looks like the Martians did the work for us.”
“They’ll send another group through the wormhole soon enough.” Jason paused looking at the Giants carrying off their trophy, and continued. “We need to destroy the Chameleon, Lexis.”
“That would be the most logical step to take, Jason.”
Jason’s Power Suit just fit through the opening of the Chameleon; he could not imagine what ripped the hatch of his ship.
“Everything is completely destroyed, Lexis!” Jason exclaimed while examining the inside. He continued, “They ripped out everything!”
“It will soon be a moot point, Jason.” Lexis was busy rigging an explosive device to the missile compartment.
“I know but it still makes me sick to see my life’s work end like this.”
Jason searched his quarters for any personal effects but it had seemed Lexis had cleaned the Chameleon out when he was unconscious.
“I am ready, Jason.” Lexis spoke methodically, and Jason thought her Combat Programming was still at play. “She really seems to be focused on blowing up my dream.”
The two of them exited the Chameleon and Jason stopped to gaze at the ship one last time.
“I’m really going to miss her, Lexis.”
“We will buy a better ship when we get back to Earth, Jason.” She sympathetically spoke.
Jason turned his Power Suit, looked into Lexis’s loving eyes, and almost said I love you to her. For a moment he truly believed they would some how make it back to Earth.
