by Jay Falconer
“Why didn’t you tell us this before, Professor?”
“We operate on a strict need-to-know basis for obvious reasons. Plus, we weren’t absolutely sure the Krellian Empire was behind these attacks until recently, when we started putting all the pieces together. Remember when I told you in your apartment that I had seen the black powder once before, a long time ago?”
Lucas nodded.
“It was on Colony Three-Five-Nine after the attack, but we didn’t know why it was there or what had created it. We had never seen the energy fields, either. When the domes started leaving behind the same residue, we began to suspect the Krellians were behind the attacks. It wasn’t until you uncovered the source of the energy spike, that we understood how our enemy found us here.”
“Basically, we phoned them and told them where you were,” Drew replied.
Kleezebee nodded. “When we later analyzed the pattern of the domes, we realized they were tracking us, appearing in places our replicas had been.”
“Shit, that’s how you knew where the Green Valley energy dome would appear. You used BioTex to lure it there.”
“Bingo,” Kleezebee replied.
“So tell us about these bugs? Can we stop ‘em?”
“They’re a warrior race of sadistic, malevolent creatures that can’t be reasoned with, bargained with, or dissuaded from their mission. They scavenge entire worlds without mercy, consuming its resources, its technology, and its inhabitants.”
“They’re cannibals?”
“No, they don’t eat their own, but they do think of all other species as a food source.”
Lucas remembered the pyramids of human remains left behind by the energy fields each time they disappeared. “If they eat other species, why are their domes leaving behind the pyramid of remains when they retract to their dimension?”
“We believe it has to do with your Earth’s most virulent contagions, like NVL and Striallis. It’s likely that the Krellians detected them in the bodies of those they returned. It’s probably the reason why your planet has not been consumed in mass thus far. Your flavor has upset their palate, and your technology is of little interest to them. They are here for my people and our technology.”
“So your version of Earth was able to avoid these viruses?”
“Yes, those two we did. But we had to deal with a few you avoided, like H1N1 and AIDS. Trust me, it’s been no picnic in our dimension, either.”
“What do the Krellians look like?” Drew asked.
“They’re nine-foot-tall crustacean-like arthropods. They have a hard outer shell that acts like armor, but they’re bipedal and walk upright. The closest analogy on Earth would be a fusion of a giant beetle and a crawfish. They have a powerful set of front claws, long, suction tentacles, a tail with a serrated-edge stinger, and they drool uncontrollably. Their appearance is revolting to say the least. And the smell—”
“Next, you’re going to tell us they have acid for blood, like in the movie Aliens,” Lucas said.
Kleezebee laughed.
Lucas wasn’t trying to be funny.
“No, but they’re ruthless predators who’ll fight to the death to achieve their goals. They simply will not stop until every advanced civilization in every universe has been consumed, and its technology acquired.”
“If you leave our planet, will they stop their attacks?” Drew asked.
“That would be a logical assumption.”
“How will they know when you’re off-world?”
“In order to track us, their energy fields must have some sort of remote sensors that can detect our specific bimolecular signatures. Most of the time, they haven’t been very accurate, particularly during the daylight hours. We assume that’s why their domes employ a systematic farming pattern to cover an entire area once they’ve detected us.”
“Most of the time?” Lucas asked.
“It all has to do with the number of active domes in the area. When there are three or more, we think they use a hidden signal to network their sensors together, to perform multi-point triangulation. We try not to remain out in the open and stationary for too long, especially at night. Our replicas are even more vulnerable since their BioTex signature is easier to detect among this Earth’s inhabitants.”
“When my replica was sucked up on I-19, didn’t the bugs get their hands—I mean claws—on some of your BioTex?”
“Correct, but they don’t have the activating enzyme. Despite their supremacy, they’re not a very intelligent species. They’re able to use third-party technology, but mathematics and reverse engineering are not their forte.”
“Then it should be relatively easy to outsmart them.”
“One would think so, but they’re very cunning and can sense deception. Throughout our history, we have tried to outmaneuver them numerous times, with limited success. They learn quickly, almost instinctually.”
“Eventually, they’re going to find the enzyme, aren’t they?” Drew asked.
“It’s only a matter of time. So far, they’ve been thinking two-dimensionally, only consuming surface resources. But eventually, they’ll expand their efforts to underground locations. Fortunately, we do have some time to work with.”
“Well maybe you do, but our planet is being consumed one square mile at a time,” Lucas said. “People are being eaten and soon there will be nothing left of Earth.”
“Do you have a plan?” Drew asked.
“I’m hoping we can use the Quantum Foam Generator to provide the supplemental power we need to contact our home world. Once they know where we are, they should be able to open a rift to us in this universe so we can return.”
“Why do you have to contact them first? Can’t you just open a rift from our side to get home? I have to assume you know the quantum signature of your home universe,” Lucas said.
“We do, but they probably have safeguards in place to stop unscheduled travelers from entering their space. Then there’s the problem of time advancing differently in both universes. They’ll need to open the bridge from their side.”
“That makes sense,” Drew replied, nodding.
“Huh?” Lucas said, suspecting that Drew was full of shit.
“Think of time as flowing like the mighty Mississippi River,” Drew replied. “Their universe is in the future, or upstream, and ours is downstream, in the past. When trying to swim across the strong current, it’s only possible to hit your mark if you start your swim from the upstream side. The same thing is true with a transdimensional bridge. They’ll have to open it from their side.”
This was one of those times when Drew was three steps ahead of Lucas. He had no idea how Drew knew that answer, but the explanation did help him understand the concept. “So, what do we do next?”
“You two get back to the silo and begin preparations. This time, be sure to follow my specs to the letter. I’ll stay here and get the generator running. When I’m ready, I’ll call you.”
“Call us?” Lucas asked, worrying that he didn’t have the strength for yet another trek up the stairs with Drew on his back.
Kleezebee opened his equipment bag and, after sifting through its contents, pulled out a pair of Motorola handheld radios.
“Use this to stay in contact,” Kleezebee said, handing one of the two-way transmitters to Lucas.
“What’s the range?”
“Fifty-two miles. More than adequate. Stay on channel forty-four,” Kleezebee said, digging into his bag again.
“Will it work down here?”
The professor pulled out two silver devices with a red toggle switch on the side. Each was the size of a cigarette pack with a stubby black antenna sticking out of the top.
“Place these signal boosters in the stairwell. One at the top and bottom. They’re battery-powered and will take care of the problem.”
“Excellent,” Lucas replied with admiration for his mentor’s ability to foresee needs and plan accordingly.
Drew unfolded his handwritten calculatio
ns and gave them to Kleezebee. “Here. You’ll need these, Professor.”
Chapter 27
Intervention
Lucas and Drew rode the silo elevator to the 7th floor, where Bruno was waiting for them with a steaming cup of coffee in his right hand. Lucas expected Bruno to be chowing down a few caramel-covered treats, not drinking a cup of Joe. If Kleezebee had not told him about Bruno’s death in 2001, Lucas might have thought this man was the real Bruno, not just another replica. The fresh coffee stain on his shirt would have been a dead giveaway.
“Welcome back, gentlemen,” Bruno said in his usual jovial voice.
“Good to be back. How’s Mom doing?” Lucas asked, worrying that everyone had forgotten about her. He envisioned her lying on the floor in the bathroom for hours, crying out in pain. He thought it might be a good idea to get her one of those emergency necklaces advertised on late-night TV. The kind with the push-button radio transmitter built in. That’s what a thoughtful son would do. He just didn’t know where to come up with the extra cash to buy it.
“Great. She’s upstairs in her quarters. We just had lunch together.”
“We should probably stop in later and spend some time with her,” Lucas said to Drew.
Drew nodded.
Lucas looked down the hallway in both directions. “Where’s the reactor?”
“Just two doors down on the left. Follow me,” Bruno said.
Lucas held the radio he was carrying up to his mouth, then pressed the switch on the side of it. “Dr. Kleezebee, can you hear me? This is Lucas.”
The radio squawked. “Read you loud and clear.”
“We’re here in the silo. Bruno’s taking us to the reactor.”
“Excellent. I’ve entered the new equations for NASA’s reactor, and we should be ready to begin the power-up sequence within the hour. Call me when you’re ready.”
“Ten-four,” Lucas said.
“You’re supposed to say over when you finish a sentence,” Drew said.
“I really don’t think DL cares,” Lucas said, clipping the radio to his belt. He wanted to say something else, but chose not to with Bruno within earshot.
Bruno held the door to the reactor room open; Lucas and Drew went through to the inside.
“Yeah, it’s a near duplicate all right,” Lucas said, looking at the reactor sitting in the middle of the room. However, unlike in their lab, it was not in its own sealed chamber with a twin-door air-lock system. But it did appear to have most of the same components—the ring of electromagnets, the cold neutron beam, and all the coolant pipes, power cables, and other equipment. To the right was Kleezebee’s version of the Primary Control station, with its twin consoles, video screens, and control instruments in between.
“There’s the E-121,” Drew said, pointing to two familiar looking metal containers in the corner. A three-ring binder was sitting on top of them.
“I’m assuming the receptacles are around here somewhere, too?” Lucas asked.
Bruno nodded. “In the bottom container. But DL had us pre-load the reactor with one of the E-121 samples. You should be all set.”
“Awesome,” Drew replied, rolling over to the containers. He opened the binder sitting on top. “Here’s the procedure manual.”
“Where’s the computer equipment? I need to recompile Trevor’s code.”
“Our Linux servers are on the first floor, in the data center. Trevor’s up there now, prepping the servers.”
“How’d he know to do that?” Lucas asked.
“You installed the signal boosters, didn’t you?”
Lucas thought about it for a second. “Oh, DL called ahead,” he said, nodding as if he should have known the answer. Kleezebee must have used a channel other than forty-four since he didn’t remember hearing anything on his radio.
“All he needs is your user name and password to download the code from your cloud storage space.”
“My user name is DRLREMC2 and the password is CATSRULE3X. Do you need the IP address?”
Bruno wrote on a slip a paper before answering. “Trevor already knows your stuff’s on Bitwise Server Group Twelve.”
Trevor must have been looking over his shoulder when he accessed his storage space from the lab. It wasn’t a big deal. The source code was his anyway.
“Actually, it’s server group eleven. They moved me to a different cloud last week. His stuff’s in a folder called Gigantor, with an upper case G.”
“Got it,” Bruno said, scribbling one more time on the paper before walking to the door. “I’ll get this to him right away.”
Lucas waited for Bruno to leave the room. “How do you think Kleezebee’s inter-dimensional beacon works?”
“They’re probably going to open a micro-rift to their home universe, and then send a compressed data stream through it.”
“ET phone home,” Lucas wisecracked.
Drew laughed. “I’d bet it’s an S-O-S that’s encoded with our coordinates within the multiverse.”
“I wonder how long it will take ‘em to respond?”
“The real question is where? I don’t think they’ll send a communiqué back. They’re most likely going to open a portal from their side.”
“Probably down here where it’s secure and out of sight.”
Both of them looked at each other, before staring at the open section of the floor right behind the Primary Control Station.
“You don’t think?” Lucas asked.
Drew smiled. “We’ll know soon enough.”
Five minutes later, Bruno returned. ‘Trevor says he’ll be ready in three minutes.”
“A three-minute recompile? Damn, those must be some lightning-fast servers,” Lucas said, wondering if Bruno had heard Trevor correctly.
“You ready to get started?” Drew asked, flipping through the procedure manual.
“Let’s light the fires and kick the tires, Big Daddy.”
* * *
Forty-five minutes later, they had completed the startup procedures and the reactor was humming along.
“Man, I love that sound,” Lucas said. “So what’s next?”
“There’s a new page of instructions added onto the back,” Drew replied, handing the binder to Lucas.
Lucas looked them over. “Seems simple enough. Let’s get ‘er done.”
Drew entered the new command sequences into his console, while Lucas followed up by adjusting a few of the riser panel’s instruments. It only took another minute to complete.
“That should do it. All we need to do now is wait for DL to call,” Lucas said.
“Let’s hope he got that reactor working,” Bruno said.
“Yeah, otherwise, we’re all fucked,” Lucas said, leaning back in his chair.
“What’s the latest word on Larson?” Drew asked Bruno.
“Last I heard, he was in surgery, but he’s expected to pull through.”
“That’s a damn shame,” Lucas replied. “You do realize that the first thing he is going to do is call the general and tell him we’re alive.”
Bruno nodded. “That’s assuming his memory’s intact and he’s able to speak. You cracked his skull hard. There could be permanent damage.”
“Imagine that, a self-serving attorney who can’t speak.”
“Just goes to show you, there is a God in Heaven,” Drew added.
Bruno walked out of the room without saying anything.
“I hope we didn’t offend him,” Drew said.
“I don’t see how,” Lucas replied. “Maybe he had one too many spicy burritos today? You may have to loan him your can of air freshener.”
Drew laughed for a good twenty seconds.
“So what’s your take on this whole Kleezebee-from-outer-space thing?” Lucas asked, trying to stop his own laughter.
“It’s pretty wild stuff. But when you look at everything we know about him, it all fits.”
“It certainly explains all his toys . . . and his cash.”
“He does seem to al
ways be two steps ahead of everyone else.”
“Well, I’d be, too, if I knew the future.”
“There’s no guarantee his past and our future are always going to be the same. Not when we’re from two different universes.”
“That’s true. I guess it’s not always a slam-dunk.”
“It’s probably a good thing he’s smarter than everyone else.”
“Everyone, except maybe you,” Lucas replied.
Drew looked a little embarrassed when he smiled.
The radio activated with Kleezebee’s voice. “Are you guys ready?”
Lucas depressed the transmit button on the radio. “Yes, sir. We’re powered up and ready to proceed.”
“On my mark, wait precisely ten seconds, and then engage your neutron beam.”
“Roger that,” Lucas replied in his most military-like voice.
Once Kleezebee gave his mark, Lucas and Drew waited exactly ten seconds, then proceeded with their experiment, firing the neutron beam right on cue. Both Lucas and Drew reviewed the chamber’s video feed to verify that the E-121 canister had vanished.
“Looks like it worked,” Lucas told Kleezebee over the radio. “E-121 is on its way.”
Their radio squelched with Kleezebee’s next communication. “Go ahead and power down. I’ll meet you in the surveillance room in one hour.”
“Ten-four,” Lucas responded, before turning down his radio.
“DL can’t be serious,” Drew said. “How’s he going to climb up those stairs on crutches and still get here in an hour?”
“The guards up top must be helping him up the stairs.”
Drew nodded. “So what do you think DL stands for?”
Lucas shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Next time we’re alone with Bruno, let’s ask him. He probably knows.”
Drew looked at his watch. “Let’s go check on Mom while we have some time. I’m sure she could use the company.”
“Good idea. Let’s stop at the mess hall on the way. I’m starving.”
* * *
Ninety minutes later, Lucas and Drew were chatting in the silo’s surveillance room with Kleezebee, Bruno, and several video technicians. Two armed guards had joined them, taking position on either side of the elevator doors. Energy domes were still terrorizing the planet, filling the video screens with scenes of destruction and mayhem.
