by Frank Carey
"You're right, if they had known. They had no idea that this prison universe existed. Frankly, the Inspectors are mostly bumbling fools and their leadership knows this, which is why they're trying so hard to recruit you, Harmon."
"Enough of this bullshit," Lenora said in a voice which persuaded the guards to take two steps back away from her, "What have you done, Muntz?"
"Unbeknown to Harmon's sister, we used the Venecia field generator to create a small doorway to another universe. We found old friends, made deals, then set about activating equipment we found on the other side.
"Wait a minute, how did you power the generator?" Harm asked as they were led down the inner sphere.
"We used the Ventosian crown jewels that we borrowed while they were out on loan."
"Then why the hell did you steal the artifact?" Linka asked.
"One of my techs broke the damn thing, then your sister arranged for it to be shipped to the Cube before we could have it conveniently destroyed in an 'accident.' Couldn't have anyone find out we were using it, now could we?"
They arrived at the center sphere and entered through a force field reinforced hatch. Inside they found techs working on various pieces of equipment mounted to the inside of the sphere as well as on a platform at its center. Standing off to one side were three beings, two male and one female. All three were large, muscular, and imposing. Muntz led Harmon and his group to where the three were standing.
"Harmon, I think you know my friends. Queen Mother Lenora and Commander Veraska, let me introduce General Lorq of the Grange, General Vapin of the Alue Hegemony, and General Kerus, General Vapin's mate and second in command...
"You dog," Kerus yelled at Harm as she unsheathed a short sword and swung it at Harm, its edge stopping a millimeter from his neck. "Where is that bitch, Shenda, and her mutant boyfriend, Chasm? I shall..."
"You shall do nothing," Muntz said quietly while holding his blaster against the enraged Alue's neck, "except put your weapon away. These are my guests. The people outside will leave us be for fear of hurting these three, so lighten up!"
Hesitating only a moment, Kerus sheathed her sword while glaring at Harmon. "This isn't over, elf," she growled as she stormed off.
Muntz watched with eyebrows raised as Harm looked over at Vapin and Lorque. "I know you two have a problem with me as well. Care to discuss it?"
"Maybe later, Vapin said as he hurried off after his angry mate."
"No problem. I really hated that robot body. You did me a favor sending me back," he replied before walking off.
"They're alive, aren't they?" Harm asked.
"That's impossible," Lenora commented. "That would mean they were clones and none of them had corporeal stock to clone from."
"How astute of you, My Queen. Yes, they are alive, and no, they are not clones. There was equipment in the other universe that allowed us to grow a real, living body based on an entity's bioelectronic signature. Now, I must leave you for I have much to do. These guards will take you to a holding area. Try to behave." Muntz said as he motioned to two of his people.
As they were led away, Harm whispered, "He thinks having us as hostages will protect him from attack."
"He doesn't know your wife, does he?" Lenora replied.
"You think she'll attack?" Linka asked.
"Attack? If she thinks there's a danger to Ventos Prime or the League, she'll blow this place to the seventh hell, regardless of whether or not we're inside," Lenora said with a smile. "The EMEF only recruits the very best."
Chapter 31 - Breach
I stood in front of the massive pressure door, running a visual survey as my people prepared for a breach. I brought up the station design files on my wrist datapad and scrolled down to the description of the fusion pod section of the station.
The fusion pod is a one hundred meter diameter, foot-thick, reinforced spherical shell of carbon-adamantine-steel composite surrounding a large cavity that once housed an FTL-enhanced fusion reactor. The pod was attached to the station via a ten-meter diameter, fifty-meter long access tube. Suspended down the center of the tube was a five-meter wide service ramp surrounded by dozens of conduits running power, utilities, and communications between the pod and the station.
I looked for emergency systems and found them near the end of the section. In the event of a reactor runaway--they can happen, though rarely--a set of explosive charges ringing the tunnel at the halfway mark, can be detonated, physically and electronically separating the pod from the station. As an added precaution, four, oversized, solid rocket motors will fire, propelling the pod away from the station.
At either end of the tunnel are meter thick, eight-meter wide pressure seals which can close in less than a second. The door at this end opens onto a large staging area that was the control room, which connected to the rest of the station via pressure seals at either end. The control room equipment was moved to a central location deep inside the station, leaving this room empty except for a few packing crates left behind during the move. My people controlled those two pressure doors. They would be joined by station security once they were finished with the evacuation.
"General, General Aymar is on the horn," Sana said.
I activated my commlink. "Go for McMurphy."
"Marta, it's Royce. Sitrep."
I explained where we were.
"Dammit. Any idea what we're facing?"
Sana handed me a datapad with her report on it. "Harm, Lenora, and Commander Veraska, head of station security, are inside the pod. Their life signs look good. They're with a number of Tralaskans and two species we cannot identify, though we assume at least one is Grange."
"Assume? Why do you need to assume?"
"Neither of the new species are synths. They're alive with quantum spins that differ from our universe or what we read from the Grange universe."
"Shit. Any thoughts on why they're here?"
"Well, I can confirm that Muntz isn't dead. We found the signal from the tracker embedded in his skull. He's here and he doesn't give a plark that we know. If he's involved, then I'm thinking things are seriously bad."
"Copy that. We have five Ventosian ships of the line inbound to your position. ETA: ten minutes. Space Command has dispatched an armada based on your panic button transmission. ETA: five hours. Scanners show the Algonquin parked on the top of the pod..."
"She's set for Protocol 4, just like at Venecia, only she'll blow with a much larger bang. Harm tweaked the fuel mixture."
"Roger that. We'll keep our distance. We've tight-scanned space around the station and can find no evidence of any ship, cloaked or otherwise. The LTV Marta McMurphy is orbiting just outside the exclusion zone."
I shook my head. Those kids will be the death of me, unless Muntz or the Grange get to me first. I hit mute. "Sana, can you jimmy the two pressure doors from here so they open at the same time?"
She pulled out her hacker ball. All my kids carried at least one. "In a Ventosian second," she said.
"Get ready. We go in on my mark."
"Yes, ma'am!" she said with a sharp salute before barking orders to everyone around her. She'll make a fine general someday.
"Royce, we're going to breach in five minutes from my mark...Mark!"
"Copy that. One more thing. If this is an invasion, I'm under orders to stop it under any circumstance."
This meant that he would nuke the pod, the station, and us.
"Copy that. Is Losi with you?"
"I'm here Marta," Losira said.
"If anything happens to me or Harm, I want you to take care of those grandkids of mine, understand?"
"With my heart and soul. Good luck and Godspeed, general,"
"Godspeed to all of us. McMurphy out."
I walked over to where Sana was standing. Around us, over thirty heavily armed individuals waited for the door to open. “On your mark, General," she said as she held the hacker ball against the lock plate, its tentacles already embedded in the plate's glass surface. Someday, I have to ask the
elf how those things really worked. I turned to Team One's communication officer. "All-call, Sergeant."
He twiddled something on his gauntlet. "You are go, General."
"This is McMurphy. Listen up. In a moment, the big door in front of us is going to open. I'm not sure what's behind it. Scans say clear, but one never knows. Regardless, whatever we find stays where it is. Nothing gets past us. The fate of this station, Tralaska, and the League rests in our hands. I am proud to serve with each and every one of you. Give them hell. McMurphy out."
"Amen," one of the SFLers yelled.
"Plark them all," another yelled.
"On my mark," I said. I clipped my pulse rifle to my harness, opting instead for the 1911's Harm had given me. They felt perfect in my hands.
"Mark!"
Sana pressed the top of the hacker ball and the massive seal instantly swung out of the way, revealing a large, dimly lit room. We swarmed in and took up defensive positions behind packing crates. We were completely alone.
"Major, full security scan," I ordered.
Sana pointed to two of her team, then made the "Scan area" sign. In moments, the two-team-members gave thumbs up. "We're clear, General," Sana informed me.
This is all wrong. You can't stage an invasion without people and transportation. The Grange tried to invade the League by initially taking over two of the five InterWebs, but they were thwarted by my quick-thinking husband. We put in safeguards against a non-corporeal takeover from outside forces, so how the hell was anyone expecting to launch an invasion from here. I looked over at the seal leading to the tunnel "Sana, how many ways in or out of the pod?"
The major fired up her gauntlet. "Two doors similar to the one you’re looking at. One at the end of this tunnel and one on the opposite side of the pod."
What the hell is going on here? It makes no plarking sense. You can't invade a universe through two doors, five if you count the ones at this end of the tube. I guess we'll have to figure this out on our own. I walked over to the seal leading to the pod. It was identical to the one we had just entered through. There was no need for added shielding since the tube separated the pod from the rest of the station. "Sana, any indication our visitors are monitoring the tube?"
Sana nodded to the two scan techs. After running checks, both shook their heads. "Do they even know we're here?"
I nodded toward the blinking light on the opposite wall. "Someone hit that button, and I'm betting it was one of our people, so we should assume they're waiting for us. Major, I think we should go and pay a visit to our new friends. What do you think?"
"I agree, General. Captain Masun!"
"Yes, ma'am, the Sokuhl said while walking up to where Sana and I stood.
"I want you and your people to stay here and secure this area. Nothing gets past, understand?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"General, I request I accompany you into the pod," Frasier said as he ran over and stood at attention."
"Why, pray tell?" I asked.
"I may have roughed you up during the match, and I am of the opinion I should keep an eye on you."
I saw Sana's growing anger, but I waved her off. "What's your real reason, LT?"
"The match isn't finished, ma'am, and I wouldn't want some off-universe thing taking you out before I can earn the trophy."
I stepped up to him and stared at him eye-to-eye. "You're on, mister. You'll take point and don't you dare get taken out before I can earn that trophy."
"Yes, ma'am!" he said with a salute before heading off to prepare.
Sana stared at me. "What?"
"Nothing, just never had a celeb as a mother before."
Yeah, Celeb. Right.
Chapter 32 - The Plan
Harm, Linka, and Lenora watched Tralaskan techs adjust the equipment in the small room. "Interesting," Harm said as he gazed upwards at one of the mega-router crystal assemblies.
"What do you find so fascinating?" Lenora asked. "What are those things?"
"Well, the box is a mega-router, probably one of the stolen ones. I have no idea what the crystal is or what they do when put together."
"Then what the hell is so damn fascinating?" Linka asked as her claws slid in and out of her fingertips, a sign of her irritation.
"That there is only one Grange and two Alues to be seen," he said quietly. I count at least thirty Tralaskan techs and half as many guards just in here. I counted another thirty outside in the pod, yet only one Grange and two Alues. I find that fascinating."
The two women looked around and saw he was correct. "What do you think it means." Lenora asked.
"Don't know. What I do know is this beast consumes a shit-load of power. Each one of those mega-routers can shunt megawatts of power as they control the FTL drive."
"What happens if you don't have one of these controlling your FTL?" Lenora asked.
"Like the Algonquin? Simple, really. You activate the FTL and the ship materializes at the center of the nearest star. The mathematics are amazing."
"You can follow five-dimensional FTL mathematics?" Linka asked as her eyebrows headed to the top of her head.
"Sure. Can't you?"
"Lucien! Stop it! You're going to give the poor girl a complex."
"What do you think of her?" Muntz said as he walked over, wiping his hands in a rag.
"Pretty," Harm said. "I assume this is the gate generator."
"Correct. The crystals were manufactured in the other universe and brought here through the borrowed gate. The mega routers allow us a finer control of the field characteristics. We had to steal some of them due to a problem with a shipment."
"Breakdown?" Linka asked.
"Pirates. It seems Harm's clone, Atmar, needed them for some project he's working on."
"You mean your illegitimate son, don't you?" Lenora asked as she gazed at the ex-director through squinted eyes. "I only have one son."
"Now, Lenora, didn't you get killing me out of your system?"
"Not yet, but the day is still young."
"Muntz, I don't get any of this. Why create all this, then arrange for a sporting match to be held on the same station?" Harm asked.
Muntz reached into a pocket and pulled out something metallic, about the size of a large beetle. He threw it to Harm. "SpecPro's greatest creation. Behold, the Gatemaker."
Harm turned the object over in his hand. "A robobeetle. I've got boxes of these back at my lab in the Cube. I prefer painting mine."
"Foolish elf, the beetle is the delivery mechanism. Its shell is covered with photomorphic paint that allows it to mimic its surroundings. Think of it as a miniature delivery truck. Inside are thousands of nanites ready to activate when the conditions are right."
"And do what, pray tell?" Lenora asked.
"Using materials around them, they will create gateways to the prison universe where a hundred-thousand heavily armed Grange wait to cross over and take over this universe. They are backed up by thousands of angry Alue who can't wait to get into the five League InterWebs and wreak havoc on every system. In the end, Tralaska will rise up and takes its place as the ruling planet of a new, better, more powerful Empire of Planetary Systems, while the rest of the races take their rightful places under our feet."
Harm's tale shot forward and upward, straight for the soft spot underneath Muntz's jaw. Before it could complete its journey through his brain, a gauntleted hand reached out with blinding speed and grabbed it, holding it millimeters away from the ex-director's chin. "Behave, elf, or I'll cut this off, Lorq said as Muntz stepped away.
"Harm, I forgot about your protective streak," Muntz said, a drop of sweat passing by his right eye. "Put them in the holding room and post three guards at the door with orders to shoot to kill. Now, run along," he said as he turned and walked away.
"Nice try, Harmon. I get the impression you used that move before," Lorq said as he let go of Harm's tail.
"Why are you working with that madman? Universal domination is one thing, but genocide? Yo
u must know he plans to kill billions, including you. Then you've got the Alue who hate anything corporeal, like you and the rest of your troops. What the hell is your plan?"
Guards took Harm, Losira, and Linka by the arm and led them to a holding cell at the outer edge of the pod. "It's the same plan as before: conquer this universe and every other universe we can find. Muntz and the Alue are just means to an end. Now, get inside and I may let the three of you live."
The guards shoved the three into the room and locked the door behind them.
"At least we found the Rebirth connection," Linka said as she looked around the room. Once a breakroom with an attached restroom, it had been converted to a prison by the addition of a reinforced and lockable door.
"What about the rest of it?" Lenora asked. "The SFL match and all the people who came to watch?"
"Delivery mechanism," Harm said as he leaned against the wall. "Thousands of robobeetles escape into the station and out into that fleet of ships where they attach to their hulls to wait for the proper conditions before creating gates."
"Since we don't know what those conditions are exactly, gates could appear anywhere those ships go, opening doorways to a universe filled with some very desperate and angry beings," Linka added.
"A frontless war fought on a system-by-system basis," Lenora said. "How can we stop it?"
Harm looked at them for a moment before answering. "We have three options for stopping them," he explained. "First, we run an overload through the mega-routers, destroying them and any chance of SpecPro opening a gate. Second, Algonquin is equipped with a self-destruct system called Protocol 4 which will blow-up the ship with a fifty-kiloton yield fuel-air bomb. We can use that system to blow this pod to hell, but we have to do it before the gate is opened at this end."
"Why before?" Lenora asked.
"An explosion would spread the bugs if we wait until they're in the pod," Linka explained.
"How do we stop them after the gate is open?" Lenora asked.
"That's option number three. We still use the Algonquin, only we don't blow her up, instead we activate her FTL drive. Without her mega-router, she'll drag herself, and anything within three miles of her, into the nearest sun."
