by M. J. Konkel
Joe asked everyone to form a semi-circle around the shack facing away from the edge of the ridge, but far enough away from the tower that they wouldn't get killed when lightning struck it.
*****
The Professor climbed into the little shack to set up the SEAD. It was dark inside until he turned on a small battery-operated lamp. Since the battery banks were fully charged, he didn't start up the electric generator. He put the different components of the SEAD in their necessary positions, finishing with the Wurtzberg crystal that was suspended by two springs above the field generators. He reversed the fields on three of the adjustments, so they were opposite to what they were at when he first got the SEAD back on the island. He hoped that Lasgaard hadn't fiddled with any of the dials while he had it in his possession. If he did, there was no predicting where they were going to end up. There was nothing more to do though until the electrical potential built up around him. At that time, he might have to adjust the a-stat, b-stat or c-stat dials to make sure they were all displaying in the green. Chances would be he would not have to fiddle with those though. Then when the time was right, all he would have to do was touch the start button.
*****
Joe asked Span to stay close. His suspicion was that it was Span who tried to sabotage the SEAD. He was especially concerned that Span volunteered to come up to the SEAD, so he wanted Span where he could keep an eye on him.
“About the election,” Span said in a low voice that only Joe could hear.
“I know all about it already,” Joe snapped.
“How? Ah! Durst told your wife.”
“What I can’t figure out is why. It certainly wasn’t for money. I suspect that you want to stay here, because you have the delusion of thinking of yourself as the king.”
“What?” Span acted surprised.
Joe continued, “Maybe you're deluded enough that you picture yourself as ruler of the whole planet.”
“Are you high on something? Rule this place? Hell no! I hate this shit hole. Why do you think that I pretty much let your gang run things? It was for this day. I always knew that we would somehow find a way to return.”
“I'm not buying that.”
“When we get back, my legacy will be as the leader of this group of survivors. I will go down in future history books. But you were wrong. It was for glory and money, and money is the main reason. As leader of this group, I will be in demand once we return. Book deals, movie deals, and endorsements, and that means money. Lots of it.”
“But if it wasn’t you, then …” Joe thought he sounded sincere. It would have been hard to make up something like that. But then who?
“Did you feel that?” Mr. Span asked quietly.
“Yeah.” answered Joe. It was the lightest of thuds that was felt and not heard. “Everybody, get to the edge of the woods and hide,” he yelled. He then ran over to the shack. “Professor, we have to get out of here. A big dinosaur is near, feels like a freddie.”
“But the SEAD is just starting to power up. I can't pack it up now.”
“Leave it. We'll distract the beast if we have to keep it away.”
“I can't just leave it. What if ...”
“A freddie is coming.”
“But ...”
“Now Professor! Or you will die.”
The Professor hesitated a moment longer and then reluctantly scuttled out of the shack, following Joe to the edge of the woods where the trail led back down to Ridgeback. The Professor still had on the thick boots that were supposed to give him a bit of insulation from the lightning as they and Mr. Span scurried behind a large rock near the edge and peered over the top. The rain was pouring by this time and with it being so close to dusk, the visibility was very limited, but they could make out the shape of a freddie with its gigantic head as it lumbered in its giant strides towards the tower and shack.
“Oh no! It could destroy the SEAD,” the Professor exclaimed, trying to stand and shout, but Joe held him down and put a hand over his mouth.
Bam! Bam! Boom! Bam! Boom! Three rifle shots and two shotgun blasts were heard and then they heard Johnny and Lonnie screaming from the edge of the woods on the opposite side of the tower from them. They were trying to draw the beast away. The shots did little damage to the monster, probably stung it like a bee would sting a person. As the freddie turned towards those stinging him, its big solid tail whipped around like a baseball bat and smashed into the shack. The freddie didn't notice that as it lumbered away until it reached the edge of the woods where the shots originated.
Bam! Bam! Bam! More gunshots came from further up along the edge. Officer Rodgers, Jerry Comlins, John Splitfeller and Al Tentis were now diverting it even further away from the tower.
The Professor and Mr. Span crept back towards the shack with Joe close behind him.
Bang! Mr. Span clutched his stomach, fell to his knees and then slumped to the ground. Someone who was a good shot was stepping out of the dark behind the shack. Joe was thinking about Johnny’s comment on Anne being a good shooter, although he meant her basketball skills. It wasn’t Anne though. Harv Zoper was wearing night vision goggles, carrying a rifle and pointing it at them. “Drop your gun. You know how good of a shot I am.”
Joe dropped his rifle. He asked, “What the hell! What’s this all about, Harv?”
“We are not going back! I cannot not allow it.”
“I don’t understand. Why don’t you want to return?” asked the Professor.
“It is God’s will that we stay here,” Harv answered.
“How do you know it's God’s will?” asked Joe stalling for time. It had never occurred to him that the saboteur was a mentally unstable person. He had focused on the wrong motives. And he never suspected Harv.
“He told me in his way. I hate to have to shoot you two. You are good people, unlike that devil.” Harv gestured at Span with his rifle barrel. “But I have God’s work to finish, and I suspect you two will try to stop me.”
“In what way did God tell you?” asked Joe.
“He sends me visions. Beautiful visions of what this world is to become.”
“Maybe we can help you,” Joe offered.
“I wish I could believe you. I haven’t shot you yet because I actually like you. Both of you, but enough talk. I am not stupid. I know that you have not shared my vision. You will turn on me the first chance you get. God told me people will try to stop me.”
“What now?” Joe asked.
“I suggest you say your last prayers and prepare to stand in front of the Lord for judgment,” he said as he raised his rifle at Joe. “I am sorry, but this is the way it has to be. Do you want any last words? Prayers, I suggest.”
“This is cold-blooded murder Harv. This is not you,” pleaded Joe, still struggling for time.
Harv did not reply. He raised his rifle higher, aiming at the Professor's head. Boom! It happened before they had a chance to even utter a sound. Joe and the Professor felt the hair on the backs of his necks rise, and then lightning had struck the tower. Joe was deafened by the thunderclap that simultaneously accompanied the flash. Harv and the Professor were even closer and were thrown off their feet. Harv quickly recovered and rose to a knee, pointing his rifle at Joe before he could react. He had been too slow to take advantage of the chance that nature had given him, and now everyone was going to have to pay for his sluggish response. The Professor was moving, but still on the ground. Then a bright pale green bubble of light shot out from the shack in all directions to a distance somewhere between Harv and the Professor, hung motionless for a second and collapsed back into the shack. Harv slumped to the ground. Joe ran up and pulled the rifle away from Harv, who seemed to be in a stupor. Joe hesitated for a second. Then he turned to the Professor and helped him into a sitting position.
“Damn! We were not ready for the lightning yet,” the Professor yelled, but Joe could barely hear him as his ears were still ringing. The Professor got to his feet with Joe's help and stumbled towards the shack.
Joe turned his attention to the other two. There was nothing he could do for Harv, so he jumped over to lean over Span instead. He thought he should try to stop the bleeding, but Span was no longer breathing. The Professor was unable to get into the shack, so he left Span. Together, they pried open the door on the shack which was now entirely leaning to one side. The lantern was still working inside, giving light by which they could examine the damage. “All the lights seem to be lit and the displays are all showing ... Oh my goodness!” the Professor laughed. “It somehow got turned on. It must have been when that freddie hit it with his tail, and the lightning strike was at just the right time amount of time after that. The interbrane translocation is starting.”
It finally seemed that luck was going to be with them instead of against them. Joe could see then that the room of the shack seemed to have a faint glow to it. He poked his head out the door and could see that the glow was extending toward the woods, becoming a wall of faint green light. At last they were going home.
“Oh no!”
“What's wrong?” asked Joe.
“The Wurtzberg crystal is cracked.”
“What does that mean?”
Bam! Bam! Bam! Gunshots that were more distant indicated that the freddie was still being drawn further away.
“Well, uh ....” The Professor stammered. He looked over the instruments and came to a display that caught his attention. He pushed a few buttons on the display and read the new numbers. “It means that the brane translocation area is going to be small.”
“How small?”
The Professor whipped out a calculator and punched at it. “Not quite a half mile radius around here.”
By then everyone else, except for Johnny and Lonnie, had returned. Joe quickly explained the situation.
“We will have to get everybody up here fast.”
“Not enough time. Not only is the translocation zone smaller than the last time, but the timing of the event will not be as long,” the Professor said.
“How long?” asked Joe.
“Twenty minutes. Thirty minutes, tops,” the Professor answered. “We could radio down to the island, but there is no way that more than a few people could get within the translocation zone in time.”
“I am afraid we can't even do that. The radio is only giving static right now. Is there any way you can stop it?” asked Joe.
“There is no stopping it now.”
“I am going back. My wife and kids are down there,” Joe told them.
“Same here. I'm with you,” John Splitfeller said.
Officer Rodgers and Jerry Comlin said they were going with the Professor.
“Good-bye and good luck” Joe said.
“I will come back for everyone,” promised the Professor.
“Good-bye and Godspeed!” Officer Rodgers told them.
Jerry just waved and said, “Bye and good luck!”
Chapter 37
Joe and John turned and started racing down the path. Joe was leading the way and had pulled out a large flashlight to shine ahead. It kept flickering. Useless, he tossed it aside. They wanted to run with all the speed they had, but the path was dark, and it was treacherous from all the rain. It was slippery and steep, so at times, they were doing more of a controlled slide than anything else down the muddy path. Ahead of them was a wall of light, and they raced to try to catch up to it as it receded away from them. Joe wondered if they would be outside of the zone in time when he saw that the wall was no longer moving away from them. It was starting to shimmer as they dashed up to it and dived through it. Joe turned back towards where they had been. The thin crescent of the moon was above the ridge, shining through a break in the clouds. It looked blurry for a few seconds and then came into focus. The shimmering wall was gone, and it was dark. Pitch black as the moon disappeared again behind the clouds.
“We made it back in time, didn't we?” John asked.
“We made it in time.” Joe knew it was true. He pulled out his radio that had started working again and called to Ridgeback Island. Roger Zanzi was manning the radio, and Joe knew he had a crowd around him. Joe gave a report of what had happened. He wondered how they were reacting, knowing they were stuck on this world. “We will be back over the bridge in about twenty minutes, unless we run into something. It is really dark out here,” Joe reported.
The rain had stopped, but an occasional distant flash of lightning helped them see their path. As Joe and John hiked over the bridge, they could see that a crowd had formed at the far end by the bonfire. Karen and the kids were there, and they all ran to Joe and hugged. John's wife, Emma, was carrying their infant, Angelina, when they hugged and kissed. Anne was there too.
“Is he coming back?” she asked.
“I am afraid not. He was not with us when we started back down. If he came after us, he couldn't have had enough time. We barely made it back in time ourselves.”
“Johnny and rest are gone then?”
Joe sorrowfully looked at her and nodded.
There were tears in Anne's eyes. “I was hoping he was with you.”
“I am sorry, Anne,” Joe consoled. But he thought that Johnny wouldn't have come even if he had time.
There were other people that were stunned by the news and needed his attention. Joe raised his hands and climbed up on a chair. “Listen, everyone, this should only be a temporary delay. The Professor has gone back with those up there, and he knows how to do this now. Once he gets back and has the resources, he can build a new machine and get all of us back.”
“How long?” someone shouted.
“I can't say for sure. I would think within a few months. At least that's what I hope.”
“Hey!” someone else shouted. “There is someone else coming over the bridge.” Everyone turned to see who it could be. Anne took off running towards the bridge.
Someone shouted, “It's Johnny Faberley!”
“There's someone else behind him too,” someone else shouted.
They must have been mistaken, Joe thought. That was impossible. He took off towards the bridge also, although at a trot rather than Anne's all-out dash. He slowed to a walk about halfway to Johnny. Anne had reached him, and they were embracing by then. Joe caught up to them. “Are you OK, Johnny?”
“Yes, I am fine now.”
Behind Johnny, Lonnie came sauntering up with hands on his hips and breathing heavy. There was a large scratch along his forehead. A couple smaller ones across his cheeks.
“I don't understand how you two could have made it down in time. John and I were moving down that path as fast as we could, and we just made it in time. You were not there when we turned around and the translocation happened.”
Johnny explained, “We got back to the shack no more than a minute after you and Mr. Splitfeller left. The professor told us what had happened, and we had to make a quick decision. The professor said he thought it was too late to make it down the path, so we went over the side of ridge and went straight down.”
“How could you see where you were going?” asked Joe.
“I got these.” Johnny held up the night vision goggles that Harv had been wearing. “The flashlight we brought didn’t work, but these worked perfectly. Even with these on though, I have bruises all up and down my legs from the rocks and branches I hit. Lonnie must be worse since he was being blindly dragged by me. But we made it.”
“He came back for me.” Anne flashed a huge grin.
“I had to. Who else is going to rescue me the next time I get into trouble?” Johnny turned to Joe and looked him in the eye, giving him silent thanks.
Joe nodded. “Glad to have you with us.” He turned towards Lonnie. “I didn't expect you to come back here.”
“Darrel needs me to look after him. You know that he would be hopeless without me. Besides,” he added, “I believe I can help here, and I owe something to everyone here. On the other hand, there is nothing back there for me except for some jail time. I will still have to face that someday, but un
til then, maybe I can do some good with my life.”
Joe turned and walked back to the island and his family. He could see Karen and the boys standing by the campfire at the foot of the bridge. The most important things to him were right there in front of him and whatever world they were in was the world he wanted to be in.
Epilogue
Days later, the people of Ridgeback were joined by a small group from the north. That brought positive spirits back to the island for a while. Together, they waited patiently for an expected rescue. But months passed and slowly a pessimism set in as the days grew short and cold, although not as cold as they were used to as it rarely got below freezing (except on the coldest nights). They did not see spring mornings again like that first one way back when the whole episode started. Months turned to years and the pessimism gradually gave way to an acceptance that they were forever stuck in the alternate universe. It became a generally accepted belief that the Professor and the others did not make it back. Either an accident occurred, or the Professor's theory was wrong. Either way they were marooned. With the passing of years, the new world quickly became their home.
The Professor, in fact, did make it back to their world, but the freddie went with them. It returned to the tower, smashed the shack and destroyed the SEAD. The Professor, Officer Rodgers, Jerry Comlins, and Al Tentis escaped the freddie. Harv Roper did not as he was unconscious on the ground when the freddie returned. The Professor, however, suffered a heart attack three days later and died, failing to fulfill his promise. With him died his theories as his notes and calculations were on his computer in the camper on Ridgeback on another world. The blueprints on how to construct the SEAD still existed, but it took a long time before the theory was rediscovered and the secrets of how to use the SEAD for interbrane travel became possible again. And then there was the problem of finding which universe they were in.
