The Search for Gram

by Chris Kennedy

  The final Efreet wore what looked like a black leather, form-fitting suit, with lots of blue and silver piping and braid. A band of blue and a band of purple encircled his left arm. This Efreeti stopped in front of the caliph’s cell and began a conversation with him. The Efreeti quickly became upset with the caliph’s answers although the caliph maintained a serene disposition.

  “Are you getting any of that?” asked Master Chief. “My translation software isn’t breaking it.”

  “No,” replied Calvin. “It’s not as painful to listen to as the Sila language, but I’m not getting any of it either.”

  The Terrans watched in frustration as the Efreeti got more and more agitated. Finally, it yelled something and pointed at the vizier. One of the robe-wearing Efreet pointed his tubes at the vizier and two little plugs fired out. They appeared to function like a taser, for when the plugs hit the vizier, he jumped and twitched as if he were being electrocuted. He tried to say something, but was unable to speak with the current running through him.

  The vizier convulsed on the floor while the Efreet made some kind of noise. Master Chief realized they were laughing at the vizier’s pain.

  “Hey, you bastards, that’s enough!” he yelled, but the electrocution continued, along with the laughter. He took two quick strides, grabbed one of the wires and gave it a hard tug. The thin wire snapped, and the vizier was released from his torture.

  “Look out!” called Calvin.

  Too late. The other robed Efreeti fired his weapon from behind Master Chief, and the Terran felt his body stiffen as the high-voltage current coursed through it. “F-, F-, F-, Fuck,” he said as he hit the ground next to the vizier.

  Master Chief felt like his muscles were being pulled out with a fork as he writhed in agony.

  “Help him,” Calvin said to the caliph.

  The caliph said something to the Efreeti in charge, but the electrocution continued. For the first time, the caliph showed some emotion as he appeared to implore the Efreeti to stop.

  The Efreeti holding the stun gun looked at the one in charge, who didn’t say anything for at least five seconds and then uttered one syllable. The Efreeti turned a dial on the back of his arm, and Master Chief gave a final convulsion and went still. The trooper pulled the ends of the metal wires from the launching mechanism and tossed them through the bars onto Master Chief.

  Loading another round into the weapon from a pouch on his upper arm, the Efreeti turned toward the caliph and aimed the launcher at him. Before he could fire, the Efreeti leader said something to him, and the soldier lowered his weapon. The leader then spoke to the caliph before turning and leaving with the four soldiers in trail.

  When they had departed, the lights went out again, leaving the prisoners with the single dim source. “That is why we do not rebel,” said the caliph. “Anyone who rebels ends up like that…or worse.”

  “Okay, that hurt,” said Master Chief as he rolled onto his stomach.

  “Are you all right?” asked Calvin.

  “Yeah, mostly,” said Master Chief. “All things considered, I’d rather not do it again, though.”

  “No doubt,” said Calvin. He turned to the caliph and asked, “What did they want to know?”

  “They think we are plotting to overthrow them, and that we are building weapons in private in order to do so. They wanted to know our plans. Their leader said they would be back in an hour, and then they would start on one of you.” He paused and then asked, “Do you think your people will come and get you?”

  Calvin glanced at the next cell over before giving the caliph a wry smile. “If Trella made it to our people, they will definitely come for us.” His tone of voice seemed firmer; the slurring gone. “And woe be it to any of the Efreet who get in Captain Train’s way!”

  Chapter 15

  Unknown System, Unknown Date/Time

  “That’s the last one,” said Hooty, fastening the chain. “You really think you can do this?”

  Rock walked to the tip of Asp 08’s wing and looked back toward the fuselage. He couldn’t see it because the space station was now chained to where the wing root joined the fuselage. Although a “fighter” in terms of spacecraft, Asp 08 was 157 feet long, almost twice as long as the space station, and the station fit completely on top of the wing. “Yeah, I think I can. The computer thinks so, anyway. It’s a shame we have to leave your fighter up here to get the station down, but mine will be just as useful to us once it’s out of fuel.”

  “You know I’m not real comfortable riding down in the station, right? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have me fly the fighter, and you ride in the station?”

  “Oh, stop whining. I’ll get you down just fine,” said Rock. Both of them heard the unspoken, “I hope.”

  “Fuel transfer is complete,” commed K-Mart. He and Chomper disconnected the makeshift hose from Asp 09 and came back to rejoin the pilots.

  “It’s your idea,” said Chomper. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather ride in the station and let me have your seat in the fighter?”

  “No, Rock would get lost without me,” said K-Mart. “Besides, the station is chained on. The only way anything bad can happen to you is if something bad happens to us. Now stop your whining and get in. We’ve got places to go, and hostages to rescue.”

  CO’s Conference Room, TSS Terra, In Orbit Around Keppler-22 ‘b,’ July 17, 2021

  “How many Efreet are there?” asked Night.

  “Our best guess is that there are about 1,500 of the Efreet on our planet,” replied Trella. “Around 800 are in the capital area; the others are scattered around the rest of our planet in small groups.”

  “So we’re going to be outnumbered about 20-1?” asked Master Gunnery Sergeant Bill Hendrick.

  “Something like that,” said Night with a smile. “Those are my kind of odds.”

  Hendrick raised an eyebrow, obviously debating the sanity of his platoon’s XO. “Do you know something I don’t, sir?”

  “I know that we’re Terran Space Marines,” said Night, “and I know nothing has beaten us so far.” Several shouts of “Gluck ab!” the platoon’s motto, rang out from the long-time members of the platoon, and Night nodded to them in acknowledgement. “We haven’t been beaten yet, and I don’t plan on starting now. We’ll find a way. Besides, that just means there are plenty of targets for everyone.” He turned to Trella. “What can you tell us about this jail and its surroundings? Can you draw us a picture? How close will we be able to get without being seen?”

  “Getting close to the jail won’t be a problem,” she said. “In fact, I can even get you into the jail, unnoticed.”

  All around the table, jaws dropped. “You can?” asked Night. “How are you going to do that?”

  “We’ve been planning to overthrow the Efreet for a long time,” replied Trella. “We weren’t ready to do it yet, but with your help, maybe we can. Certainly, I want my father and sister back before the Efreet kill them. If we can capture the capital, the Efreet in other areas won’t be able to hold out for long. The equipment they use to coordinate their efforts around the world and to talk to their ships in orbit is in the capital. If we can take that from them, we will have the advantage.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” said Night, “but I don’t see how capturing the equipment gives you an advantage. If the Efreet have ships in orbit, they can just drop rocks on you until you surrender. How are you going to deal with them?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Trella, “My father had a plan he thought would work, but I don’t know what it was. You will have to talk to him. Before you can do that, though, we will have to get him back, and we will need to do it quickly before the Efreet kill him.”

  “That much is true,” said Night. “Okay, tell us how you’re going to get us in there.”

  Chapter 16

  Squad Bay, TSS Terra, In Orbit Around Keppler-22 ‘b,’ July 17, 2021

  “So that’s the plan,” said Night. “Are there any questions?”

>   No hands went up, but he didn’t expect any. Their lack of intel on the target was obvious; the members of the platoon would have to make it up as they went along.

  The troops went back to preparing their projectile weapons. Although some preferred more specialized weapons, most of the troops were armed with either an AK-74 or a FN FAL Paratrooper-version rifle, and they also carried either a Glock 17 or Heckler and Koch USP 45 pistol. Night already had his weapons ready, and he was checking the ones he had picked up from Calvin’s office.

  “Captain Train?” asked a voice from behind him. Night turned to find Captain Nightsong and the other four Aesir.

  “Make it quick, sir,” said Night. “We’re in a hurry.”

  “I realize that,” said the Aesir, “so I will be brief. We are concerned because it looks like you do not intend to take us.”

  “And you want to go?” asked Night. “I don’t think so. We haven’t trained together, I don’t know any of your capabilities and you don’t even look like you’re armed. Why would I take you with us?”

  “The short answer is we are experienced in manipulating the elements. No matter where you are going or what you are doing, we are force multipliers; we give you capabilities your unit doesn’t have. Please do not feel you need to worry about protecting us. As I believe Reeve Farhome has already demonstrated to your commanding officer, we can take care of ourselves.”

  Night scanned the Aesir, looking into each of their eyes. He saw one thing in all of them. Competence. They were supremely confident in their abilities. He didn’t see any of the fear common to troops going into their first combat. They had obviously all done this before. He nodded once. “You’re in. Just make sure you stay out of my way.”

  “What about me?” asked Lieutenant Rrower, the Mrowry liaison to the platoon, as he approached from the other direction. “If you’re going to be outnumbered, I’d be happy to come along and help out.”

  “Thanks, but I’ve already got enough dogs and cats on this mission,” replied Night. Realizing what he had just said, Night added, “No offense.”

  “None taken,” replied Rrower. “If you need me, I’m available.”

  “Got it,” said Night. He turned to Trella, who had been given back her rod and had reassumed her human form. “Did I miss anything? Is there anything else we should know?”

  “No,” she replied, “I think you covered everything.”

  “What about air power?” asked Master Gunnery Sergeant Hendrick from a nearby locker. “Do they have any fighter aircraft or anything similar?”

  “No,” she answered. “All they have are a few shuttles they use to fly people around.”

  “But they do have aircraft?” asked Night.

  “Yes,” said Trella.

  “Have Nelson bring some anti-air missiles, just in case,” said Night.

  “Yes, sir,” said Hendrick, who turned and walked off in search of the cyborg.

  “Anything else?” asked Night.

  “Yes,” said Trella. “There is one thing I forgot. You should bring along all of the magic weapons you have.”

  “Magic weapons?” asked Night. “What the hell are they?”

  “They are the ones made from the magic material. They would be especially effective in our world.”

  “What magic material?” asked Night. Annoyance crept into his voice; acutely aware of the passage of time, he could feel their window of opportunity for getting their people back closing quickly. “Does anyone know what the hell she’s talking about?”

  “She mentioned this once before,” said Mr. Jones. “During the fight in the Mayan temple, most of our weapons weren’t effective against the Efreet, and one of the Sila said, ‘Use the magic ones.’ Some of our weapons were glowing, and when one of them hit an Efreeti it was just like magic; the weapon killed it with only one hit.”

  “Which weapons glowed?”

  “Well, Father Zuhlsdorf’s, for one,” said Mr. Jones. “He killed one of the Efreet, but he’s no longer with us. Several other weapons were glowing, too, I think.”

  “One of ‘dem be mine, mon,” said Sergeant Margaret ‘Witch’ Andrews. She walked up to Night and drew her kris from its sheath. Night could see areas of dark and light running across the wavy blade. “The silvery areas started glowing when I had it out near the Efreet.”

  “Yes,” said Trella, edging away from the weapon. “That is one of the magic ones. It has the same magic material in it.”

  “What are the light areas made of?” asked Night, taking the dagger from her to look at it more closely. The silver inlay was glowing softly.

  “Dey be made of silver and nickel.”

  Night moved the weapon closer to Trella, and the glow became brighter. She edged away from the knife, and the glow faded.

  “Doesn’t that burn you?” she asked. “I can feel the heat from here.”

  “No,” said Night, “it’s not hot at all. What’s wrong with it? The silver?”

  “I don’t know what you call it,” said Trella, “but it is the same burn we get from most of the things the people on the planet use to adorn themselves. They wear jewelry made of the silver metal and the yellow metal. Whenever they are wearing it, we can’t go near them. It reacts with us.”

  “So you’re allergic to silver and gold?” asked Night. “Do you have the same problem in your world?”

  “No,” said Trella. “We don’t have those metals in our world. Some of the elements you have in this world are not in ours. It is one of the reasons we like coming to this world. It is exciting, even though it is dangerous.”

  “Anyone got both silver and gold jewelry?” asked Night.

  “I do,” said Sergeant Adeline Graham. She hadn’t lost her love of jewelry in the cyborg conversion, and she pulled a ring off each of her hands. One was silver, the other gold. Night took one in each hand and held them as far apart as he could as he walked toward Trella. Both started glowing.

  “I don’t know why they do it, but both of them seem to react,” said Night, handing the rings back to Sergeant Graham. “Judging by your previous experience with the Efreet, I expect they have a similar weakness to both metals.”

  “Dude, that’s like Superman and kryptonite,” said Sergeant Jamal ‘Bad Twin’ Gordon.

  “No, dude, it’s more like a werewolf and silver,” said his twin, Sergeant Austin ‘Good Twin’ Gordon. “Hey, dude, that’s cool because it really is silver. She’s prettier than a werewolf, though. Well, when she’s not all alien-looking anyway.”

  “Whatever it is,” said Night, “we need to find ourselves a whole bunch of silver bullets.”

  “I’ve got a question,” said Sergeant Darrin Lancaster. “What’s going to happen if we bring silver or gold into their universe? If the metal just glows here when it’s around them, what are the silver and gold going to do when we’re in their world? It might be better not to have them along if they’re going to blow up or something like that.”

  “Good point,” replied Night. “Now may not be the best time to experiment, and we don’t have the time to waste getting them made anyway. All right, everyone, leave anything you have that is silver or gold here. Having a gold ring that blows your finger off isn’t something we’re going to want to deal with.”

  “You’re not going to bring the magic metal?” asked Trella.

  “Not this time,” replied Night. “We need to test it first before we do. I will, however, start the process of having weapons made in case we need them.”

  “Terra,” Night commed, speaking to the ship’s artificial intelligence, “could you please connect me with the logistics officer?”

  “Certainly,” replied the AI, “stand by.”

  A window opened in his mind, and the picture of a dark-haired woman appeared. Under the picture, a line of text read, “Calling Commander Linda Pagant.”

  After three or four seconds, the text changed to “Connected,” and a voice said, “Commander Pagant.”

  “Hi, ma’am,�
� commed Night. “We are about to go down to the planet on a combat mission, and I need an emergency run on the replicator in case we need resupply. It appears silver and gold are highly reactive in the other universe, so we need some ammunition made with silver and gold.”

  “Say that again?” asked Commander Pagant. “You need an emergency run on the replicators to make silver ammunition? I don’t have any silver. Where am I supposed to get the input metal? What do you want me to do? Just toss my jewelry into it?”

  “You know what?” said Night. “That’s not a bad idea. Stand by.” She waited while Night made a second call over his implant, and then the ship’s intercom went active with several bells to get everyone’s attention.

  “Bong! Bong! Bong! All hands, this is the Captain!” the CO said. “We have troops going on a rescue mission, and they may need to use silver and gold ammunition in order to kill the enemy. Think of it as if they were going to kill werewolves, because it is not too different; our enemy is especially susceptible to these metals. I need all of you to bring your silver and gold to the replicator. If it’s not an heirloom, we need it right now!” The message then repeated.

  “Dude!” said Good Twin. “She used my analogy!”

  Shuttle 02, Keppler-22 ‘b,’ July 17, 2021

  The shuttle touched down, its ramp already in motion. The platoon sprinted out, only to slow down and mill about as they realized there was no enemy to attack or defend against.

  “Weirdest damn assault I’ve ever seen,” Master Gunnery Sergeant Bill Hendrick said.

  “Okay,” said Night, “we’re here. Now what?”

  “Now I’ll take you into my world, but I can only take two at a time. If I take any more, I run the risk of breaking the transporter.”

  “We wouldn’t want that,” Gunnery Sergeant Bob ‘Mongo’ Bryant said, “especially after I’m on the other side. Please don’t break it.”

  “I’ll go first,” said Night, “along with Master Gunnery Sergeant Hendrick.” He indicated Hendrick to Trella. Hendrick nodded his head and stepped forward. “Before we go, ma’am,” he said, “I’ve got a question that’s been on the minds of some of the troops. Ain’t none of us ever been to another universe before, and we’re all kind of wondering…umm…What happens if we die there?”