Just then, Van Loader’s voice drifted up from the lobby, shouting something. Adamarus could not make out the words, but the hysterical tone…that was something Adamarus could identify with far more than he wished. Adamarus did not want to go in that direction.
Don’t think.
He turned and glanced down the corridor the other way—he saw a door he hadn’t noticed before. He quickly walked to it and tried it. It opened. He looked inside—stairs. He slipped inside and closed the door behind him.
Don’t think!
Unlike the rest of the building with its faux marble floors and walls, this area was unfinished. The walls were unpainted wallboard and the metal stairs leading both up and down were covered with a thick layer of dust. Naked bulbs lit the area and there was an unnatural quietness to the unfinished place. The air smelled...clean. It all somehow seemed to fit the moment. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
Don’t think!
He shook himself and started down the stairs, and after rounding the corner, he saw a window and stopped to look out. The rain had let up. One of the many reflection pools stretched out for about 50 feet surrounded by trees and hedges. A walkway extended away from the building running along the reflection pool, then continuing into the trees and bushes beyond. The ground surrounding the walkway held patches of grass, puddles and dark wet mud. Wisps of steam rose from the ground and the smell of rain was in the air.
Adamarus’ eyes followed the walkway outward. It seemed to pull at him. From an elevation of two-and-a-half stories, he could see that in the distance, the dark ground seemed to end. It looked dry out by the distant wall. That’s where he wanted to go.
Don't think!
---
By the time Donnelly got Van Loader to his quarters, Van Loader had quieted down somewhat. Donnelly was really worried about Van Loader. He, of all people, knew how much and to what depth Van Loader had been affected by the news they had just received…by the things they had been shown. Just hearing the Loud’s tale was enough to shake anyone to the core, but the undisputable evidence they’d been shown was the final stake to the heart!
He led Van Loader to his bed and had him lie down. Donnelly hadn’t had time to ponder the differences in their reactions. Both of them had been changed, but Van Loader had been shattered while Donnelly had…what…seen the blinding light of truth?
Van Loader moaned—a haunted tormented sound that sliced into Donnelly’s heart like a hot knife. He sat down on the bed. “Oh, Gerald, my friend…please hang in there.” He needed to get Van Loader some help.
To Donnelly it was clear, obvious, and undeniable: The highly advanced and unbelievably powerful alien that they had thought was coming at them was...something else entirely. And across the vastness of the universe, across three super clusters, he had looked into its face. In that moment, he seemed to realize some undeniable and searing truth. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it had changed him.
Nevertheless, he still had to relieve himself. That hadn’t changed. “Gerald…” he squeezed the broken man’s shoulder, “I’ll be right back.” He got up and walked six feet to the restroom, went in and closed the door behind him.
---
It had been hours now and still everyone was “unavailable.” Evelyn couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness and finally gave up trying to focus on busy work. Brandon's idea about everyone trying to help with the weather problem made some sense. She decided to check for herself.
She did not take the main elevators to the atrium, but instead took the closest of the six maintenance lifts down. This deposited her in a small alcove about 50 feet up the wall of the circular domed room. She paused and peered out over the large chamber.
The rain had let up, but there were still some dark clouds drifting up around the center of the dome. She could see the ground was still wet and there were puddles. Here and there wisps of steam rose.
She leaned over the rail and took a deep breath. The smell of rain was invigorating and something she had not experienced in a long time. She noticed that there was a dry area directly below her that continued out from the wall for about twenty feet.
She was about to turn and walk back into the super structure where stairs would take her either up into the dome or down to ground level when she noticed a figure below. It was Adamarus. He was sitting on the ground, legs outstretched, back against a tree. She found herself smiling down at him though he could not see her.
She turned and walked back into the structure. She passed the elevator doors and went to the stairs. As she turned to start down, she heard footsteps above her and looked up. The metal grade stair switchback rose above her following the curve of the dome until it eventually curved out of sight. High above, she spotted someone climbing upward—she could not be sure, but it looked like Dr. Van Loader. She felt that she must be mistaken. Van Loader would be the last person she would expect to offer his help on something like this.
She started down the staircase.
---
Radin was in the “14U” sitting in a dark corner booth at the back of the room. He was drinking beer and doing shots of Old Northern Warmer. After the meeting, he’d decided he wanted to be alone…alone and drunk. He saw Bugs enter the front door and he hunkered back into the booth. Then he groaned as he saw the avatar head straight for him without even looking around to find him. God damn it, he thought, as he downed the third of six shot glasses lined up in front of him.
Bugs stopped a few feet from him. “Captain, can I join you?”
Radin stared at him for a moment with a sour look, and then forced a smile and said, “What can I get you?” He downed the fourth shot.
Bugs ignored the frivolous question and scooted into the booth across from him. “You took the information better than anyone else. You got angry, but…that seemed to be all.”
“And how the hell would you know that?” Radin asked.
“I was monitoring the vitals of everyone at the meeting—a safety precaution.”
Radin smiled again, showing teeth. His voice was low and dangerous, “I don’t give a shit about how ancient or powerful some goddamn alien is!” He sipped his beer and slammed the bottle down. “Just put it in front of me and I’ll fight it.” He grabbed another shot glass and downed it, “If I’m nothing but some backward slug to it…” he slammed the shot glass down on the table upside-down next to five others like it, “if it just squashes me without a second thought…well then…fuck it!” He grabbed the last shooter and shot it down.
Bugs had never seen the Captain like this before. All he could detect was anger, determination, and now, increasing intoxication.
Radin raised his hand to signal for more shooters, then paused as he noticed a disturbance to the otherwise quiet room. Dr. Donnelly was rushing around speaking to one person after another. Radin got up, “Excuse me,” he said to Bugs. He made his way across the room and intercepted Donnelly. “Doctor, what’s going on?”
Donnelly turned to him. There seemed to be more than a little panic in his face. “Have you seen Dr. Van Loader?”
Radin looked around the room, “No. Why?”
Donnelly sighed heavily, “I’m worried. He was acting…” he lowered his voice, “well, very strange after the meeting.”
“Fancy that,” Radin said.
“I got him to his cabin but…well, I had to use the restroom, and when I returned, he was gone. I can’t find him anywhere.”
---
Evelyn walked towards Adamarus, stepping softly across the soft soil and clumps of grass. Adamarus was facing the other way and the tree trunk he was leaning against hid his upper body. She rounded the tree then abruptly stopped, her jaw dropping in surprise—he was sound asleep.
She stood there a moment looking at him, not knowing quite what to do. He looked so peaceful. She decided she did not want to wake him and would just retrace her steps and leave. She started to turn her head and step back, but Adamarus’ head moved and sh
e quickly looked back at him.
“Why?” It was just a whisper, and his eyes remained closed, his breathing unchanged.
Her foot was already coming down when she tore her eyes from Adamarus to look where she was going. Too late. She saw the clump of dried leaves and twigs and her attempt to avoid them made her stumble, causing her feet to fall onto an even larger pile of dried branches.
CRUNCH… CRUNCH.
“Darn,” she whispered.
---
In the dream, Adamarus saw the blue pixilated spiral galaxy that Bugs had focused the telescope on at the end of the meeting...that shocking, horrendous nightmare of a meeting where they had heard and seen things that, at first, the human mind could hardly grasp…then later, could barely conceive. There were plasma jets coming from the top and bottom of the hazy blue spiral and the upper one clearly showing a wisp veering off to the right at almost a ninety-degree angle—what all of them knew now to be the Spiral Slayer’s “footprint.”
In his mind’s eye, the hands of time spun back 12 billion years…though he really had no grasp, whatsoever, of such enormous time spans. Still, he imagined the pale blue spiral as it had been in the dawn of time. Alive with vast spiraling arms of brilliant white stars shimmering like jewels carefully set within the rich browns of complex dust plumes. Deep within, pastel explosions could be seen, the stellar nebula that marked the graves of stars. And, at the base of the arms, at the very center, a hemisphere of unparalleled luminance rose, so thick with stars, it seemed surrounded by mist—the central hub—the hiding place of the spiral’s massive black hole. Breathtaking in its beauty, Adamarus could only stare at it in wonder.
As he watched, a radiant flash came from the edge of the galaxy. It outshined the entire galaxy before it faded, leaving a small dark spot. Then further in, another…then another and another. His brows furrowed as he watched and waited. Then came another flash from the base of one of the spiral arms. The flashes formed a straight line from the edge of the galaxy to the center. He knew now what these were, for his sun might soon be one of them.
Then suddenly he saw two plasma jets burst from the center, one going upward and one down, forming what could have been an axle for the spiral to turn on. At the same time, a dark ugly smear appeared at the center of the spiral and began to spread. As the blackness reached the base of the galactic arms, the strange wisp of plasma erupted from the upper plasma jet, angling toward him. As the blackness spread through the arms and finally devoured all of the spiral’s shining stars, he saw a black sphere emerge from the small plasma stream and head for another distant group of galaxies.
He watched in silent horror as the black hole went from one cluster of galaxies to another, visiting one galaxy in each cluster, leaving its ugly black stain spreading upon each one. He could see the universe expanding and that first slain galaxy moving further and further away. Looking around, Adamarus could now see other black spheres…first thousands, then millions… then they seemed endless. All of them doing the same thing…over and over again. They formed an enormous devouring wall of darkness, and as the hands of time swept forward, the wall crept across the cosmos, spreading darkness and death.
Adamarus seemed to stagger back. He heard himself whisper, “Why?”
An enormous gas giant came into view. At first, the swollen planet looked like a bubble that a pin prick could burst. For reasons unknown, the planet seemed to draw all the black spheres towards it. There was a large swirling red spot within the banded pastel clouds, and Adamarus realized that a person stood in the center of it. In his dream, he floated down and stood there beside the person. He tried to look over and see who it was, but his eyes were drawn back towards the countless spheres coming at them. Just before the leading sphere hit them, he turned away and closed his eyes.
The first one hit and then the next.
CRUNCH… CRUNCH.
“Darn.” The whispered word seemed to come from everywhere.
At the same time, the back of his eyelids turned bright white. He opened his eyes, and although the bright light hurt his eyes, he could see the person that stood next to him. “Evelyn?” he tried to ask, but no sound came out.
She gave him the most beautiful smile and said, “Whoops.”
---
He was looking at her with half open eyes. His lips formed her name. Her face flushed as a large smile formed, “Whoops,” she said, “I was trying not to wake you.”
“Evelyn?” he asked again. He was still half asleep, his voice a barely audible croak.
Her smile grew larger. “Sorry,” she said. She looked downward, taking a small, insecure step. This was so out of character for her, so…vulnerable. It made the moment strangely endearing to Adamarus. He rubbed his eyes and stifled a fake yawn, pretending he hadn’t seen the movement. Then, looking up, he smiled sheepishly and joked. “Looks like I’m busted.”
She put her hands on her hips and shifted her weight. “You are so busted,” she said gamely, a twinkle in her eyes.
Chapter Twenty One – Aftermath
“…the universe’s expansion proves the existence of these 'other world' universes. They really exist. They exist right here, right now, and if we could see everything going on around us, it would look like a raging storm of static. The subatomic world is almost completely empty space, however, about three billion years ago, the incredible expansion rate of 'other world' universes ran out of subatomic room and the universe began the runaway expansion we see today—this is your dark energy.”
The Loud Named Bugs
Opening Speech, 23rd Amular Symposium on Quantum Physics
Source: The Archive
President Wicker sat behind his desk, staring into space. Everything had changed, he thought. Yet nothing had changed. What chance did they have? None. Yet how did this change what they must do? He needed to get Thornton’s thoughts.
He reached for the intercom to call for him then paused. He remembered how shaken and depressed Thornton had looked towards the end of the meeting. Who could blame him? But Thornton’s depression had seemed so intense that it had concerned Wicker, even spooked him a little. Wicker decided to go to Thornton instead. Look him in the eye. He got up and left his office.
Passing by his secretary, he told her where he was going, then he walked out the door and down the hall. Entering Thornton’s outer office, he saw that Thornton’s secretary had stepped away, so he walked up to the door and knocked. Almost immediately, he heard a strange noise from within. It sounded like a chair had tipped over. He knocked again louder…nothing. He tried the knob and the door opened.
The first thing that caught his eye was the overturned chair, then the kicking feet, then the entire horrific scene: Thornton was hanging by the neck from a ceiling fan jerking and kicking!
Wicker gasped, “Oh my God!” He immediately ran to the chair, and with shaking hands, uprighted it, then jumped up on it and grabbed Thornton in a bear hug, attempting to lift him up to take the pressure off his neck.
Thornton continued to flail his legs and arms, hitting and kicking Wicker and making it hard for Wicker to hold him.
Wicker needed help, but there was no way to call for any! Repeatedly, Thornton’s flaying arms and feet hit and battered Wicker. Wicker hollered, “Help! Help! Somebody help me!” but nobody came. He cried out for help again and again…nothing!
Suddenly Thornton quit lashing out. He trembled violently—then he went limp. Still, Wicker didn’t want to let go of him, but he was beat up and exhausted. “Help! Please help me!” he cried out.
After several minutes, unable to hold him up any longer, he tried to let Thornton slip through his arms gradually. However, Wicker accidentally let go and Thornton dropped. The packing twine yanked Thornton’s neck up violently. There was a crack and Thornton’s neck extended! Wicker, only inches away, was shocked! He cried out and fell to the floor. He sat there rocking back and forth. Tears were streaming down his face. He could not look up at Thornton.
---
The smell of the rain, the soil, and the vegetation almost made the atrium seem like a real forest back on Amular.
Still half asleep, sprawled out on the ground, which was a combination of dirt, grass, leaves and sticks, and leaning against a tree, Adamarus looked up at Evelyn and smiled. The overwhelming and depressing memories of this morning’s meeting were held at bay mostly, he mused, by her smile. “So…asleep against a tree, lying in the dirt…I suppose you’re going to report me?”
Evelyn just barked a soft laugh. She was thinking she’d like to join him.
For many seconds, they looked at each other—the only sounds were the distant birds singing and wind coursing through the trees. Periodically, a cool breeze blew though the glade, blowing across their faces.
The dream still seemed to be with Adamarus, distracting and numbing him. To shake it off, he got to his feet and brushed himself off while Evelyn, standing about eight feet away, watched, shifting back and forth almost nervously.
He noticed an anthill on the ground in front of him. A slight wave of dizziness passed over him and he frowned as he watched the small black insects crawl up the dirt mound and into the hole on top. For an absurd moment, he thought about pitting all of Amular’s military might against that anthill and what the ants might do to defend against such an attack. Then, the next instant, he felt like one of the small insects…tiny…powerless…insignificant.
He blinked away the strange feelings and remembered his dream. There seemed to be something significant about it, and he almost saw what it was, but his thoughts were interrupted.
“What’s wrong?” Evelyn asked in a concerned voice. She had been watching the play of emotions on Adamarus’ face and was leaning forward, looking at him.
Suddenly remembering the special “Black Raven” security level and the fact that he could not let anything slip concerning this morning’s meeting, he forced himself to regain control and used the anthill as a distraction. He pointed at it, “Can you believe it? Do you think they included them on purpose?”
Encounters (The Spiral Slayers Book 1) Page 35
