Chapter 8

They had placed the team, including myself, on a large flat table. I noticed this, for the first time. A slight tingle in my stomach, and a flicker of light, were followed by a shift in where the voices were coming from. I tried to raise my head, but the helmet was securely fastened.

“Can anyone hear me?” I asked.

“I can,” came the reply.

“Are we going through the Vortex, anytime soon? We’ve been strapped to this table, for the past hour,” I said, able to see the wall clock, out of the corner of my eye.

“How long does your suit say you have been laying there?” asked the voice.

“I think it’s broken, it says I’ve been here for seventeen minutes.”

“It was determined, that the team’s best chance for success, was to bypass the shuttle rendezvous. Going directly to the alien ship.”

“Then get us off this table, so we can set up the high Gee equipment, in our own universe. Then make the trip.”

“Dr. Calin, it’s ok. The arrangements have been made, and you will be using some alien technology, to make the trip.

“Now relax, we’re still making adjustments to the...” the voice squeaked, and went silent.

I felt my stomach quiver, and the lights seemed to flicker, again. It frightened me, each time it happened.

“There, Dr. Calin that should be the last adjustment. It had to be done here, because you don’t have the necessary equipment, or technology,” the voice told me.

Another voice spoke over the first, now.

“Ok, everybody, change in plans. Going to the shuttle first was a good, but overly complicated, and dangerous plan. You will be returning, by Vortex, to your own universe. There, you will immediately travel to the alien ship, to carry out your mission. There will be no sensation of travel, as you will be encased inside a stasis field.

“Extraction will occur as planned, but you will have to verify that you are completely inside the stasis generator. Failure to comply with this step will result in whatever is outside the field, being left behind.

“Captain Roland, I believe you were briefed about this possibility,” the new voice added.

“Yes, sir. I was. When will our departure for Earth Gamma’s universe, be ready?”

You will leave Earth Prime in a few minutes, and traverse to Earth Gamma. All the while you will be in stasis. Then back to Earth Prime again, inside the alien ship, at the designated arrival point. At that time, the stasis container will release you, and you will conduct your mission. You have one team member added, who will be wearing Bruce’s suit. He is from this universe, and is trained to operate stasis equipment, for the retrieval of the weapons”

I warily glanced around, as much as I could, trying to spot the extra suit. I decided to try contacting the new person using Bruce’s call signal of ‘two five’, but then thought the better of it.

“Your new team member, is Captain Kostalonance. He is fully trained with your equipment, and has been on previous missions to the alien craft. He will also assist Major Wellert in the second phase of the mission. Scavenger hunting.

“In two minutes, you will go into stasis, and re-emerge onsite. Lay quietly, while the final prep work is made. We will adjust the Vortex transparency, for stasis travel.”

That had me thinking. These guys knew so much more about Vortex, and stasis devices, than I had been led to believe. I wondered how much they knew because of me, and wondered what they felt they still needed me for. They had offered me a chance to join them, one that I had readily accepted.

What was it about me, which enabled me to know or understand what the rest of us did not? What did transparency mean, when it came to a Vortex? So many questions were running through my mind, I barely heard the whistle.

“Stasis in five seconds, good hunting people.”

My stomach twitched, and the lights dimmed. Within a single moment, the lights were gone completely. I knew I was alive, but I was trapped in darkness. I could feel myself pressing against my restraints, and could hear my breath whistle, in near panic pulses.

“Zero, zero, zero. Who has the light switch?” I asked.

A circle of light lit upon a dark gray wall, as someone activated a light.

“Ok, people. Let’s get unhooked. Kostalonance will be by in moment, to unhook you. When you are unhooked, I want you to gather where the light is shining, on that wall” Captain Roland told us.

Kostalonance came over in a few moments, and undid the straps that were holding me in. I pushed off for the light, where two others of our team were already there. I had pushed off a little too hard, and found myself moving very quickly, for a very hard wall.

Cursing as I hit, the other two grabbed me. They helped me attach myself to the wall, with the sticky tape. Soon, the entire group was around us.

Kostalonance made a soft push off, as he secured the last of the ties of the stasis transport. With a simple twist, he landed boots down, on the wall. I envied his skill in zero gee. My shoulder still hurt, where I had smacked against the wall.

“Remember the plan everyone?” Captain Roland asked, as a diagram appeared on our visor screens. It showed our location, amid the empty corridors of the unmanned attack craft. My position (to act as a relay), was marked as a white circle, encircling the number “3”.

“Your number, is your position in line. Number one leads the way, and we follow. I will blink your number, when your turn comes. I am now placing your suits on full illumination, so try not to be blinded by the sudden increase in light.”

Our suits flashed with a soft amber glow, which steadily grew brighter. What had been just a dark gray wall, was now tinged with the ghostly color of blood. What had brought death to earth, was going to get some back.

First one, then two people pushed off, down the hallway. My circle flashed, and I followed along. It wasn’t easy, but I soon got the hang of it. I watched the leader, and followed his example. Pulling off the sticky tape handhold, I gently moved toward the center of the hall, and activated the thruster. I was flying down the hallway, head first, like Superman.

I continued moving forward, but slowly drifted toward the far wall. Giving it a soft elbow, I moved back and forth, between the walls. I reached the stopping point. I attached a small handle to the wall, with some sticky tape. The other two relays stopped some distance behind, me at various corners, and intersections.

We relays would complete an infrared com link, to a ‘black box’ of sorts. It would record the entire mission, and signal, when it was safe to attempt to remove the weapons. The complicated stasis box, that we had used to travel here, was equipped with a small rocket. It would fire through the Vortex, to alert the groundside crew, that we were ready for the removal of the weapons.

We couldn’t use the short-range radio frequencies, to communicate groundside, because it would activate the security system inside the ship. From all accounts; that was a very, very, bad thing to do.

After a few minutes of listening to the conversation (as the retrieval team made their way to the weapons bay), I began to get bored. They seemed to be making good progress. Kostalonance was placing the stasis equipment, around the multi megaton explosives.

Soon, I heard the signal that they were ready to send the first of the weapons back. The signal passed through the line; back to where the Vortex was opened. At present it was a tiny hole between the Prime, and Gamma, universes. I could see a brief flash of light, from around the corner, as the signal rocket shot through the Vortex.

The Vortex moved through the hallways, using us relays, as a visual guide. As it passed me, it widened It seemed to flicker, into a nearly invisible transparency. I wondered if this is what a ‘transparent Vortex’ looked like, and why it was important to make it transparent.

A few moments later, the Vortex retraced its movements and actions. It returned to its starting point. The message came down the line; all the weapons were transported. We were to regroup with our section, to carry out our individual team assignments.

I waited for Kostalonance to come by, and followed him back down the shaft. We met up with Major Wellert, and Kostalonance gave us directions to follow him. Using the two five signal, I radioed our leader.

“Two Five. Captain Kostalonance. Where are we heading?”

“I’m taking Major Wellert, and you, to a manufacturing section of the ship. We’re going to be stealing some equipment, for your earth.”

We followed for a few moments, and then entered a large, dimly lit space. I couldn’t see to the far wall, but I could tell it was a very large distance.

“This entire section of the ship is designed to provide maintenance for the colony ship, as well as the landing craft. It has a large bay, with an airlock, that opens to space. It is completely robotic. The control center is on the far wall. We will have to jump across to the other side, without hitting anything in between,” Kostalonance told us.

Maj. Wellert jumped first, then I followed. We set our suits to home in on the laser spotlight, that Kostalonance was using, to signal where we should go. As we arrived, and sticky taped ourselves to a surface, Kostalonance followed.

“Nice jump. Now this bay is controlled by this computer interface. With the proper supplies, it can even build certain items, such as replacement landing craft. The plan is to take the computer core first, with all of its design information, followed by the entire repair bay.”

I could almost feel Maj. Wellert’s eyebrows pop up, as mine did.

“How do you expect us to steal an entire room?” she (Maj. Wellert) asked.

“Simple, we put it in stasis. Then use the Vortex, in transparent mode, to suck it right out of the ship.” Kostalonance replied, as if it was simple.

“This transparent Vortex, what makes it so great?” I asked him, wanting to understand more about my discovery.

“Dr. Calin discovered it. It allows nothing to go through,” he began to tell us.

“I’m Dr. Calin!” I shouted back at him.

“Oh, that’s right. Well, our Dr. Calin discovered it. At first, it was to allow the Vortex to be easily accessible. Yet it would be able to open and close, to normal crossing of matter, at a moments notice. He couldn’t understand what it was doing, until he examined a stasis device, and discovered how they worked.”