Scrambled, page 5
part #14 of Directorate Series
The car was locked, but clicked open at the touch of the button. Ha! Implanted ID protocol hasn't changed in fifty years.
He didn't have the keys, but with the security interlock released, a simple mental tickle and the engine roared into life.
He wrenched the wheel around, crossed the street and bounced over the curb.
Floored it and took aim for the gate as the first Earthers started though.
Chapter Nine
Where’s my Sister?
12 Jumada 1400 yp
Nick tried to concentrate while he panted for breath.
No taste of excited hunter, so no police nearby. Probably. Finally.
They learned a bit from that pathetic trap three days ago.
But if they can't find me in an hour, they won't find me at all, right?
He reached further out mentally . . . nothing from Gamer. He'd gotten a single quick flash from her, that she'd found his new friend. She'd called him handy and said she was going to see what he had.
Nothing since.
And she'd better be out of range, not . . . not . . . He shoved the thought away. And thought about the police raid. On the street, so someone in the Red Zone recognized me. Alerted the police, and when I showed this morning, they were ready and closed in.
We're going to have to move, immediately. And a considerable distance.
He rubbed his gritty face. I'm so tired. If only I could mold my face the way Gamer does. Find a permanent home. A real job, not day labor, like the lowest of the Multitude. Like a Native. Never have to steal to put food on the table.
:: Umaya! ::
A faint response. She could hear him, even if she was too far to answer. She was the magically strongest of the wives.
:: Pack. We must move. It is in your hands. ::
Their contingency plans had always been clear. He could leave the execution of it to her.
He straightened and started walking. Away from home, for now. In case they spotted him again. Where would that Ebsa Clostuone take Gamer? Do I believe him? He's either police, and Gamer is in trouble . . . or an agent from another world . . . and Gamer is in trouble.
If he's trying to convince the authorities that he's not with me . . . handing Gamer to them would be a good move.
Until I catch up with him.
He turned and headed toward the city center. He needed a few items for a physical disguise that would fool the electronic surveillance systems that were ubiquitous in the better parts of town. Then an illusion to fool the people around police headquarters . . . and then what?
A corner vendomat supplied him with two thin round sponges, glue, and putty. He found an alley and shoved the sponges in between his teeth and cheeks. Glued his ears flatter against his skull, and folded his ear lobes. The putty—sandstone, they called the color—built up the bridge of his nose. It wasn't pretty, but it changed his facial parameters enough to spoof the system.
Then the illusion. He rarely used such a large one, but his worn work clothes were already starting to stand out.
Damn that Ebsa with his gorgeous suit. Obviously custom made just for him. The brilliant colors of the tie—probably real natural silk. Leather shoes. Hair professionally cut.
Nick copied them all, and straightened and made himself move with the confidence that he was one of the elite, master of all he surveyed. Born to rule.
Ha! What a joke. I should be a Warrior. That confident, that sure. Not a sniveling eunuch, hiding in the shadows.
He boarded a tram. Held his illusion as people crowded in. Followed half the crowd off a few blocks from the East Plaza.
He staggered as the ground shifted, lifted and shook. And kept shaking.
It's going to be a bad one! Will they evacuate the police building? If they don't evac the prisoners, can I get in and find Gamer?
As people fled the buildings on either side, Nick started running.
And the ground kept shaking.
The East Plaza was an unexceptional block of red brick pavement with a few patches of landscaping and benches. The police building on the north side was the only government building around it. The Ministry of War buildings were a block to the east, facing north onto a different plaza. The rest of the government buildings loomed on the near horizon, to the north and west.
People were fleeing the buildings, but avoiding something in the square as well. As he watched, the glass entry of the police building shattered and fell. And despite the danger of falling glass, people were still pouring out of the building.
Oners, with shields, no doubt.
He spotted a familiar figure. Ebsa and damned if that isn't Subdirector Urfa he's hauling out of the building. Damn you Ebsa, where's Gamer? Are you worried about her, trapped in a cell in there?
The building folded, the top falling backwards and then the whole thing pancaked.
Nick froze. :: Gamer! :: "Gamer!" he stumbled across the street, spitting out the sponges. Knowing he’d let the illusion go and not caring . . . "Gamer!" No! No! No! No!
He could see Ebsa getting into a car, turning it to speed across the plaza . . . toward a glowing circle. He's escaping to his own world.
Nick was smashed flat to the ground, arms wrenched behind him.
"Got you now, you little son of a bitch."
Cold cuffs clicked around his wrists.
Nick's head was turned so he could see the bright sunlit desert through the gate. The armored vehicle driving through and turning. Guns popping up as it turned and stopped.
Ebsa in the speeding car. Walking away free, with an armed escort to cover his retreat . . . why is the car door open?
Ebsa leaped, rolled and kept rolling.
The car hit the gate . . . hit the front of the second armored vehicle, rather. Brilliant flash, slashing shards flying through the air, skipping across the pavement. Nick threw up a shield. Shrapnel caromed off and clattered to the ground.
Like in the old stories. A collision during gate transit is deadly, shredding everything and ejecting it. Forcefully.
"Stop it!" One of the cops on him drew back to hit him, the other lunged and grabbed his arm.
"Get down!"
Machine gun fire raked the Plaza. The first armored vehicle had survived that blast.
But out there on the battlefield, Ebsa was back on his feet, running, staggering—earthquakes and perhaps the impact of bullets hitting his shield—retreating halfway then turning to face whoever had come through that gate.
He can't fight an army alone . . . can he?
Chapter Ten
Wanted: Warrior
12 Jumada 1400 yp
Ebsa staggered back to a point with a clear field of view of the gate and the armored troop carrier. Pushed his shield out a bit and anchored it.
Pulled out the pencils as Urfa, Wicked, and Utterly joined him. Wicked could obviously see his shield as he was leaning to shoot past it.
"The gate's still open." Urfa knelt, one hand on the ground for stability. "As soon as they clear the wreckage . . . what the hell are you doing?"
Ebsa grinned and jerked off the rubber band and spread the pencils. Reached into the dimensional bubble and pulled out the big footlocker, then the long rifle case.
Urfa pulled a pistol as Ebsa pulled out the 10mm rifle . . .
Ebsa held the gun out to him. "Try this, it'll work a lot better." Added three loaded mags. "Read the labels, save the armor piercing for armor."
Urfa juggled the magazines, holstered his pisto,l and handed the rifle to Utterly.
Then Ebsa quickly assembled the 20mm. "Any of you ever fire one of these? Right, don't start now." Ebsa opened the footlocker and started pulling out the grenade launcher.
"One bloody Hell!" Wicked holstered his pistol as Utterly took over plinking at the soldiers around the armored vehicle. "You have enough to field an army in here!"
"Not hardly. How are they doing on the far side of the gate?"
"They're bulldozing the approach. Two minutes and they'll be coming through again."
"I don't suppose any of you have my comm?"
Urfa fished in a pocket and handed it over.
It lit properly, so the relay was working. Azko picked up on the first ring.
"What's going on where you are?"
"Quakes like you would not believe. I'm headed for the far gate at top speed, Q's going to isolate this tangle of worlds, cut all gates to it. She says she hasn't a clue what's going to happen. She says she'll be back to rescue you."
"Just you?"
"Yeah, your buddy jumped out and ran for the gate, said she had to find her family."
"Damn. Well, tell Disco that some Earth has opened a gate here in Paris, and I'm going to close it. So Q may need to find me on the other Earth. Tell Ajha some serious search and rescue help is going to be needed here." Ebsa looked over at Urfa, who was eyeing the armored vehicle. "Gotta go, bye."
Ebsa chambered an armor piercing round into the 20 mm and stepped out from behind the shield. Put the first round into the engine block. Stepped back and switched mags. Penetrating explosive rounds. Two shots through the troop compartment and it blew up quite spectacularly.
"Thought it was a bit light on troops." Back to armor piercing . . . Put four rounds through the gate and the bulldozer jolted to a halt. He set down the 20mm, and pulled the 12mm out of the footlocker.
Foot troops started moving in from the sides, squeezing between the bulldozer and whatever they had on the far side marking their gate. Forming up . . . charging. Staggering and grimacing as the effect of the powered gate hit them without the buffering afforded by the metal of a vehicle.
Ebsa threw up his rifle and started shooting.
They had ballistic shields, vests, helmets . . . The 12mm knocked them flat, but too many were getting back up.
The world wrenched, more than an earthquake, worse than a gate . . .
To his right, a strip of tall unmown grass led from just off the gate past him, widening . . . to his left a narrow wedge of concrete, the corner of a concrete wall cut off at the edge.
Ebsa scanned the plaza . . . narrow blades in a pinwheel centered on the gate. Blades of foreign worlds . . . "This is not a good sign."
Wrench. The foreign ground disappeared, brick pavement returned.
Ebsa stepped closer . . . a thin line of shattered brick marked where the grasslands had swapped in.
Urfa nodded, breathing fast. "We have to close that gate."
"You know, if their powered gate works like ours, there's a pot load of critical equipment right there." He looked over at Urfa, the two guards . . .
Urfa shook his head. "You can't get through that many troops."
"I should have brought another Warrior with me. A small compass would have been useful."
Urfa frowned. "Another Warrior."
"Yeah. Since we had better sense than to kill Isakson, we've been identifying." He broke off to discourage the troops. Didn't seem to be working. "And training new Warriors."
"So, if Wicked and Utterly could keep those soldiers off my back, I'll try to get to the gate and inflict some damage over there."
"You can't do it alone . . . " Urfa was looking behind him. "I think I can get you a Warrior."
Ebsa followed his gaze. "That's handy." He trotted over to the knot of police hauling Azho to his feet.
Urfa followed. "He killed two hundred priests. Can you trust him?"
"In this plaza alone, that many people have just died. Citywide? Worldwide? Urfa, if this damage level is worldwide, your civilization has just died. Let's get this gate closed."
"Shit. Release him." Urfa glared at the cops until the handcuffs were off.
Ebsa stepped up to this feral version of Ra'd. "So. Are you a criminal or a warrior?"
Hot sparks of fury lit Ra’d’s eyes, but his gaze left Ebsa's to look at the gate, then returned. "Warrior."
Chapter Eleven
The Battle of the Gate
12 Jumada 1400 yp
Nick followed Ebsa across the plaza.
He studied the man. Bright blue eyes, gleaming, studied him in return.
He's enjoying this!
"You're young, but you look lean, mean, and strong. You ought to be able to hold up a side of a minor compass."
Nick nodded. "It's been a long time since I've practiced . . . "
I ought to have been practicing with Abbas and Hakim.
"Right, let's go . . . Ra'd."
Ebsa laid down his rifle and faced him, shields dropping to reveal a smooth deep glow of immense power.
Nick remembered a nightmare, a day seven years ago. The overwhelming pressure on his mind, breaking him . . .
There was no pressure here.
Ebsa held out his hands. "Your choice."
"Call me Nick." He reached. And lowered his barriers.
Energy. Ebsa's left hand to his right. Nick took it and passed it back through his left. A circle of power. They both added to it and it whipped around faster, expanding into a glowing cyclone of power . . .
Disappearing. Absorbed. Nick felt like his head was inflating.
Hands dropped. Ebsa's eyes glowed with power. Scooping up weapons . . . Ebsa was taking a crowbar? A backpack he pulled from a bag of the Prophets?
He looked inside. "Shaped charges. If we can get through the gate and damage their rings, it might stop this."
Urfa shifted. "And can you get back?"
Ebsa grinned, glowing so brightly it nearly oozed from his skin. "Well, that may be a problem. So when my people show up, suggest they look for us over there. And Urfa? Don't shoot at them."
Urfa glanced at the gate. "They've just about got the bulldozer pushed out of the way."
"Right. Work on the flanks, Nick and I will take the middle." He handed Nick a belt with holstered pistol, extra mags in two sizes, a knife . . .
He buckled it on and took the proffered rifle.
Criminal to hero in one easy step. Bet the reverse will happen as well.
He pushed thought of the future away. Time to fight.
"Shields up, physical and energy." Ebsa turned and strode toward the Earth's army.
He didn't seem to notice the bullets and lasers hitting his shields, and Nick tried to shed the momentum as readily as they broke into a run. Power flicked out and the closest shooters crumpled.
:: They have no magic at all. ::
Ebsa stopped, switched to his huge rifle and fired once through the gate. :: If they get a tank through the gate, that won't really matter. ::
Nick staggered. Was crushed down and then floated for a second.
Alien strips replaced normalcy to either side.
:: Stay on the bricks as long as possible. ::
The mental contact felt almost like his own thoughts. Merged.
Wrench. The strange bits went away. He stumbled . . .
:: I wonder if they are manipulating gravity or if that is part of the weirdness? :: Ebsa slung the big gun and pulled the crowbar off his belt.
Nick pulled a pistol, fired carefully placed shots across the line of soldiers facing them. :: Good armor. Aim for the edges of sections. :: He slapped in another magazine and started firing again. Men fell. This time fewer rose.
Then they were in among the troops. And heading straight for the gate.
Through the link to Ebsa he could feel the older man using the power they'd built up. Careful precise spells. :: Stun has a range of two meters, push can go twenty, but they'll just get back up. Spin and laugh are somewhat useful. If it gets nasty, I can slice about fifty meters. ::
:: I can slice. :: He swallowed an ugly memory. :: I’m out of practice . . . ::
The soldiers all around them were dropping. Ebsa vaulted over and kept going.
We're really going through? We can't fight a world! Can't . . .
Ebsa tossed a mental grin his direction. :: We already are. ::
Click. Out of ammo.
He holstered the gun and ran forward. Shields up. Must be some weapons lying around out here somewhere. He scooped up a rifle on the run and started shooting, aiming for seams, under the arms, bottom of the clear faceplate. Damn that's good armor. He was knocking them down but too many were staggering back to their feet.
He spotted Ebsa with his crowbar . . . breaking arms and legs. Damn.
Stun spells snapping out, troopers laughing, spinning, coughing. Dying.
Nick dropped the empty gun and scooped up another. Kept shooting. He tried magic, a push staggered a man. Pull tripped them.
He was getting surrounded himself, and turned and shot the soldiers behind him. Backpedaled. Shot a couple more . . . How bloody many soldiers have come through?
:: Hundreds. :: The other one was cool and analytical, focused.
Ebsa slashed out and half a dozen men collapsed into a pile of gore.
Then the other man leapt through the gate.
A explosion to Nick's left. Grenade? Who's shooting? The cops behind me?
Two steps, leap over a ridge of body parts and through the gate.
Chapter Twelve
On Earth
12 Jumada 1400 nyp
One bulldozer, no longer pushing the other broken-down dozer out of the way to the left . . .
To the right, more foot troops, beyond the dozer the turrets of tanks.
Ebsa cut right, threw a stun spell, reversed, staying between the pair of unmoving bulldozers and the gate.
Nick leaped out of the gate with a gasp of pain.
:: Keep them off my back for a minute, then we have to get as far away from the gate as possible. Fast. :: Ebsa jerked a thumb over his shoulder. Knelt beside the concrete and steel arch that held the gate. Tried to remember the schematics he'd seen of the Earth’s powered gates, so similar to the One World’s.
Somewhere behind this are two counterrotating supercooled super-conducting rings. All I need to do is break their containment. And duck.
He whipped the gun sling over his head and handed the 20mm to Nick. Peeled out of the backpack. Shaped charges, three of them. He synced the timers. Ignored something flying over his head. He didn't bother to look. Nick had it. A boom from the big gun and the nearest engine noise died abruptly.
He didn't have the keys, but with the security interlock released, a simple mental tickle and the engine roared into life.
He wrenched the wheel around, crossed the street and bounced over the curb.
Floored it and took aim for the gate as the first Earthers started though.
Chapter Nine
Where’s my Sister?
12 Jumada 1400 yp
Nick tried to concentrate while he panted for breath.
No taste of excited hunter, so no police nearby. Probably. Finally.
They learned a bit from that pathetic trap three days ago.
But if they can't find me in an hour, they won't find me at all, right?
He reached further out mentally . . . nothing from Gamer. He'd gotten a single quick flash from her, that she'd found his new friend. She'd called him handy and said she was going to see what he had.
Nothing since.
And she'd better be out of range, not . . . not . . . He shoved the thought away. And thought about the police raid. On the street, so someone in the Red Zone recognized me. Alerted the police, and when I showed this morning, they were ready and closed in.
We're going to have to move, immediately. And a considerable distance.
He rubbed his gritty face. I'm so tired. If only I could mold my face the way Gamer does. Find a permanent home. A real job, not day labor, like the lowest of the Multitude. Like a Native. Never have to steal to put food on the table.
:: Umaya! ::
A faint response. She could hear him, even if she was too far to answer. She was the magically strongest of the wives.
:: Pack. We must move. It is in your hands. ::
Their contingency plans had always been clear. He could leave the execution of it to her.
He straightened and started walking. Away from home, for now. In case they spotted him again. Where would that Ebsa Clostuone take Gamer? Do I believe him? He's either police, and Gamer is in trouble . . . or an agent from another world . . . and Gamer is in trouble.
If he's trying to convince the authorities that he's not with me . . . handing Gamer to them would be a good move.
Until I catch up with him.
He turned and headed toward the city center. He needed a few items for a physical disguise that would fool the electronic surveillance systems that were ubiquitous in the better parts of town. Then an illusion to fool the people around police headquarters . . . and then what?
A corner vendomat supplied him with two thin round sponges, glue, and putty. He found an alley and shoved the sponges in between his teeth and cheeks. Glued his ears flatter against his skull, and folded his ear lobes. The putty—sandstone, they called the color—built up the bridge of his nose. It wasn't pretty, but it changed his facial parameters enough to spoof the system.
Then the illusion. He rarely used such a large one, but his worn work clothes were already starting to stand out.
Damn that Ebsa with his gorgeous suit. Obviously custom made just for him. The brilliant colors of the tie—probably real natural silk. Leather shoes. Hair professionally cut.
Nick copied them all, and straightened and made himself move with the confidence that he was one of the elite, master of all he surveyed. Born to rule.
Ha! What a joke. I should be a Warrior. That confident, that sure. Not a sniveling eunuch, hiding in the shadows.
He boarded a tram. Held his illusion as people crowded in. Followed half the crowd off a few blocks from the East Plaza.
He staggered as the ground shifted, lifted and shook. And kept shaking.
It's going to be a bad one! Will they evacuate the police building? If they don't evac the prisoners, can I get in and find Gamer?
As people fled the buildings on either side, Nick started running.
And the ground kept shaking.
The East Plaza was an unexceptional block of red brick pavement with a few patches of landscaping and benches. The police building on the north side was the only government building around it. The Ministry of War buildings were a block to the east, facing north onto a different plaza. The rest of the government buildings loomed on the near horizon, to the north and west.
People were fleeing the buildings, but avoiding something in the square as well. As he watched, the glass entry of the police building shattered and fell. And despite the danger of falling glass, people were still pouring out of the building.
Oners, with shields, no doubt.
He spotted a familiar figure. Ebsa and damned if that isn't Subdirector Urfa he's hauling out of the building. Damn you Ebsa, where's Gamer? Are you worried about her, trapped in a cell in there?
The building folded, the top falling backwards and then the whole thing pancaked.
Nick froze. :: Gamer! :: "Gamer!" he stumbled across the street, spitting out the sponges. Knowing he’d let the illusion go and not caring . . . "Gamer!" No! No! No! No!
He could see Ebsa getting into a car, turning it to speed across the plaza . . . toward a glowing circle. He's escaping to his own world.
Nick was smashed flat to the ground, arms wrenched behind him.
"Got you now, you little son of a bitch."
Cold cuffs clicked around his wrists.
Nick's head was turned so he could see the bright sunlit desert through the gate. The armored vehicle driving through and turning. Guns popping up as it turned and stopped.
Ebsa in the speeding car. Walking away free, with an armed escort to cover his retreat . . . why is the car door open?
Ebsa leaped, rolled and kept rolling.
The car hit the gate . . . hit the front of the second armored vehicle, rather. Brilliant flash, slashing shards flying through the air, skipping across the pavement. Nick threw up a shield. Shrapnel caromed off and clattered to the ground.
Like in the old stories. A collision during gate transit is deadly, shredding everything and ejecting it. Forcefully.
"Stop it!" One of the cops on him drew back to hit him, the other lunged and grabbed his arm.
"Get down!"
Machine gun fire raked the Plaza. The first armored vehicle had survived that blast.
But out there on the battlefield, Ebsa was back on his feet, running, staggering—earthquakes and perhaps the impact of bullets hitting his shield—retreating halfway then turning to face whoever had come through that gate.
He can't fight an army alone . . . can he?
Chapter Ten
Wanted: Warrior
12 Jumada 1400 yp
Ebsa staggered back to a point with a clear field of view of the gate and the armored troop carrier. Pushed his shield out a bit and anchored it.
Pulled out the pencils as Urfa, Wicked, and Utterly joined him. Wicked could obviously see his shield as he was leaning to shoot past it.
"The gate's still open." Urfa knelt, one hand on the ground for stability. "As soon as they clear the wreckage . . . what the hell are you doing?"
Ebsa grinned and jerked off the rubber band and spread the pencils. Reached into the dimensional bubble and pulled out the big footlocker, then the long rifle case.
Urfa pulled a pistol as Ebsa pulled out the 10mm rifle . . .
Ebsa held the gun out to him. "Try this, it'll work a lot better." Added three loaded mags. "Read the labels, save the armor piercing for armor."
Urfa juggled the magazines, holstered his pisto,l and handed the rifle to Utterly.
Then Ebsa quickly assembled the 20mm. "Any of you ever fire one of these? Right, don't start now." Ebsa opened the footlocker and started pulling out the grenade launcher.
"One bloody Hell!" Wicked holstered his pistol as Utterly took over plinking at the soldiers around the armored vehicle. "You have enough to field an army in here!"
"Not hardly. How are they doing on the far side of the gate?"
"They're bulldozing the approach. Two minutes and they'll be coming through again."
"I don't suppose any of you have my comm?"
Urfa fished in a pocket and handed it over.
It lit properly, so the relay was working. Azko picked up on the first ring.
"What's going on where you are?"
"Quakes like you would not believe. I'm headed for the far gate at top speed, Q's going to isolate this tangle of worlds, cut all gates to it. She says she hasn't a clue what's going to happen. She says she'll be back to rescue you."
"Just you?"
"Yeah, your buddy jumped out and ran for the gate, said she had to find her family."
"Damn. Well, tell Disco that some Earth has opened a gate here in Paris, and I'm going to close it. So Q may need to find me on the other Earth. Tell Ajha some serious search and rescue help is going to be needed here." Ebsa looked over at Urfa, who was eyeing the armored vehicle. "Gotta go, bye."
Ebsa chambered an armor piercing round into the 20 mm and stepped out from behind the shield. Put the first round into the engine block. Stepped back and switched mags. Penetrating explosive rounds. Two shots through the troop compartment and it blew up quite spectacularly.
"Thought it was a bit light on troops." Back to armor piercing . . . Put four rounds through the gate and the bulldozer jolted to a halt. He set down the 20mm, and pulled the 12mm out of the footlocker.
Foot troops started moving in from the sides, squeezing between the bulldozer and whatever they had on the far side marking their gate. Forming up . . . charging. Staggering and grimacing as the effect of the powered gate hit them without the buffering afforded by the metal of a vehicle.
Ebsa threw up his rifle and started shooting.
They had ballistic shields, vests, helmets . . . The 12mm knocked them flat, but too many were getting back up.
The world wrenched, more than an earthquake, worse than a gate . . .
To his right, a strip of tall unmown grass led from just off the gate past him, widening . . . to his left a narrow wedge of concrete, the corner of a concrete wall cut off at the edge.
Ebsa scanned the plaza . . . narrow blades in a pinwheel centered on the gate. Blades of foreign worlds . . . "This is not a good sign."
Wrench. The foreign ground disappeared, brick pavement returned.
Ebsa stepped closer . . . a thin line of shattered brick marked where the grasslands had swapped in.
Urfa nodded, breathing fast. "We have to close that gate."
"You know, if their powered gate works like ours, there's a pot load of critical equipment right there." He looked over at Urfa, the two guards . . .
Urfa shook his head. "You can't get through that many troops."
"I should have brought another Warrior with me. A small compass would have been useful."
Urfa frowned. "Another Warrior."
"Yeah. Since we had better sense than to kill Isakson, we've been identifying." He broke off to discourage the troops. Didn't seem to be working. "And training new Warriors."
"So, if Wicked and Utterly could keep those soldiers off my back, I'll try to get to the gate and inflict some damage over there."
"You can't do it alone . . . " Urfa was looking behind him. "I think I can get you a Warrior."
Ebsa followed his gaze. "That's handy." He trotted over to the knot of police hauling Azho to his feet.
Urfa followed. "He killed two hundred priests. Can you trust him?"
"In this plaza alone, that many people have just died. Citywide? Worldwide? Urfa, if this damage level is worldwide, your civilization has just died. Let's get this gate closed."
"Shit. Release him." Urfa glared at the cops until the handcuffs were off.
Ebsa stepped up to this feral version of Ra'd. "So. Are you a criminal or a warrior?"
Hot sparks of fury lit Ra’d’s eyes, but his gaze left Ebsa's to look at the gate, then returned. "Warrior."
Chapter Eleven
The Battle of the Gate
12 Jumada 1400 yp
Nick followed Ebsa across the plaza.
He studied the man. Bright blue eyes, gleaming, studied him in return.
He's enjoying this!
"You're young, but you look lean, mean, and strong. You ought to be able to hold up a side of a minor compass."
Nick nodded. "It's been a long time since I've practiced . . . "
I ought to have been practicing with Abbas and Hakim.
"Right, let's go . . . Ra'd."
Ebsa laid down his rifle and faced him, shields dropping to reveal a smooth deep glow of immense power.
Nick remembered a nightmare, a day seven years ago. The overwhelming pressure on his mind, breaking him . . .
There was no pressure here.
Ebsa held out his hands. "Your choice."
"Call me Nick." He reached. And lowered his barriers.
Energy. Ebsa's left hand to his right. Nick took it and passed it back through his left. A circle of power. They both added to it and it whipped around faster, expanding into a glowing cyclone of power . . .
Disappearing. Absorbed. Nick felt like his head was inflating.
Hands dropped. Ebsa's eyes glowed with power. Scooping up weapons . . . Ebsa was taking a crowbar? A backpack he pulled from a bag of the Prophets?
He looked inside. "Shaped charges. If we can get through the gate and damage their rings, it might stop this."
Urfa shifted. "And can you get back?"
Ebsa grinned, glowing so brightly it nearly oozed from his skin. "Well, that may be a problem. So when my people show up, suggest they look for us over there. And Urfa? Don't shoot at them."
Urfa glanced at the gate. "They've just about got the bulldozer pushed out of the way."
"Right. Work on the flanks, Nick and I will take the middle." He handed Nick a belt with holstered pistol, extra mags in two sizes, a knife . . .
He buckled it on and took the proffered rifle.
Criminal to hero in one easy step. Bet the reverse will happen as well.
He pushed thought of the future away. Time to fight.
"Shields up, physical and energy." Ebsa turned and strode toward the Earth's army.
He didn't seem to notice the bullets and lasers hitting his shields, and Nick tried to shed the momentum as readily as they broke into a run. Power flicked out and the closest shooters crumpled.
:: They have no magic at all. ::
Ebsa stopped, switched to his huge rifle and fired once through the gate. :: If they get a tank through the gate, that won't really matter. ::
Nick staggered. Was crushed down and then floated for a second.
Alien strips replaced normalcy to either side.
:: Stay on the bricks as long as possible. ::
The mental contact felt almost like his own thoughts. Merged.
Wrench. The strange bits went away. He stumbled . . .
:: I wonder if they are manipulating gravity or if that is part of the weirdness? :: Ebsa slung the big gun and pulled the crowbar off his belt.
Nick pulled a pistol, fired carefully placed shots across the line of soldiers facing them. :: Good armor. Aim for the edges of sections. :: He slapped in another magazine and started firing again. Men fell. This time fewer rose.
Then they were in among the troops. And heading straight for the gate.
Through the link to Ebsa he could feel the older man using the power they'd built up. Careful precise spells. :: Stun has a range of two meters, push can go twenty, but they'll just get back up. Spin and laugh are somewhat useful. If it gets nasty, I can slice about fifty meters. ::
:: I can slice. :: He swallowed an ugly memory. :: I’m out of practice . . . ::
The soldiers all around them were dropping. Ebsa vaulted over and kept going.
We're really going through? We can't fight a world! Can't . . .
Ebsa tossed a mental grin his direction. :: We already are. ::
Click. Out of ammo.
He holstered the gun and ran forward. Shields up. Must be some weapons lying around out here somewhere. He scooped up a rifle on the run and started shooting, aiming for seams, under the arms, bottom of the clear faceplate. Damn that's good armor. He was knocking them down but too many were staggering back to their feet.
He spotted Ebsa with his crowbar . . . breaking arms and legs. Damn.
Stun spells snapping out, troopers laughing, spinning, coughing. Dying.
Nick dropped the empty gun and scooped up another. Kept shooting. He tried magic, a push staggered a man. Pull tripped them.
He was getting surrounded himself, and turned and shot the soldiers behind him. Backpedaled. Shot a couple more . . . How bloody many soldiers have come through?
:: Hundreds. :: The other one was cool and analytical, focused.
Ebsa slashed out and half a dozen men collapsed into a pile of gore.
Then the other man leapt through the gate.
A explosion to Nick's left. Grenade? Who's shooting? The cops behind me?
Two steps, leap over a ridge of body parts and through the gate.
Chapter Twelve
On Earth
12 Jumada 1400 nyp
One bulldozer, no longer pushing the other broken-down dozer out of the way to the left . . .
To the right, more foot troops, beyond the dozer the turrets of tanks.
Ebsa cut right, threw a stun spell, reversed, staying between the pair of unmoving bulldozers and the gate.
Nick leaped out of the gate with a gasp of pain.
:: Keep them off my back for a minute, then we have to get as far away from the gate as possible. Fast. :: Ebsa jerked a thumb over his shoulder. Knelt beside the concrete and steel arch that held the gate. Tried to remember the schematics he'd seen of the Earth’s powered gates, so similar to the One World’s.
Somewhere behind this are two counterrotating supercooled super-conducting rings. All I need to do is break their containment. And duck.
He whipped the gun sling over his head and handed the 20mm to Nick. Peeled out of the backpack. Shaped charges, three of them. He synced the timers. Ignored something flying over his head. He didn't bother to look. Nick had it. A boom from the big gun and the nearest engine noise died abruptly.
