Scrambled, page 6
part #14 of Directorate Series
A quick triangle on the wall. :: Thirty seconds!:: He threw himself away and went to work with the crowbar.
:: Can't hold them. :: Nick was backing away, staggering as the Earthers tried saturating his shield.
:: Don't even try. It's set. Come on.:: Ebsa jumped in as the Earther troops charged back through the gate. He smashed a faceplate, and the face behind it, grabbed Nick and hauled him out of the scrum. They ran, cut right behind the first dead bulldozer, got behind the bulk of the metal as the world disintegrated.
At Speed, he could see the shards of the gate mechanism, the supercooled rings flying . . . he knocked two chunks away before the end of the crowbar shattered, grabbed a rifle, dodged cold death, batted another away, no traction on the ground, falling sideways, no, that way was down and it hit hard . . .
Ebsa rolled shakily to his feet. A quick glance . . . a longer look around. The fallen buildings of the East Plaza . . . mostly. A thin green wedge of tall grass led away . . . And he was quite certain there was not supposed to be a body of water over there.
"Why did the tank and bulldozer come through with us?" Nick frowned at the machinery. "How the hell did we get here, for that matter?"
Ebsa looked at the ground. A circle of stark gray concrete, a deep hole where the gate had been . . . the gray concrete spiraled out into the red brick of the Plaza . . . The horizon full of recognizably Oner buildings, however damaged . . . except for that half of a building right there . . .
"Get on the brick, in case it goes back . . . " Ebsa backed away from the Earth soldiers as they recovered.
He reached for the last bit of the compass's power and projected his voice.
"We have closed the gate. Now you may surrender, or we can kill you all. Given the damage and deaths here in the city, I highly recommend you surrender quickly, because we haven't got time for any shit."
The soldiers looked around, one, an officer by the subdued rank marks, stood for a long survey of what had been a busy city an hour before.
"Look at the ground." Ebsa told him. "Something very strange has happened, and I don't know if you'll be getting home anytime soon."
Urfa limped up and eyed the officer. "Surrender and I'll try to make the worst that happens is you get to help with search and rescue."
The man looked around, eyes narrowing.
Ebsa walked closer. "Two of us just trashed your command and blew up your gate mechanism. What have you got here, fifty men in working order, twice as many casualties? You want to start all over, or get them medical treatment while the healthy save some civilians?
"At a minimum, back off to that slice of concrete. Maybe it'll take you home."
Chapter Thirteen
Getting Strange
12 Jumada 1400 nyp
Nick backed away keeping his gaze moving. He grabbed and slung weapons as he moved. Ebsa’s abandoned backpack . . .
Ebsa looked like he was going to be able to talk the stranded soldiers into surrendering . . .
Time to assess the damage. Several shots had made it through or around his shield . . . not too bad. Really.
But he saw the Oner cops eyeing him.
A quick thought from Ebsa. :: Fake weakness. Look harmless. ::
He let himself stagger, let himself look weak . . . knowing his shield was going to collapse. But I'm not really weak. I won't faint . . .
Another heaving wrench. The barren rocks he'd been eyeing disappeared. Brick returned.
Three more steps, across that shattered line marking the edge of the weird effect, then he dropped all the guns, took two steps away, and folded up. Clung to consciousness and kept his eyes and ears open.
He watched Ebsa limp across to his footlockers, put his guns away. Pocket something, and walk back to Urfa poking at his com.
"Ah, there we go, I have . . . " Ebsa trailed off, listening. "Good."
He dropped his hand and looked at Urfa. "Search and Rescue and medical help on the way. Disco says all the highly quake prone areas have problems, but nothing like this."
Urfa looked a bit stiff. "Our people will be sending help as well." He looked up suddenly. Aircars swooped by, the black and purple stripes of the Black Horse Guard. "They'll check on Government House." A sudden worried crease between his brows. "And the President will no doubt send them out for search and rescue, as I suspect ground vehicles are having problems with debris in the roads."
The World wrenched, and they were gone, along with the bricks and concrete and horizon full of Parisian office towers.
Nick uncurled from his duck and cover.
Sat up.
He was on a slash of East plaza . . . surrounded by lush tall grass.
The fight's over. Ebsa doesn't need me . . .
Nick grabbed all the guns and staggered away into the long grass. Far enough to be off the part that seemed to be coming and going. So he didn't return to the One World or Earth when that patch did . . . except . . . they'd blown the gate.
Does that mean this is fixed, now? Not going to change back, ever? Except it just did, so is it going to keep happening? Stop or get worse?
"The only way to find out is to wait and see . . . and . . . " He stood, wavering a bit. Surveyed the area. Three groups of towers, some areas of smaller buildings. A single building tall enough to call a skyscraper. Movement, Earth soldiers, over on a stretch of concrete. Some moaning, a couple picking themselves up. He looked at the nearest strip. It started narrow, widened to a few hundred meters. . . buildings, then trees, tall and majestic beyond.
Nick turned away. If we aren't twisted around, that way would be southeast.
I might as well go see if "home" is here or there. I hope to hell the family got out . . . but that would be unlikely . . . Okay . . . I know odd things happen to Warriors. Coincidences, luck, call it what you will, just get your feet moving.
Wrench.
Nick eyed the concrete of the Earth facility, with soldiers picking themselves up. The brickwork of the plaza at home, with police picking themselves up. The lake that shouldn't be here either. . . and the uncut prairie grasses that surrounded all the other patches of . . . other worlds.
So I stayed on the prairie, and the chunks are coming and going.
Here I am not a wanted criminal. But . . . my family . . . His eyes were watering as he lunged to his feet and ran, keeping to the grasslands.
He had enough of a shield up to only stagger when the bullets hit.
Probably the police, might be the Earthers, but . . . I just helped stop a cross dimensional invasion, can't you just let me go?
He stumbled on the uneven ground under the thigh-high grass, kept going.
I'm going to be very sorry if it doesn't go away again. And either way, I'll probably never see my sister again. Abbas will have to take over the job of protecting the family.
Or perhaps with me gone, they'll be able to hide better. But the boys . . .
Nick stopped as he found the far side of the grass.
The collapsed ruins of a modern building. Concrete road, a couple of abandoned cars, the roads blocked by the debris.
It's either Earth, or Home.
He edged closer. If it's home, I might be able to escape. Get to the apartment before the police trace . . .
The World heaved under his feet and tossed him out onto . . . the desert sands . . .
He jumped up and took a quick survey.
Collapsed buildings there. Desert, lake . . .
"The apartment was maybe six kilometers southeast." He eyed the sun, turned and started running.
:: Gamer! Do you hear me? ::
Nothing. Damn, damn, damn.
He spotted concrete and a fallen skyscraper, veered to climb up for a look.
And then a slow scan.
Palm trees beyond the debris, desert to either side of both.
Like a long strip of random terrain through . . . a desert, or a Desert World?
Another strip running southish, just to the west. Was there another to the southeast?
:: Gamer! ::
Still nothing. He climbed down into the palm trees and kept heading toward where his family ought to be.
Strange trees . . . stranger birds, hind legs feathered as if they were trying for four wings.
They all took flight as the ground shook. Nick watched the trees, but they all stood firm.
He shinnied up a tall one and found himself surrounded by home.
:: Gamer! ::
:: Yes! Thank God you are all right! Where are you? ::
:: In a weird strip. Find one and get everyone there. Wait and see if the large area outside the strip turns into grassland. Move onto the grasslands. Contact everyone and tell them to do the same. ::
:: Ha! We're standing here watching things come and go already. Grasslands it is. ::
Nick sent a wave of . . . glee? Hope? Something wild and strange as this odd . . .
Another quake. Grasslands out there.
Chapter Fourteen
Search and Rescue
12 Jumada 1400 nyp
The ground shivered.
Screams in the distance.
The soldiers on the concrete patch disappeared.
Ebsa relaxed a bit, and looked around . . . no sign of Nick. Good!
Urfa was looking at the spot where the gate had attached. “The area right around the gate is chaotic . . . and growing. And the strips are getting wider and longer.”
Ebsa eyed the patchwork, swirled area, and headed for his footlocker. “Let’s back off, just in case, and . . . keep a record, time these weird things. See if they’re coming faster or dying out now that the gate is closed.”
He disassembled the grenade launcher . . . the ground shivered. He startled back as a desert strip replaced the grass he’d been facing, and a chunk of barnacle encrusted rock appeared uncomfortably close on his right. He slammed everything back into the footlocker and shoved it in the bag and retreated.
Wicked looked at the pencils and shook his head. “We put a tracker under the eraser of one of those. It never occurred to us . . . Oh Shit!”
Ebsa followed his gaze. Darting movements, two big panicked birds . . . no . . . feathery dinosaurs. He didn’t wait to identify them. Two quick mental punches dropped them.
A faint choking noise from Wicked. “I think I’ve figured out why you weren’t the least bit apprehensive, when we were guarding you.”
“Umm, well, it wasn’t like I wanted to escape. We’d better keep weapons handy . . . damn, I think Nick’s got the big gun. Just hope for no T-Rexes.”
Urfa huffed. “Don’t even think that!”
The ground shivered. A big building to the northeast disappeared . . . “Wasn’t that the War Ministry building?”
They stopped and looked around. To the northwest a wall of marble crumpled.
“There goes the Council Hall. But I think most of the Hall was already gone . . . that was just part of the front. I hope.” Urfa sounded breathless.
Utterly was tapping at his minicomp. “The switches are coming fast. But the center didn’t expand nearly as much this time as last.”
Reminded, they moved again, avoiding the alien slices.
“Urfa?” Ebsa looked over at the strange-familiar man. “I would really like an aerial scan, but it might be a good idea to tell the flyers to not fly over the alien strips. The effect extends at least high enough to have taken tall buildings.”
“One!” He got back on his comm, and Ebsa pulled out his.
Nothing. “I think they must have closed our gate.”
“You had a gate, too?” Wicked frowned at him.
“It . . . let’s just say they use a different tech. Low power requirement, long term. You’re going to love them, once we get out of this mess.” Ebsa dodged behind a car as a dozen cattle stampeded past. He climbed up and watched . . . they seemed to be avoiding people . . . “The Earther soldiers are still gone.”
A shiver, and the weird strips changed. The cattle were replaced by a desert . . . Mostly.
“Eww.” The gory hind end of a cow lay at the juncture of familiar bricks and sand.
Utterly tapped a note. “Getting longer between switches. The center barely expanded this time.”
Urfa nodded. “Let’s keep going. We ought to be able to get to Government House . . . Except these strips seem to be getting wider . . . Oh. Shit.”
Ebsa turned to follow Urfa’s gaze. “Interior Relations Building, right? Looks like a large corner went away . . . All the way, top to bottom.”
“You know Paris, then?”
“Anything that was here before the Granite Peak disaster. But a lot has changed. Those buildings around it aren’t there in my Paris.” Ebsa eyed a tall traffic sign, trotted over and started climbing. Not the best view, but . . . “The strips are curving a bit, and getting narrow. And I can see Government House between buildings, and the Grand Mosque.” He grabbed as another quake hit. Then pulled out his comm. Nothing yet.
He climbed back down, and looked at Urfa. “So . . . at this point, who do you report to?”
“Director Iklo of Interior, or Presidential Director Axti. Or the President.” Urfa bit his lip and turned to eye the damaged IR building. “Right. Let’s head there first. See if Iklo is organizing anything. Then I’ll need to report to the president.”
They didn’t have to go all the way, the IR building had been evacuated. Hundreds of people milled about in the middle of the street.
Urfa muttered something under his breath and drafted Wicked to boost him up on the tallest vehicle in sight.
He gave a loud long whistle, then started talking.
“Is Director Iklo here?”
No answer.
“Have any of you been in contact with the President or his people?”
No answer.
“Right. If you know anything useful: stay. If you can help with search and rescue: stay. Otherwise, walk north. Stay out of the weird strips. If you can get around them, you can go home. Or try. But clear out of the immediate disaster area. NOW!”
He looked around. “Right. We’ll need a survey of fallen buildings, and anyone with enough power, needs to look to see if there’s anyone alive in them.
“How many search and rescue volunteers do we have? Show of hands if you can detect living people under rubble. Right. Six teams, form up around them . . .”
Since Ebsa, Wicked, and Utterly were three of the “sensors” they split up. Ebsa collected half a dozen scuffed up office workers, and they headed up a side street.
“Close your shields, tight. I’m going to drop mine to look for people . . .” And concentrate on saving people, not wondering where Nick’s gone. Or if he’s even on this world.
Chapter Fifteen
Escape to a New World
12 Jumada 1400 nyp
Nick sacrificed skin for speed, and was off the tree and running for the grass . . . A brief nightmare glance of something leaping at him . . . he slashed. Stumbled out into the grass before he turned and looked.
Gawped. A dinosaur. The jaws of the severed head still chomping, the body twitching.
Movement beyond, more dinos.
I have no desire to share a world with velociraptors!
Three slices later, he cursed as the last dinos faded back into the trees.
He caught his breath. Noticed his hands shaking a little. Running out of energy. Yeah. I've been a bit busy.
The ground heaved. The palm trees turned into desert. The surrounding grasslands remained. Excellent.
He walked back to the nearest decapitated dinosaur and used his knife to slice about a kilo of meat off one shoulder. Walked up to a slight hill and took a scan around for danger.
All clear. Two steps back down the hill, so he wasn't silhouetted.
He pulled up several grass clumps and started a small fire in the dirt. The grass burned well enough to sort of sear his dino steak.
Good thing I like rare meat. Chewy rare meat.
A quake. Concrete ruins. Nothing familiar.
This phenomena . . . That quake was nearly an hour after the previous. It's slowing down. Will it stop altogether?
His hands steadied, and all his injuries made themselves felt. He sank into a light meditation. In case the Dinosaur World comes back. A healing spell. A bit of telekinesis to get out a bullet, but everything else was minor.
He told himself the pain was subsiding, staring over the grasslands . . . and started grinning. "Worlds! These. Really. Are. Worlds!"
A laugh from his right. Abbas wound through waist high grasses. "Our bunch is out. Meisha got hold of Fatima. They're trying to get to the kids at school, and will try for grasslands."
Nick grinned back. "If they can't, they're better integrated and hidden than the rest of us, so they will be fine."
He cocked his head at the sound of a motor.
"Gamer stole a truck."
"Excellent. Now we need to watch for predators. Find some other people and approach them cautiously . . . My luck there will be platoons of police marooned here."
"I don't think police come in platoons."
"Don't nitpick. If we can actually move to a new world this way, we'll have to be careful about who and especially what else is here." He walked back to the only dino that had made it out into the grasslands.
Abbas whistled. "This could be a problem . . ."
A small open truck crested the hill and rolled up to them, filled with family. All with their go-bags.
Hakim tossed one to Nick. "I would have sworn you were the one who taught us to always grab our bags on the way out."
Gamer swung down from the cab, and jolted to a stop at the sight of the dinosaur. Looked from it to the urban ruins patch, and the other dead dinos. "I hope there aren't too many of these things, and they all went back where they belong."
Nick nodded. "We'll have to actively hunt them down before they start reproducing."
