Transient Echoes (26 page)

She took a step back, her legs shaking. In all her wildest dreams, in all the scenarios she played out in her mind over the last four years, she never dreamed of this. If Terry’s pack could survive the trip to the other side, maybe her friend could as well. Her hands trembled at the thought of it.

“No way…” muttered Bart, shaking his head.

“It can’t be,” said John, dropping his pack with a loud thud. He took a few steps toward the rift. “Terry?”

“Hey, watch out,” said Sophie. “Don’t get too close.”

John ignored the warning and edged forward. He pointed at the rift. “We have to get that!”

“We will,” said Sophie. “We’ll use the flippy. Now get back. It’s not safe.”

But he didn’t listen. Before anyone could stop him, John dashed forward and leapt through the rift. He landed on the ramp with a hard
clank
, nearly falling in the process. He ran past Mortimer and quickly found the pack, grabbing it with both his hands and holding it close.

It took Mei a moment to realize what was happening. The shock of seeing Terry’s pack was too much. It was like all the energy in her body had been drained. When she realized what John had done, it was too late to stop him.

“Do you know what this means?” yelled John from beyond the other side. “Terry’s alive! He has to be.”

Mei blinked, trying to snap herself out of it. “John, get back over here!” she shouted.

He turned, looking over his shoulder and into the gate. “But—”

“If the portal goes down, you’ll be trapped. We’ll figure everything out, I promise. But right now you have to come back. Please!”

He looked at the bag in his hands, pausing for a moment. “Okay.”

“Pull Mortimer out of there, Zoe. As soon as John gets back, I’m closing the gate.”

Zoe nodded. “Roger.”

“Come on, John,” said Mei. “Bring the bag and let’s go.”

He did as she said, clutching the pack against his chest with both his arms and running up the ramp and through the rift. A moment later he was back with them, followed by Mortimer.

Mei hit the deactivation button, watching as the void disintegrated before her. When it was over, she used the com to contact Tabata, who had been watching the experiment from the surface.

“Yes, I’m here,” said Tabata. “You put on quite the show, I must say.”

“If you can spare a minute, Lieutenant Finn needs a checkup,” she said. “I’m sure you know why.”

“Of course. I’d be happy to help.”

“Everyone else convene on the surface. Forget the equipment. Leave it here for now. We have a lot to do before the day is out.”

******

After Tabata gave John a clean bill of health, Mei convened the team in the conference tent.

She unloaded the contents of Terry’s pack onto the table for everyone to see. Among the belongings were a small knife, a few stained rags, and some plant residue. She placed each of the items in a sealed plastic bag for safety purposes.

John chose to stand while everyone took their seats. He stared with vacant eyes at the knife, nervously flicking his thumb against his index finger. Mei wanted to reassure him somehow, tell him everything would be okay, but it would have to wait.

“This is every item from the bag we found,” said Mei, motioning to the table. “The knife appears to be made out of some kind of bone. We’re running an analysis of the rotten plants, but my first guess is it’s food. Sophie’s running a test on the cloth and what we’re assuming is blood.” Mei felt a knot in her stomach. She tried not to let it show. “Suffice it to say, it’s not what we expected.”

“Do you think Terry might be alive?” asked Bart.

“I do, and I think it’s reason enough to continue our research. We need to explore the other side of the portal.”

“Don’t forget the advanced technology we saw,” said Zoe. “There’s another reason right there.”

Bart sighed. “Things are about to get complicated, aren’t they?”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “As if they weren’t already.”

John still wasn’t speaking. He only stood, staring at the table, flicking his finger. But Mei knew he wasn’t really there in the tent with them. He was in the other place, standing in the dark and looking for his friend.

“Does this mean we’re putting the current project on hold?” asked Sophie.

Mei looked at her. “Huh?”

“I think she means the mission to close the wormhole,” said Bart.

Mei paused. She wasn’t sure how to answer. If she postponed their primary objective, it might cause problems with Tremaine and the board, maybe even her team. But she couldn’t walk away from this, not after today. Not with Terry’s pack sitting right in front of her. “If I did sideline the mission, would anyone object?”

Bart and Zoe looked at one another, then simultaneously shook their heads.

“No objections here, ma’am,” said Sophie.

Mei looked at Tabata. “Doctor?”

His eyes fell on the bloody rags resting on the table. “Technically, I’m not part of your team,” he said. “Officially speaking, I’m here as a zoologist, studying the kitobora, which means I have no say in what you or your team does. However, I’m also a doctor, and I’d be remiss to ignore your medical needs, now and in the future.” He scratched the tip of his chin, sweeping his short, gray whiskers. “I will be here, the same as I have these last eight months, whatever the outcome.”

Mei smiled. “So we’re all onboard. Good.”

“Do we have a plan yet?” asked Zoe. “Seems like we should have a plan…”

“Slow down,” said Bart. “We just opened a wormhole to another world and found
this
waiting for us. Give the doc at least a few hours.”

Zoe wrinkled her nose. “Sorry.”

“As it happens, I actually do have a plan,” said Mei.

Zoe grinned at Bart. “See? Curie’s always got us covered.”

“The goal hasn’t changed. We’re still going to find a way to close the portal. It just won’t be today.”

John finally looked at her with a shocked expression.

She met his gaze and her voice softened. “Don’t worry, though. We’re adding a few steps before we get there.”

John seemed to relax at this, but not completely.

“A few steps?” asked Sophie.

“Right. For starters, we’ll continue to investigate the room we found. I’d like to spend some time on the other side analyzing the equipment we saw there. Maybe bring it back for proper study.”

Zoe nodded. “We can use the flippies to move everything. No use risking our lives traveling through the portal.”

“John already took the trip, and he’s perfectly healthy. But to be safe, we’ll wait until we have more time to study the portal. In the meantime, Bart, I want you analyzing the stuff the flippies bring back. Tell me what the hell it is. Sophie, learn everything you can about the three items on this table. Everyone understand?”

They did.

“Then, let’s get to work.”

Ch
ap
ter
16

Ortego Outpost File Logs

Play Audio File 652

Recorded: February 1, 2351

TREMAINE:
Morning, dear. How’s the progress going? Have you found a way to stop the radiation?

CURIE:
Still working on it, ma’am.

TREMAINE:
I see. Perhaps you could use some assistance. I’ll send another team to help you.

CURIE:
That really isn’t necessary. I just need some time.

TREMAINE:
More time? It has been nine days since your last report, yet you have nothing to show me. I’m sure you understand my reluctance.

CURIE:
My team works better on our own. Sending more people would only slow everyone down.

TREMAINE:
Perhaps if you opened up about your recent findings, I might be more apt to grant your request. Right now, you have me sitting in the dark.

CURIE:
I’m sorry, but we don’t have much to report at the moment. We’re working hard to bring you more information.

TREMAINE:
Doctor Curie, please. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on, dear?

CURIE:
I don’t know what you mean.

TREMAINE:
Oh, come now. We both know you do. I’ve been monitoring the research outpost for several months. I’m fully aware of what you’ve found.

CURIE:
I don’t—

TREMAINE:
Please, let’s not play pretend anymore. I know all about the wormhole.

CURIE:
How—

TREMAINE:
You thought by activating the Einstein-Rosen Bridge you could find a way to close the fractures. I admit it’s a perfectly reasonable plan. What I don’t understand is why you felt it necessary to open it a second time. You’ve confirmed your theory, doctor, so why continue the experiment?

CURIE:
I don’t understand. If you know all this, don’t you already have the answer?

TREMAINE:
Let’s say for the sake of this discussion I don’t. Please enlighten me.

CURIE:
When the rift opened…we saw something on the other side. It was a room, maybe a cave. We couldn’t tell for sure. Either way, I felt it was worth exploring.

TREMAINE:
So what did you find?

CURIE:
A room full of technology, another portal, and…

TREMAINE:
What?

CURIE:
Terry’s pack.

TREMAINE:
Terry? You mean the boy who died in the Ortego facility four years ago?

CURIE:
Yes.

TREMAINE:
I see.

CURIE:
We have to keep exploring the other side. There’s no telling what else we’ll find. You do understand, right?

TREMAINE:
I understand you’ve let your emotions impede your better judgment in this matter. Don’t you see what’s happened? You’re too close to the mission, especially after what you found. You have to shut it down. Close off the rift for good.

CURIE:
How? If we shut the portal down, the radiation will only grow. We need more time to find a solution.

TREMAINE:
You will send an explosive through the wormhole and destroy the gate on the other end, which should cause the tears to close. The board and I believe they are only there because of the link they share with the alien ring. Kill the bridge and you stop the radiation.

CURIE:
But you don’t know what that might do!

TREMAINE:
It is better than risking the lives of everyone here, or would you rather kill us all to satisfy your own curiosity?

CURIE:
But what about all the technology? What about Terry? He could still be alive!

TREMAINE:
One life is not worth the risk. Have you learned nothing from human history, child?

CURIE:
I—I can’t just abandon him…

TREMAINE:
Doctor Curie, you will follow the orders I have given you. You will terminate the project immediately and have your team return to Central. Do you understand?

CURIE:
I—

TREMAINE:
Do you understand, doctor? Hello?

End Audio File

Ortego Reconstruction Outpost

February 1, 2351

Mei was running out
of options. Tremaine had given her orders to destroy the bridge from the other side, but she couldn’t simply walk away. Especially now.

Sophie’s analysis of the wraps revealed Terry’s DNA. By this point, Mei was hardly surprised.

In the meantime, the flippies managed to map most of the caves on the other side of the bridge. They found dozens of rooms, including storage compartments as well as sleeping quarters. Bart and Zoe were hard at work trying to decipher the computer systems, but the technology was completely foreign and unlike anything they’d ever seen. It would be a while before any of them fully understood what they were dealing with.

By now Mei was fairly certain the portal led to another world, but she needed more evidence. If only she could find a way outside.

However, time was running out. Tremaine might send the military in to extract her team, which could complicate things.

She considered going to John about it, but the news would only worry him. Bart, Zoe, and Sophie had little to no connections with the board, so they were out. Then she remembered Tabata. The old man was offered a seat on the board several years ago. He must know a thing or two about dealing with them.

Less than an hour after the call with Tremaine, Mei went looking for Tabata. She found him at the kitobora pen, feeding the animal a handful of blue grass. “There you are,” she said at last.

“What can I do for you, Doctor Curie? Are you feeling ill?”

“Not quite. I need to talk to you, if you don’t mind.”

He let the kitobora lick the rest of the grass from his palm. “You sound quite serious today.”

She nodded. “What do you think of the work we’re doing here?”

He paused, scratching his chin with the same hand he’d fed the animal, taking a moment to think. “There are two ways to answer your question and I’m afraid I don’t know which response to give.”

“What do you mean?”

“On the one hand, your mission is to block the radiation coming from the anomaly, yes?” he asked.

“Right.”

“On the other, you’ve begun a separate investigation involving a lost boy and what appears to be a cache of alien technology. Truly remarkable findings, I should think.” He grabbed another handful of grass. “Of course, because the investigation is ongoing, the original mission has been postponed, delaying a solution to the radiation problem.”

“But I can’t ignore the findings.”

“You mean you can’t ignore the possibility of your friend being alive,” he corrected.

She said nothing.

“Don’t worry, Doctor Curie. I agree with your decision to look for the boy,” he said, patting the kitobora’s head.