Vortex of Evil (45 page)

Doug and Erin ran back to the Yir-Lak Command Building.  “How are we going to follow them?  With what?”  Doug looked at her like she had lost her mind.  Was this his Erin, or was is some new version of her that he hadn’t met yet?   Was it a commando, special forces Erin from a parallel universe?  He was amazed by the transformation. 

“We will borrow one of these boats and disable the rest.”  She held up the small vials of metal fuser but he had no idea what she was referring to.  “And don’t give me that look.  You were ready to risk everything to save the dog.  There is even more at stake here.”

Erin took his arm and pulled him closer to the compound wall.  “Get out of here, Jelk!  You only have a few minutes before they get here.”

Jelk knew she was right.  Peter started to say something more but Jelk shut the door and took off so quickly that he and Gaby were barely able to grab something to hold onto.  “What just happened?” He said it to Gaby as if she might have an idea.

“I think Erin decided that Doug would probably propose some heroic scheme to save Dara and she wanted to be part of it this time rather than watch him run off into danger while she was left alone.  She seems to have taken charge of the operation.”

“So she’s become as crazy as he is.  They make a good pair.”

“Just like us, huh?”

Peter smiled as he put his arm around Gaby.  “Yes, just like us.  We are a good pair.”

Chapter 48

Doug and Erin ran quickly to the main entrance of the Yir-Lak compound and crouched next to it as if it could somehow offer them protection from the incoming missiles. 

“You may have gotten us killed with this plan.”  Doug looked at her with a mixture of love, admiration and consternation.  He checked the clip on the machine pistol and chambered a round just in case.  “But I love this new kick ass and take names version of you.”

“Then kiss me one more time before we die.”  Erin leaned forward and put her arm around Doug.  He obliged with a quick kiss and then released her.  “Let’s find Dara and hit the road.  Any second one of those missiles is going to leave a smoking hole where we are standing.”

The main door to the compound was closed, but to their surprise, it opened when they approached.  Doug thought it must be due to the total security systems failure.  The hallway was deserted.  “I think most of the command center is underground.  That’s where Dara was heading after she dropped us off.  If she made it there, we may have to leave without her.  If we try to go in, they will zap us just like any other intruder.  They must be on full war footing after that missile strike.”

The main hallway turned to the left and led towards the north wing, site of the damage from the missile.  Smoke was starting to fill the air but they could still see and breathe reasonably well.  Doug and Erin kept next to the wall and moved forward slowly.  They could hear voices ahead but it was too far away to make out what they were saying.

There were two large elevators with the Yir-Lak symbol on the doors.  “This must be the main entrance to the command center down below.  Dara said it was eight floors down.  They are set up to resist an attack but with problems caused by the earthquake, they may have been caught unaware.  There must be some stairs that go down there as well.  If we can just find them.”

“The attackers were about sixty miles away five minutes ago.  That’s what Jelk could tell from the display screen on the hover vehicle.  We don’t have much time.”

The elevators required a special security code so they passed by them.  “Let’s check up ahead and see if we can find a stairway.  If we can’t locate one, we will have to leave..  I don’t want to leave her here, but if we get blown to pieces it won’t do her any good anyway.”

Erin stayed by the elevator door to provide cover as Doug moved forward in the main hallway.  The smoke got thicker as he went and it caused him to cough.  A cough he couldn’t quite stifle.  The sound brought an immediate challenge.  “Who’s there?  Answer quickly!”

“We are looking for Commander Dara?”

“What do you want with her?” 

Doug considered what to say.  He hadn’t expected that question.  After Dara had taken them to the interrogation room, she had left with two of the soldiers.  Doug thought that he noticed the two men exchange glances and his sixth sense told him there may be danger for her.  Doug thought the soldiers may have suspected that she was up to something and she may be in trouble now.  He decided to play his hunch.

“We are here to arrest her.  She is suspected of disloyalty.”

There was a short pause.  “It’s about time.  We have been waiting for you to get here and take this trash off our hands.  We need to get to the shelter.”

The smoke gave Doug an advantage.  He put the machine pistol on automatic, stood up with his best military posture and walked around the corner into the hallway.  In the smoke, he hoped he looked enough like a soldier to fool them for a couple of seconds.  That was the time he would need to eliminate the threat.  Straight ahead he could just make out three standing figures holding stunrifles and what appeared to be someone sitting on the ground against wall.  Doug didn’t hesitate.  Knowing that the Yir-Lak troops had body armor he ran forward quickly and fired at their heads and necks.  Short bursts at each target, then duck down and move in hard and fast.  None of the three knew what hit them and there was no return fire.  Doug found Dara sitting cross-legged on the floor, her back against the wall.  Her hands were tied behind her back and her head was slumped on her chest.  She had been severely beaten and there was blood on her face and in her hair.

Doug was shocked by what he saw.  The world of Transarctica had abusive policies and the government treated their people horribly but there was little physical violence that he had witnessed.  Doug wondered what went on behind the scenes based on how these three men had abused Dara when she was their prisoner and unable to defend herself.  He quickly checked her pulse as Erin joined him.  “I came as soon as I heard the gunfire.  Are you ok?  Is she?”

“She’s alive but they beat her up pretty bad.  Watch the hallway while I lift her up.  We need to get on one of those boats and leave now.”

Doug put his arms around Dara and lifted her up and over his shoulder.  He was surprised at how small and light she seemed.  And how helpless and vulnerable.  She groaned as he picked her up but didn’t fully revive.  There was no sign of other soldiers above ground but Erin grabbed one of the stunrifles just in case.  Together they went back to the main entrance as fast as they could while carrying Dara.  There was another explosion but it was in the distance, from the direction of Selenton.  Doug suspected that the Yir-Lak compound may not be the actual headquarters.  He wondered if Dara’s rebellion had ever had any real hope of success.  There seemed to be layers upon layers of deception that even she wasn’t aware of.

They chose Skimmer 1 as their escape boat.  It was one of the three docked vessels that Jelk had identified as still having a working time/space locator.  Erin helped Doug carry Dara onto the deck and through the door onto the bridge.  For now, they strapped her into the captain’s chair and Doug tried to revive her.

“Do I have time to disable the other two boats?”

Doug looked at her and then looked away to the west.  “Yes, we have to.  But hurry.  And on Skimmer 6 there is a white plastic cooler on the bridge.  Run and get it on your way back from the other boats.   I will get her on the boat then power up and get ready.”

“What’s in the cooler?”

“It’s the baby salmon.  Now go!  I’ll explain later.”

“I already heard about them.  See you in a minute.”  Erin ran quickly to get the cooler while Doug turned to Dara.  She was stirring but barely able to open her swollen eyes. 

“Dara.  Can you hear me?  C’mon, wake up.  Please. We need your help with the time/space locator.  I don’t know how to work it.”

Another missile hit the compound.  It hit the north wing close enough to their boat that the shock wave rocked the boat and cracked one of the windows.  Doug quickly glanced up and saw that Erin was onboard the Skimmer 6 and protected from the blast.  She quickly got the cooler and was running back with it as quickly as practical.

Dara tried to speak, but was weak.  She finally held up her hand.  Doug didn’t understand at first but then she said “Thoughtlink” out loud and he grabbed her hand.

“Thank you.  Thank you for saving me.  They would have finished me in a couple more minutes.  Did you kill them all?”

Doug pushed his thoughts into her head.  “Yes.  I took care of them.  Now, Dara, I need your help.  How do I work the time/space locator?  We need to open a vortex and get out of here before the next missile kills us.”

“Ok.  Locator.  Green button turns it on.  Enter code 13150.  Dial to preselected addresses.  Doesn’t matter which.  This boat doesn’t have your time in its system, so just pick one and push down on the dial.  Vortex opens in about twenty seconds.  Boat must be moving at least five knots but not more than twelve.”  Dara paused, struggling to speak.  “Thanks, Doug.”

Doug released her hand gently.  “Just rest, Dara.  We will get you out of here.”

Erin was breathless from running back with the cooler after she poured the metal fuser on the locators on  boats 2 and 4.  “Here you go.  Are we leaving?”

“Yes.  We’re ready.  Go release the ropes.”

“I already did.  You’re good to go.  While you do that, I am going to get in the Hover Vehicle.”

“Why?  What do you have in mind?”

“Why not blast the other boats so they can’t follow us?”

“Do you really think there will be anything left of those boats an hour from now?”

Erin started to say something as yet another Asian Alliance missile hit the front of the compound, nearly entering through the hole in the wall that Jelk had created to spring the prisoners.  The resulting explosion shattered that corner of building and would have meant certain death for Doug, Gaby and Peter if they were still in that room.

“You just earned your combat medal for best rescue, Erin.  If you and Jelk hadn’t gotten us out of there, we would be dead.  I guess I owe you my life now.  I hope you will give me a long time to pay you back.”

She nodded with a slight smile and stared at Doug with an intensity he had never seen from her before.  Her strength in all this continued to amaze him.  “Shouldn’t we be leaving?”

After the distraction of the near miss, Doug returned his attention to getting them out of there.  He stared forward to be sure they had a clear path and pushed the throttle to the maximum.  Erin had a hard time keeping her balance as the boat suddenly lunged away from the dock.  Their forward speed quickly increased and Doug picked lucky address seven on the dial and pushed it.  He held his breath that it would work the way Dara described it and that their destination would be a friendly place.

Erin managed to move forward as she regained her balance.  Standing next to Doug, she put her arm around him and kissed him on the cheek.  “You can have as long as you want to pay me back for saving you.  As long as it takes.”

The seconds passed slowly until they began to see the bright glow ahead of the boat as the vortex opened completely.  The boat was doing ten knots and in a few seconds would pass through the vortex.  Another missile struck the compound just as the vortex was closing.  It did no harm to them but they could hear the explosion and feel the boat vibrate from the shockwave.

Then they were through the vortex and floating on calm seas with a bright blue sky overhead.  Doug and Erin looked around in all directions, but there was no evidence that Selenton or Anchorage had ever existed.  The mountains were similar, but they were slightly smaller and more rounded than Erin remembered.  “Where are we?”

Doug laughed.  “When are we might be a better question.  Look.  There to the west.”

There was a plume of smoke in the far distance that rose several miles into the air.  “It must be a volcano erupting.  It could be one of the island volcanoes in this area.”

Dara groaned slightly and lifted her head.  “You may be surprised by the answers to your questions about where we are.”

Doug turned to her.  “Why?  Do you know something you haven’t told us?”

The words came slowly as Dara struggled with the pain of speaking through her badly swollen lips.  “No, but my colleagues followed the temporal spawn wherever and whenever the locator searches took them.  And they warned me of terrors they barely escaped.  Things beyond their ability to handle.”

Erin was staring intently out the window, looking for some clue about their whereabouts.  She was relieved they had escaped from the missile attack but she wondered whether this placid scene of blue sky and calm seas was masking hidden danger.  Then she saw it.   A large dark shape flying low and fast just above the horizon, going from left to right across their heading.

“What is that, Doug?  There to the left?”

Doug strained to see the distant object.  “I can’t tell from this distance but it is moving very fast and heading towards that plume of smoke.”

Dara groaned.  “Quickly, reset the time/space locator and start the sequence.  We have very little time if we want to survive.  Maybe only a few seconds.”

Erin and Doug both turned to look at her.  “Survive what?”