My thoughts swung to my friends: Slate, Clare, and Nick, alongside Patty. They were up there with the Bhlat. I had no idea if they were alive or dead, and the irrational part of my brain blamed myself for not going with them, for somehow not protecting them from the Bhlat when I clearly couldn’t have changed the outcome.
After a brief stop in the safe under the living room floorboards, I took inventory. I had the small Kalentrek with the Bhlat DNA spec still loaded into it; the communicators that allowed us to talk in real time over any distance; and the Relocator Kareem had just given me. I could do this job by myself.
I scrawled out a long note on the paper, my hand cramping from the frantic writing by the end of the message. They had a big part to do, and I’d do mine. We’d reconvene when it was all over. One of the communicators sat on the counter beside the note.
When I was satisfied I had the plan relayed properly, I snuck back down the hall and gently pushed the bedroom door open. Soft light from the kitchen wound its way into the room, and I watched Mary as she slept, her chest rising and falling in even movements. I wanted nothing more than to just get back into bed, stick my head under the pillow, and let someone else deal with the second invasion of Earth, but I couldn’t.
“Dean. This is your destiny.” Kareem’s words echoed through my head.
I made a silent promise to my fiancée that I’d be back. That we’d have the wedding we both wanted, surrounded by our friends and family. That the threat would be ended in a day’s time.
With that done, I turned, leaving the door open a crack, and walked out onto the porch with my supplies.
The air was crisp as the sun began to rise over the distant horizon. Alien insects called to each other as the world around me woke for another morning. I took a deep breath in, letting my body revel in the fresh air, the freedom, and the feeling of home. Then I pressed the Relocator button.
TWENTY-TWO
I appeared at the base in a split second, the energy still tingling through me. I could get used to travelling so quickly but didn’t want to know what was actually happening to my molecules as I did so. People were moving around in the early hour; a group of trainees ran laps around the landing pad near where I appeared. I ducked and took cover beside a large-wheeled vehicle.
Clare had told me about some prototype uniforms that used the cloaking technology, and I needed every advantage I could get. I headed past a couple of buildings, careful to not be spotted. I knew there would be cameras on me, but hopefully, I’d be long gone before anyone spotted me creeping around on them.
The engineering building Clare had been so excited to show me before she left was to the side; I ran to it, and a locked door greeted me. I took out the keycard Magnus had given me, hoping it had clearance for the research and development areas. The light went green as the card slid, and I breathed a sigh of relief, pushing the door open.
The room was dark, but soft lights came on as I entered. She’d shown me the cloaks at the far end of the room, and I found them hanging on the wall, right where I’d seen them before. I lined one up against my body. Too long. The next one looked a better size, and I slipped into it, finding it to be manageable. It covered my boots and hands, with built-in grips on the soles of the clothing, and gloves for the hands.
All of it was covered in the newly upgraded cloaking material. It was lighter than I’d expected, and I pulled the hood up, then faced the nearby mirror. Remembering Clare telling me the on/off control was in the glove, I tapped my thumb and pinky together, feeling a light energy cover me. When I looked into the mirror, I could see the room behind me, but only a faint glimmer of a body was visible, and only if you knew what you were looking for. I stuffed one of the large ones in a pack I’d grabbed on my way in.
With the new suit on, I left the building, heading for the transport vessel where Magnus had told Tucker to leave our supplies. If Mary woke up and saw my note, they’d be on their way, so I had to hurry. Avoiding a few officers walking from building to building, I snuck over to the landing pad where our ship was sitting, ready to carry us to the portal caves.
Beside it three bags sat, one with pulse rifles and other assorted weapons. One had food and survival supplies, and the last had the EVA suits. I took what I needed, shoved them into my bag, and ducked behind the transport, leaving it between myself and the base buildings.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the Relocator and tapped it until I found the coordinates from the portal region by Terran Five. With a deep breath, I hit the icon and felt the energy spin around and then through me. When it stopped, I was outside the portal room. Before anything, I took a long drink of water and ate an energy ball from the rations. It tasted like mud but filled my stomach enough to stop the growling. I slid the cloak off and put on the thin EVA suit and clasped the helmet onto it. The oxygen from it cleared my tired head enough to make me feel temporarily rejuvenated.
I grabbed one of the hover scooters Mary and I had stowed away, then entered the portal room.
As I threw the cloak back on over the EVA, something made a noise nearby. It could have been a footstep or a rock falling from a wall. With a quick glance, I saw nothing out of the ordinary, so I moved to the middle of the room, where the once dormant gemstone began to glow.
“Here goes nothing.”
I followed the instructions Kareem had given me, thankful I had been able to memorize the intricacies in a short amount of time. There was no one to ask now that he was dead. The red worlds’ symbols appeared, and I found the one for the Bhlat home planet.
Before I pressed it, I took the time to read the few details they had stored into the system about the world. Not much of it was useful, but it did say the locals didn’t know of the portal’s existence, at least not at the time of the entry. A lot could have changed since then. There were a lot of warnings on the Bhlat. It said they were conquerors, always seeking out expansion of their colonies, often resulting in the extinction of worlds. The phrase hit me like a ton of bricks. The flying drills I’d seen coming down on Earth were what the notes spoke of. Earth was about to be eradicated. Time was running out.
I checked the seal on my EVA. When I saw the green light, I sat on my hover scooter and fastened the supply bag to it, keeping my rifle in my hand.
I pressed the icon and was bathed in light, hoping there were no long-term implications of using the portal so often over a short period of time. They were becoming an integral part of my unwanted adventures, and my tired body wished I’d give it a rest for a while.
My internal battle within my mind paused when the light ceased, and I saw someone in the room with me. How did they know I was coming? My rifle came up lightning fast, and I felt my finger brush the trigger.
“Don’t shoot!” a voice called in frightened English.
I lowered the rifle just enough to get a good look at the man, and he fell to the ground, rolled into a ball. He just kept repeating “Don’t shoot” over and over.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked him.
“My name’s Leonard Birkhower, sir. Don’t shoot.”
Leonard? “Wait, the Leonard who does the Survivors comic series?”
He moved his arms from covering his helmet in a futile attempt to stop my pulse rifle from killing him. “You know of me?” He grinned from ear to ear, and I almost laughed at how silly this young man with thick black glasses looked on the ground covered in dust.
I reached down, and he gripped my outstretched hand with a sweaty palm. “What are you doing here?”