Beyond the Shroud of the Universe (3 page)

“I take it you are volunteering to lead this mission?” Admiral Wright asked.

“Yes sir,” Calvin said. “My platoon has the most experience with cross-boundary operations. The first few times you go beyond the shroud, you are violently sick when you get there. I wouldn’t want to take a bunch of people who had never been to the Jinn Universe before and have them throwing up while we’re taking enemy fire. My troops have been there, and we are acclimated to the jump. We can do this, sir. And then, once we determine the nature of the threat, we need to do the same on Domus.” He paused, then added, “It’s the only way to be sure.”

“Did you get authorization for us to go?” Captain Paul ‘Night’ Train asked. The executive officer (XO) for the special forces platoon Calvin commanded, he had arrived at Calvin’s room with a six-pack of beer shortly after Calvin returned from Nigeria. He twisted the top off one and toasted, “Cheers!”

“Cheers,” Calvin returned. “Yeah, the admirals had to discuss it for about three hours to come to an agreement, but they finally bought off on it.” The XO frowned, and Calvin grinned. “Hey, the Terran Security Council discussed it for two whole days, and they never actually came to a conclusion. Only having to discuss it for three hours was a
huge
win!”

“Still, it was obviously the right thing to do,” Night said. Due to a combat wound sustained earlier in his career, his voice was gruff at the best of times; it got worse when he had to deal with stupidity. Or politicians, who were usually the ones committing the stupidity. “How could they not see that?”

“I don’t know,” Calvin replied. “Some of them were more worried about letting the Efreet know we exist.”

Night snorted, spraying some of his beer. “Really?” he asked. “According to Captain Nightsong, they’ve known about us for hundreds of years. They know we’re here. It’s time for
us
to find out more about
them
.”

“No kidding,” Calvin said. “Still, they came to the right conclusion in the end and authorized us to go.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“Well, I’d like to go as soon as possible, before they change their minds,” Calvin said. “We will go across with Captain Nightsong. Apparently, he knows an out-of-the-way place we can cross over and not be detected. The only holdup is manning and arming the troops.”

“The manning is all set,” Night replied. “The platoon is over at Dam Neck where they have been training with the SEALs. I spent most of the day with them and can tell you even the newbies are working out pretty well.”

“Good,” Calvin said. “The only problem we’re going to have is that some of the new folks haven’t made a cross-universe transit before. We’ll have to send over our experienced people first to cover them while they…adjust.”

“Yeah, I remember how I felt on my first jump,” Night said.

“Since it sounds like the platoon is ready,” Calvin said, “we’ll use tomorrow to make final preparations, and we’ll go the day after that.”

“Sounds good, sir,” Night said. He stood up and walked to the door. “In that case, I’m going to turn in.”

“G’night,” Calvin said. He started to shut the door, but then he remembered something. “Hey, Night…um…when we came down, do you remember me bringing down my Progenitor’s Rod?” The rod had been given to him by an ancient civilization, along with a quest. “I swear I had it in my hand when I walked off the shuttle, but now I can’t find it in my quarters.”

“I think so, sir,” Night said. He thought for a second. “Yeah. You definitely had something golden when you walked across the tarmac. I was walking behind you, and the sunlight kept flashing off it into my eyes.”

“Damn,” Calvin said. “For the life of me, I have no idea where it went. I thought I put it in the closet here, but now I can’t find it.”

“Maybe I was wrong, and it’s still on the ship,” Night said. “I’ll help you look when we get back. Sure would suck to lose it. It’s not like you can go pick one up at the corner market.”

“Hey, sir,”
Shuttle 02’s
pilot, Lieutenant Kenyon ‘Bucket’ Salo, said, “Wouldn’t it be easier to just replicate a bunch of jump modules, equip all of our ships with them and then jump in there and kick the ever-lovin’ shit out of the damn salamanders?”

“Perhaps,” Calvin said.

“Then why the hell aren’t we doing that?” Bucket asked.

“Because we don’t have any idea what’s there,” Calvin replied. “We don’t know what types of ships or what ground forces they have, and Fleet Command wants us to jump across and find out…as quietly as possible. If we jump a ship over, they’re definitely going to see us coming.”

“So?” the Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), Lieutenant Neil ‘Trouble’ Watson, asked. “If we jump in there and hold the orbitals, what are they going to do to us? I’m sure they’ll get the message when we drop a few rocks on their heads.”

“What if their reply to our message is to jump into our universe with a few nukes and set them off in our cities?” Calvin asked.

“Can they do that?” Bucket asked.

“We don’t know,” Calvin replied, “and that’s why we’re going. We don’t know anything about the forces there, either on the ground or in space. Wouldn’t it be better to know we can win
before
we jump in there with all of our forces, rather than jumping in blind and finding ourselves vastly outnumbered?”

“Yeah, I guess it would,” Bucket said.

“That’s our mission today,” Calvin said. “We’re going to jump over and get the lay of the land. Once we’ve done that, and once we’ve determined the Efreet don’t have the capability to nuke the Earth,
then
we’ll replicate a bunch of jump modules, equip all of our ships with them and jump in there and kick the ever-lovin’ shit out of the salamanders.”

“That is the entrance to Grendel’s cave,” Captain Nightsong said. “The passage leads to a large cave below sea level.”

“I still think this is a mistake,” Master Chief said, looking at the fissure in the side of the cliff. The shuttle had landed on the plateau above, and the soldiers had climbed down the cliff to a narrow beach on the Oresund Bay. “I think we should transfer both groups in at once,” he added.

“Each of the control rods only lets us take three people in at a time,” Captain Nightsong said. “Since we can’t go in with enough people to make a difference at the start, we should go in small so there is less of a chance the Efreet will see us. They may have some kind of monitor or sensor that lets them know how many people are around, and three people are a lot less suspicious than six. While three people could be friends on a walk, six people are likely to be conspirators up to no good. It’s just the way the Efreet think.”

“Okay,” Calvin said, coming to a decision. “Here’s the plan. I’m going to jump in first with Captain Nightsong and Lieutenant Knaus. We’re going to make sure everything is still the way Captain Nightsong remembers it, and then we’ll come back and get the rest of the platoon.”

“Do you really think that’s wise, sir?” Master Chief asked. “Captain Nightsong and two aviators?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that every time you go somewhere without me, you always seem to get into some kind of trouble I have to come rescue you from. Wouldn’t it be smarter and save us all a lot of time and trouble if we sent in some combat troops first? If nothing else, wouldn’t it be better if I went with you now, instead of the lieutenant?”

“I’ll be fine, Master Chief,” Calvin said. “Captain Nightsong has been here before and knows the way. K-Mart has more experience with the Sila race than anyone else we have. If there are Sila there, he’s the best person we have to interact with them. We’ll just take a quick look and then send Captain Nightsong back to get everyone else. It makes sense to find out what’s going on over there before we bring in so many people that we can’t get back out again quickly. It also lets us find out from the start whether we can wear our combat suits or not.”

“You know sir, I’ve been thinking,” Master Chief said after a pause.

“Damn,” Calvin said. “Master Chief’s been thinking? Now I really
am
scared.”

“That’s funny, sir,” Master Chief replied; “it’s just fucking hilarious. Seriously, what if the damn Psiclopes got it all wrong? What if I’m actually the hero, and you’re just one of my sidekicks? Have you ever thought of that? I seem to have to save the day all the time; wouldn’t that make me the hero? Perhaps you should let the hero lead on this one for a change. Besides, I’ve got a bad feeling about this jump.”

“Now Master Chief, if you were the hero, you’d be the one to have to go to all of the press conferences and do all of the media interviews. Is that what you want? To be in front of the press all the time?”

“Screw that,” Master Chief said. “Okay, you got me there. You can go, but please be careful for once, won’t you?”

“I will,” Calvin said with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Captain Nightsong. “He’ll be with me. What could go wrong?”

Captain Nightsong led them into the tunnel opening, turning on an Aesir lantern as he entered the narrow passageway. The troops followed him into the shaft, turning on their flashlights as they reached the darkness inside. The passageway sloped steeply, forcing the soldiers to carefully pick their steps, and after a few minutes Calvin knew they were well below sea level. The passageway eventually leveled out, snaked back and forth several times and then opened into a large chamber.

Captain Nightsong walked to the center of the cavern and turned around to face the group.

“Ready?” Captain Nightsong asked. He held out a hand, and Calvin and K-Mart made skin-to-skin contact with him. Seeing two nods, the Aesir pressed a button on the transportation rod he was holding in his other hand. With a flash, the three vanished.

The trio reappeared in a cave complex similar to the one they left on Earth, but one that was substantially larger and showed signs of habitation: a sword was mounted on one wall and a table sat in the far corner, with a small golden rod on top. The biggest differences Calvin could see were the addition of a second room, visible through an open archway, and that the chambers were lit with some sort of light emitting strips stuck to the walls.

From what Calvin could see through the archway, the new compartment looked like a workshop, although one that didn’t appear to be in use. A bellows sat next to a cold fireplace, and empty tables and barrels were scattered throughout the room. An enormous anvil bolted to a massive wooden block stood as a lonely sentinel by the fireplace.

“Wow, it’s so clean,” Calvin said. “It doesn’t smell musty at all, and there’s no dust or dirt anywhere. It’s almost like someone was living here and just moved out yesterday.”

“Three days ago, actually,” Captain Nightsong said.

“What do you mean?” Calvin asked.

Both aviators turned to look at the Aesir, and they saw he had drawn his laser pistol. Without a word, Nightsong shot K-Mart in the center of his forehead. The aviator fell backward, dead before he hit the floor.

Calvin paused in shock, then started to draw his pistol in reflex. Before he could get it clear of its holster, Captain Nightsong picked up K-Mart’s pistol, turned and leveled both weapons at Calvin. “Don’t do that,” he warned. “I’d hate to have to kill you, too. This soon, anyway.”

“What the…?” Calvin asked, looking down at K-Mart’s body. “Why the hell did you kill him?”

A wicked grin crossed the Aesir’s face. “Why?” he asked. “Because he was unnecessary to my plans. You are the only one who matters.” He crossed the room and removed Calvin’s laser pistol from its holster. “I’ve been looking forward to having a real hero soul to experiment on for centuries. To finally have one given to me so freely is simply divine providence.”

Captain Nightsong pulled the battery pack out of Calvin’s pistol, inserted something into the battery well and reinserted the battery. A high-pitched whine filled the close confines of the cave. He made the same alteration to K-Mart’s pistol, and the whine doubled in volume.

“I moved out three days ago,” Captain Nightsong said. “I had to remove the rest of the equipment I left here; I didn’t want it destroyed in the explosion.”

“What explosion?” Calvin asked.

“The one that’s going to destroy this workshop, of course,” Nightsong said, looking up. “We certainly wouldn’t want your people to follow us. I’m overloading the batteries so they will detonate. When they do, I expect this cave will collapse. Anyone who follows us will find themselves under 50 feet of water…assuming they don’t materialize within the rubble. If they can’t breathe water, I expect they will die.” He chuckled.

“Let’s go,” Nightsong added, motioning Calvin through the doorway into the new chamber. As he entered the room, Calvin saw a familiar figure off to the side.

“Father Zuhlsdorf!” he cried, running to where the priest was zip-tied to a chair. The priest had seen better days and, judging by the wounds and bandages, had been subjected to an enormous amount of torture. Father Zuhlsdorf’s head was on his chest, but when he heard his name, he lifted it and tried to focus bleary eyes on Calvin.

“But…you’re dead,” Calvin said.

“Nothing so exciting…as a return from…the Existential Peripheries,” the priest replied. “The truth is…much more mundane.” His gaze turned to Nightsong and turned into a glare. “He kidnapped me.”

“What the hell did you do that for?” Calvin asked. “What the hell is going on?”

Captain Nightsong laughed. “Did you really think I could stay undetected by the Psiclopes for as long as I did? You obviously have no idea how good they are at spying. Those busy-bodies have reconnaissance devices that can go anywhere and remain undetected. I’m good, but they’re better. Arges caught me a long time ago and offered me a deal. This is all just part of the plan.”

“Arges caught you? Caught you doing what?”

“Rather than tell you, why don’t I show you?” the Aesir asked. He put his hands over his face. When he removed them, he looked completely different. “My real name is Wayland, or “Wayland the Smith” as I was often called on this planet. For a time, I was also known as Beowulf. What you choose to call me matters not. You can continue to call me Nightsong if it simplifies things for you. I have lived long enough with that name I am used to answering to it.”

“So if Arges caught you, he obviously didn’t turn you in,” Calvin said. “What did he get out of it? Nothing is free with him.”

Nightsong barked a short laugh. “No, nothing is free with him.” He shrugged. “I did some odd jobs for him. Does it really matter? They were things I was good at. An arch-duke here, a president there…”

“You…you killed people…for Arges?”

“Indeed. Arges and I had similar plans although our ultimate goals diverged in the end. He was looking for hero souls to study; I was looking for them to continue my experiments.”

“How many people did you kill?”

“For Arges? Many. He was always trying to foment some kind of revolution or civil war, something that would cause heroes to come to the forefront of society.”

“I don’t believe you,” Calvin said. “Next you’re going to tell me you’re the one who killed President Kennedy.”

“Was he the one with the top hat or the one that kept the United States on the gold standard?” Nightsong asked. “They all kind of run together after a while.” He smiled. “Oh, wait, I’ve got it. Kennedy was the one in the convertible, right? You’ve
got
to give me that one. It was a great shot, even with heat-seeking bullets.”

“You really killed Kennedy?”

“No, the man in the car wasn’t Kennedy; it was just a doppelganger…someone I had modified to look like him.
I’d
actually been posing as Kennedy for a while.”

“If Kennedy didn’t die, where is he?”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Nightsong said; “I almost forgot.” He crossed the room and took the sword off the wall. He turned and held it up. “Here’s your president. Arges was watching him because the Psiclopes thought he was a hero spirit. When the Psiclopes decided he wasn’t a full hero spirit, I got to have him.” He smiled. “You may find it interesting to know Marilyn Monroe said I was the best she ever had.”

“Didn’t she die before Kennedy was assassinated?”

“Yes she did. The Psiclopes were watching him for quite a while.” Captain Nightsong looked down at the sword, lost in thought.

While he was distracted, Calvin looked at his watch. Seeing the movement, Nightsong looked up. “Yes, it is time we left. It wouldn’t do to be here much longer.” He crossed to where Father Zuhlsdorf was sitting, motioning Calvin to step away from him.

“Testing a hero spirit’s helpers is always so much fun,” he said as he cut loose the zip ties. “It does, however, take something out of them. You may have to carry him if you want him to come along with us.” Nightsong motioned for the Terrans to precede him up the passageway. “Let’s go.”

Calvin reached down to help the priest to his feet and found him greatly reduced; the cleric was nothing more than skin and bones. He pulled the priest’s arm over his shoulder and lifted him easily from the chair.

“Let’s go,” Nightsong repeated. “We don’t want to be here when the pistols explode.”