I landed the Airbike in a park near the center of Oakland. After clearing the far end of the dead zone, I was able to open a channel and communicate with the city administrator. In this case, that was Sarah Hargrave. Short and thin, she looked somehow older than the other denizens, even though I knew that wasn’t possible. It wasn’t the first time I’d encountered Sarah, but her wizened appearance and an age that, at least visually, seemed to parallel Doc Cormac made me think for the first time that the difference in relative appearances might have more to do with one’s station in society than with conventional age.

“Gray,” Sarah said, extending her hand. It was a mannerism some had adopted from My World, and I recognized she was using it to break the ice. Sarah Hargrave had been one of the most vocal opponents of the point defense system I was working to implement on the perimeter walls of Portland. “You’re ahead of schedule,” she noted.

She was right. Once I discovered that Seeley tech worked in the dead zone as long as I was above 20,000 feet, I could reactivate my armor. This made higher speeds more comfortable, and I was able to more than make up for my lost time.

“Have you been able to reach Doctor Cormac?” I asked, trying to cut through the niceties. The ride had been a blast, but it was exhausting. Time was also limited. I needed to interview Mara and begin the return flight as soon as possible.

She shook her head. “The latest information suggests the storm front has settled in. It’s now stationary. There’s no reason to believe conditions will change anytime soon. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a Thonian weather front behave this way,” she said, looking uncomfortable with what she was describing. “We just hoped for the best, I suppose you could say.”

I followed Sarah across the park’s open green expanse and into a glass-covered greenhouse-like building while we talked. After that, we passed through a lobby and entered an elevator. She hadn’t yet explained where we were going, but I assumed it was the medical complex since she knew my reason for traveling to Oakland.

“You saw the video I forwarded?” I asked as we waited in the elevator.

Sarah didn’t respond at first. Her complexion suddenly grew more pallid, and she swayed on her feet. I watched her throat contract as she appeared to swallow something unpleasant with concerted effort. The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open, but Sarah Hargrave failed to move. After a few long seconds, her gaze met mine. She blinked away moist eyes, forced a smile, and led me from the elevator.

“Kind of you not to say, ‘I told you so,’” she said in a dry, husky voice as we treaded slowly down the next corridor. “That recording…” she almost mumbled. “They truly can fly?” She looked at me again and forced another smile. “If you can, I suppose, why not them?”

(more…)

Wild-Side

Piper sat on the edge of the table and rubbed the spot on her arm where blood had been drawn some twenty minutes before. There wasn’t so much as a mark left to indicate the bodily invasion and she hadn’t felt the sample as it had been extracted. Some kind of device was used to pull the blood from her body without so much as breaking the surface of her skin. No needle, no puncture, not even the slightest pain. Everywhere she turned, this place seemed infused with subtle yet unmistakable technological improvements that separated it from home in subtle but unmistakable ways. She looked at her hand resting on the table’s surface and made yet another observation. The table was made of stainless steel, but the texture and temperature didn’t feel right. She had been informed that it was a metallic-ceramic composite, which was, apparently, commonly used in construction here. It was lightweight, strong, and versatile. It could be formed in small amounts using a mobile fabrication device similar to the 3D printers she had seen at home, or it could be employed on a larger scale to create components for building-sized structures.

“Incredible,” she heard herself murmur.

“What’s that?” Lacy asked as she passed by, holding a circular ring the size of a dinner plate in her hands. She handed it to Gray.

“Your technology,” Piper said. “Everything from the augmented reality to the particle fabrication units. I’m just blown away by it all.”

Lacy’s face seemed to beam. She nodded to Gray and asked whether the ring-like device met his specifications. Gray appeared satisfied. Lacy then returned her attention to Piper. “Gray had the same reaction initially,” she said. “Your world is primitive in a lot of ways, but you have so many things we don’t.”

“What could we possibly have that you don’t?” Piper wondered.

“Art,” Gray said, slipping the collar around his neck. “Wild-Side has enough science to put Our-World to shame, but they have no understanding of the arts. No music, no painting, no poetry. They don’t even know what fiction is. They couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea of writing something that wasn’t scientific or historic.”

Gray tapped a button or manipulated the corner of the ring he’d placed around his neck, and Piper gasped as a helmet materialized from the thin ring of material. In less than two seconds, particles grew, moved, and formed into a hard shell that surrounded his head in the shape of a conventional, albeit high-tech looking helmet.

Piper was on her feet, moving in for a closer look without realizing she had slid from the edge of the table. “That’s incredible,” she whispered, resting her hand on the side of Gray’s head.

Gray placed two fingers approximately where his temple would be. The smoky black visor dematerialized to reveal his eyes and nose. Only then did she notice how sleek and form-fitting the helmet really was. It added just about an inch to the overall diameter of his head while offering very little padding. Given what she had seen of the tech from this place already, she suspected the helmet was far more protective than anything from her world.

“Amazing,” Piper muttered.

Gray tapped a button on his wrist, and the helmet seemed to disintegrate. She quickly noticed that the material was deconstructing and receding back into the collar that originally housed it. While Gray seemed satisfied with the experience, he didn’t appear blown away by the exposure to the technology. “That’s good,” he said to Lacy. “The rest of the suit works the same way?”

(more…)

Wild-Side

My ears popped with a familiar change in elevation, my stomach flip-flopped, and the Doppler effect of a low, resonant gong echoed deep within my skull. I fought the urge to vomit and rolled onto my side. That’s when I felt the long, dry blades of grass crunch beneath me. It all added up to one thing.

I’m back on Wild-Side.

I squinted against the sun and took a deep breath. Sunlight meant no Seeley. Well, it didn’t mean I was entirely out of danger, but they were far more dangerous at night. There had only been rare attacks during the daytime, and no one had reported an attack in broad daylight. No evidence indicated they were a nocturnal race, but they certainly seemed to prefer the night. The worst of the creepy crawlies always seemed to share that trait, so I guess there was some degree of predictability there.

Have I mentioned that my mind tends to spin right after crossing?

The sound of someone coughing and retching snapped me back to alertness. I vaulted to my feet, spinning on my heels before digging my bare toes into the loamy soil and assuming a defensive stance. Admittedly, one loses some of his imposing edge while standing completely naked in a field of knee-high grass with his fists balled, no matter how aggressive the fighting posture.

That’s when I saw Piper sprawled face down in the same grass, gasping for breath and dry-heaving. She lay flat, her hands spread wide, just lifting her face out of the grass and dirt. Like me, she was completely naked. But unlike me, she wasn’t supposed to be there.

No one else had ever crossed over to Wild-Side before.

“Piper,” I said, rolling her over and pulling her into my arms. Her eyes fluttered, and her breathing was shallow and rapid. Her body seemed to tremble from head to toe. “Piper, can you hear me?” I tapped her gently on the cheek, but it didn’t seem to matter. Pressing two fingers against the side of her neck, her racing pulse was unmistakable.

We found ourselves in the middle of a meadow that spanned maybe five or six square acres. I didn’t like being out in the open, but I wasn’t sure the distant tree line looked any better. Piper just shouldn’t be here. This wasn’t right. Me landing here was problematic. Her landing here with me like this…it was—fuck! I didn’t know how to protect her in a place like this.

My HUD flickered to life, but communications were still down. Luckily, cartography loaded quickly this time. There was a farm with an active transport platform 2.8 kilometers northeast of my location. I was just about to grab Piper and head for the farm when I felt her pulse slow and saw her eyes begin to stabilize.

She took a deep breath and looked up at me from where she lay cradled in my arms, blinking slowly. Squinting, she said, “What the hell? Turn the lights down.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. That only made her more confused. She rubbed her head and attempted to sit up. It must have hurt because she sagged back into my arms. I think that’s when she noticed the grass and grime beneath her. She turned to stare at me. There was confusion in her eyes. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused but seemed to settle on my lap.

“Huh…” she mumbled. I think it was to herself, but she was still sort of out of it, so I wasn’t sure. “My sex dreams are usually more creative.” Her eyes finally left my crotch and found my face. “And you’re always having more fun than that,” she tipped her head back to my groin.

(more…)

Our-World
Borderline Bar and Grill

Two days passed before I saw Piper again. My stunt in the lab had the unintended consequence of prompting Doctor Fulbright to instill the fear of God in building maintenance, the University administration, and anyone willing to listen. He seemed not to appreciate being assigned a laboratory that was, as he described it, a deathtrap just waiting to claim its first victims. He insisted that all building systems and infrastructure be inspected before his project team began working in earnest.

That was fine with me. Delaying, or even better, derailing the project was my ultimate goal. But the outcome was amusing because it was unexpected. I had partially achieved one of my objectives without even trying. It gave me a day to set up a base of operations in the corner of a warehouse I had just rented on the outskirts of the town’s business district, plus a fallback safe house in the sticks outside of town. It was a lot to accomplish in twenty-four hours, but it kept me busy and distracted from obsessing over Piper, who had been on my mind since seeing that news clip just a week earlier.

I maintain that obsession is too strong a term, and I’ll admit to being distracted since she entered my life, but Esker disagreed. He went on to define obsession as, and I quote, an idea or thought that continually preoccupies or intrudes on one’s mind. However, since arguing with artificial intelligence is like ice skating uphill, you can bet I didn’t make any progress in changing his mind.

And considering I was sitting at what was quickly becoming my table at the Borderline, watching Piper pour drinks behind the bar at the first opportunity I had, maybe he wasn’t too far from the mark. I’d been there for twenty minutes, and Piper had yet to make eye contact, though I was certain she’d been checking me out from the corner of her eye at regular, if not constant, intervals.

Music played from the jukebox next to a small stage set up at the end of the room. Patrons could select songs using a phone app. All three selections I had entered played immediately. Either no one in the semi-crowded joint was vying for playtime, or someone was prioritizing my picks. Since my songs were favorites from the playlist curated by Piper Hudson and me, I suspected the fix was in.

I had never actually ordered a drink, yet they arrived at my table with only a coy smile and a wink from the waitress. She knew something I didn’t, and she seemed to be enjoying it. I tried to ask about the secret, but she silently shook her head and left without a word. The first round was a double shot of tequila served in a rocks glass. The second round was the same, and by the time I finished it, I was buzzed and feeling no pain.

The rocks glass was the key. This was what I drank on the boat when Piper and I first met. And the rocks glass was the best part. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the glass was almost exactly the same style. The memory made me smile. I think I was still grinning when I looked up to see Piper standing at the end of my booth. Her work attire had been replaced with a pale yellow sundress that had thin spaghetti straps and a plunging neckline. She was holding a tray with two more rocks glasses. She set the glasses on the table, placed the tray on the seat opposite me, and then slipped into the seat at my side.

(more…)

Wild-Side
16 months ago

The massive creature thrashed and clawed its way through a tangle of vegetation unlike anything it had ever encountered. Its scales were accustomed to razor-like barbs on plants, but nothing in this strange wilderness appeared remotely carnivorous, and none of the vegetation made any kind of threatening move. Jumping over a fallen log, the creature suddenly became wary of an ambush; so when a thick vine appeared at eye level, he struck out with deadly force. The talons on both hands lashed at the hanging vine, eviscerating it in a spray of sticky sap. However, Breslin slowed his pace when the splatter of sap on his scaly flesh failed to burn, melt, or even harm him. No additional vines came to defend the fallen.

Examining the remains of the battered vine, Breslin was perplexed. The briar had the girth of two of his talons but had failed to defend itself in any way. It also didn’t appear to be part of any social pack or pride. Retracting a claw, he dabbed at the freshly severed end of the thick rope. A thick, sticky substance oozed from the green and brown plant, but there was no blood.

Breslin rose to his feet and scanned the forest. Spindly thickets of leafy green vegetation clung to larger, brown plants that towered even higher with more greenery. He had never seen anything like it. While he sensed small wildlife moving in the distance, nothing in the immediate area stirred at all.

Warily, he brushed a large scaled hand through the left tendrils of another plant. It didn’t react, so he moved on. As he walked, he noticed the sound of his footfalls changing. They were becoming less stealthy, his stride shorter and more clumsy. He looked down to see the last scales of his torso giving way to a soft, almost pink material. His arms and legs grew shorter by degrees over just a few minutes, and he suddenly realized that he was taking on the form of one of the creatures he’d killed back in the cave.

(more…)

Our-World
Shelter Cove Marina
Shelter Spring, North Carolina
26 months ago

“He said it was this way,” Gina Hallstrom said, threading her way down the boardwalk. “Supposedly, we’ll know it when we see it.”

Gina wore cut-off denim shorts and a blue string bikini top. Her hair was pulled back beneath a black baseball cap, and her sunglasses rested above the caps bill as she scanned the edge of the dock for the boat they intended to board. She adjusted the strap of the small daypack slung over one shoulder while spinning in a slow circle. Frustrated, she waved to Piper and Allison with a “move your ass” gesture.

“She’s really excited about this boat,” Allison grumbled.

Piper laughed. “I knew that when she was up and out of bed at 7am on a Saturday. I don’t understand why. It’s just a boat.”

The sky was clear, and the sun was already well above the horizon, as it was nearly nine in the morning. The weather forecast predicted highs in the mid-90s, promising an incredible day for boating on the Atlantic. Gina was 19 years old, while Allison and Piper were just a couple of months older, having recently turned 20.

“It’s not about the boat,” Allison clarified, as they both struggled to keep sight of Gina while she turned the corner and headed onto one of the many wide wooden docks lined with pleasure craft of every shape and size. “It’s about a boy.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “Ya think?”

“Slow down,” a voice called from behind them. A big, stone block of a kid was struggling to keep up, heavily burdened with baggage. Overloaded backpacks hung from each shoulder, a massive cooler was pinched between his meaty paws, and a bulging duffle bag thudded against his hip with every hurried step he took. “We all know what Gina’s interested in,” he wheezed. “But I heard about the boat—and I don’t want to miss it.”

Jimmy Kell was the same age as the girls, but that’s where the similarities ended. While each of the ladies was petite and feminine, Jimmy looked as though he’d been carved from a block of granite with a dull chisel. He stood six feet two inches tall and weighed two hundred forty pounds, every ounce of it hard-won in the gym or on the football field. His head was all flat planes and hard angles, resembling one of the Easter Island statues brought to life.

(more…)

Wild-Side

There was a flash of light, and the room-temperature pattern of the bunker receiving platform replaced the barn’s cold version. Wes stood at the control terminal facing the platform, while Lacy quickly took on her traditional role by fetching a thick, wool-like blanket. It remained unclear whether this gesture was meant as an accommodation for my naked arrival or as a sign of respect for my exposure to this world and its elements before reaching the teleportation platform. Regardless, while I appreciated the consideration, it wasn’t necessary. I had long since given up any anxiety over appearing naked in front of these people or anyone else, and thanks to the nanotech, I was impervious to all but the most extreme temperatures.

I noticed Lacy averting her eyes as she approached with the blanket and, this time, noted what might have been a coloring of her cheeks. That had never happened before. It was unusual because the people of Wild-Side had, at least until recently, no experience with sexuality and, as a result, no apprehension about this kind of male-female interaction.

Noticing how Lacy gave me a furtive glance before quickly exiting the room, I decided something had changed. I would either need to ask her about it… or perhaps bring up the subject with Doc Cormac would be better. Chances were, this had something to do with my social experiment. If that were the case, Cormac would be the better choice.

I noticed the smirk on Wes’s face and shot him a questioning glance. He’d seen Lacy’s response and found it unusual too. “It’s not just me, right?” I asked.

He shook his head. “She’s given you the same blanket at least a hundred times. I don’t know what’s different about today.”

Tossing the wrap over the console, I grabbed the jeans from the stack of folded clothes waiting in their usual spot. I slipped them on while keeping my eyes on the door Lacy had used for her hasty retreat. I pulled a black t-shirt over my head and stood on one leg as I slipped a sock onto my left foot. I’d gone through this process so many times that I could get fully dressed in under thirty seconds, all while standing.

“The Doc’s running late,” Wes said. “A meeting with Columbus was running long. Said he’d meet you in the Commons.”

(more…)

Our-World
O’Hare Airport
Chicago Illinois

Special Agent Chris Ingersoll followed the TSA officer through the winding cinderblock corridors until his sense of direction became hopelessly muddled. Institutional placards marked every intersection with confusing acronyms that meant nothing to him. They seemed designed to make the facility unnecessarily challenging to navigate, adding to his suspicion that it was intended to discourage outside visitors. Finally, the officer swiped a card at an expansive glass door that led to a room heavily invested in flat-panel monitors. The screens were arranged to cover every inch of the three windowless walls, and the six rows of closely placed workstations were each equipped with an array of twenty-seven-inch screens.

“Agent Ingersoll,” said a small, disheveled man with short-cropped gray hair as he approached with an outstretched hand. “I’m Timothy Saunders. How can I assist the FBI today?”

Ingersoll took in Saunders’s coffee-spotted tie, threadbare shirt cuffs, and slightly askew glasses, fighting the urge to grind his teeth. Given how anxiously the man pumped his hand and his grip’s moist, clammy feel, at least he was eager to please. “Thanks for your time, Mr. Saunders. I need access to surveillance feeds from last Tuesday afternoon. Could one of your people help me with that?”

“Certainly—certainly,” Saunders said with a rapid nod. He pushed his glasses backward on his nose and gestured toward a workstation on the far side of the room. “As requested, Niles has the footage prepared for your review. I also have the ticket agent standing by in an interview room per your office’s request.”

Ingersoll smiled and gestured for Saunders to lead the way to the computer terminal. He was enthusiastic to finish reviewing the video and move on to the interview as soon as possible, in case Saunders noticed that the call with the FBI field office secretary matched Ingersoll’s voice. He didn’t think the eager little man would piece the deception together on his own, but it was better to keep things moving along quickly.

“Do you need the timestamps?” Ingersoll asked as he leaned over the technician’s shoulder. The tech was operating the complex video control system in front of an array of computer displays. A traditional computer keyboard and mouse were complemented by a large, knob-like device surrounded by specialized buttons. A stubby joystick was also nearby.

“It’s already queued up,” the technician said, gesturing vaguely toward the top centermost of the six displays. One screen showed a full-screen image of a concourse somewhere in the airport, while all the other screens displayed dozens of freeze-frame shots, presumably from all over the complex, arranged in three-inch squares. “I used the suspect photo your office provided,” he continued.

“You found him?” Ingersoll asked, surprise entering his tone.

Saunders interrupted, “I’m surprised you wanted to review this on-site. We make all our footage available in real-time via the fusion center, but you also have access to the cold storage archives.”

(more…)

Our-World
Alison Springs, Maryland

I was in the lab early the next morning, feeling unusually anxious. Stresses of one type or another became second nature when my whole “tripping worlds” adventure began. Not to pat myself on the back, but I’d long since learned to roll with the punches. I’m introverted at my core, which isn’t practical when your mission in life is to undermine plans for world domination implemented by a creature from another plane of reality. One becomes good at being someone else when required. I think of it as playing a role and believe I can be anyone I need to be.

The problem with my trip to Alison Springs University was that I could only be myself. I had a past with Piper, and since Piper was part of ASU, there was too much of a chance someone I knew from our time together would overlap and blow my cover. I had laid enough of a false trail to keep the FBI chasing inconsequential leads in other parts of the world. If I could wrap up my work in Maryland quickly enough, I could stay ahead of the manhunt.

The law had nothing to do with my stress levels shortly before eight o’clock that Monday. It was the fast one I was about to pull by ambushing Piper for a second time in two days. I was pulling a fresh pair of replacement wires through the tangle of intricate sensor leads under the table when I heard multiple voices coming down the hall. A group of people appeared to be talking simultaneously.

“The team has arrived,” Esker said through my earpiece.

“Everyone?” I asked, keeping my voice low so my face remained obscured below the surface of the high-tech medical table. I knew Esker was using the facility’s surveillance system to track the team as they finished reviewing the two storage rooms allocated for the project. They were headed to the medical suite specifically designed for the experiment, located down the hall from the storage rooms on the rarely-used basement level of the recently opened Experimental Sciences building.

“Affirmative. The entire team is present,” Esker paused for dramatic effect. “Including Piper.” He was an artificial intelligence, but if I didn’t know better, there were times I would bet money that the dramas of my life amused him.

“Very funny, but you know I’m more concerned with Omar.”

“Insisting on that won’t make it a reality,” the AI’s dry voice insisted.

I rolled my eyes.

“And last but not least,” a new voice boomed as a group bustled into the room. “Welcome to our state-of-the-art laboratory.” The man had a sonorous baritone, and I recognized it as the tweed-toting Doctor Kramer Fulbright. He was the head of the project and the man I had seen in the news clipping, shaking hands with the financier from the front company representing Kilmer Breslin’s interests.

(more…)

Wild-Side
20 months ago

The Bus easily traveled the rocky terrain of the Badlands. With three oversized wheels on each side of the cargo compartment at the back of the sleek, van-like utility vehicle, it could crawl with nimble agility across the vastly uneven surfaces. The pair of equally large wheels at the front were suspended at the end of long struts, giving the vehicle both a tight turning radius and extra resilience over surfaces like those it currently traversed.

Kilmer Fenn sat on the bench seat in the cargo space and watched with trepidation as the stowed stacks of hard-shelled crates heaved and strained against the tie–down straps binding them to the cabin floor. The left side of the cab tipped at nearly a forty–degree slant as the vehicle traversed another of the endless fields of man-sized boulders standing shoulder to shoulder and littering the expanse.

The figure on the opposite side of the cabin had been caught off guard, causing Kilmer to laugh. Mara struggled to secure herself in the safe embrace of the shoulder restraints. It was anyone’s guess what she was thinking when she took the device off. Like him, she wore a full-body environment suit. It had a form-fitting shell made of thin, plastic-like protective armor. The material was about an inch thicker than his usual daily uniform. This offered incredible protection, considering that, with the helmet on and the internal breathing system engaged, he could survive a grade-four rock slide.

“If you remove your restraints, you better put your helmet on first. We’re a long way from anything other than automated medical care,” Kilmer warned with a grin.

Mara tried to look nonplussed but was more likely fighting not to lose her lunch. “Is it just me, or is the ride getting rougher?” she said after taking a hard swallow.

(more…)