[Sticks]

Episode VI – Fugitive Technicians

Life can be horrid sometimes

Tragedies piling in one after another. How do people cope?

Sometimes we hear about something called a Dunkirk Spirit, based on an event in World War II when private boats sailed the English Channel to help rescue Allied troops from the German advance.

Those were dark times in 1940 when a dictator powered through Europe in a manoeuvre called the Blitzkrieg, and when Britain stood alone.

To the people of the Earth and those left alive after the destruction of the Inter Dimensional Entity Control organisation, as a result of a number of nuclear explosions, with old soviet tactical nuclear warheads. This onslaught appears to have been unleashed by a troika of a drow and two treacherous trolls. One of them being the half sister of the allied troll, The Clan Chief of the Manjura. To cap it all, the president of the United States of America has been assassinated by creatures from the Mystical Realms who have brought down Air Force One

+ + +

A command centre
The USS Bataan

Colonel Samuel Peters sat alone with his head in his hands. Shamus McTuckle the leprechaun from the Irish, Special Diplomatic service at his side.

“So it’s confirmed?” Shamus asked quietly.
Samuel nodded, “Any idea who or what could have done this”

Shamus sighed, “Colonel, you know how our world was shaped by humans”
“The Collective Unconsciousness is what Graeme Andrews said in the journal he passed to us” Samuel asked
“Aye” Shamus confirmed
“Well?”
“One creature that was formed is called a gremlin” Shamus suggested
“Pilot’s blamed them for mechanical problems with aircraft” Samuel muttered
“I’m afraid they are real too” Shamus told him, “They are veracious and without conscience. When we captured an imprisoned them, that was the one time we openly worked with the regime of the Lord Low Troll”
“You worked with that dictator?” Samuel asked in shocked disbelief
“Aye” Shamus replied unapologetically, “We had common cause, the protection of humanity and indirectly our interests in case the collective human unconsciousness could still affect our world”
“But if you captured these creatures” Samuel began
“Someone has let them free and used them to kill your commander in chief” Shamus continued.

There was a knock on the door
“Yes!” Yelled the colonel

The door slowly opened and in came the first officer looking grim faced. He closed the door and walked up to Samuel and Shamus
“More bad news?” Shamus ventured

The first officer nodded, then with a voice full of emotion told the colonel and the leprechaun how they had picked up reports that up to ten passenger airlines had crashed with no survivors, all of them having given out maydays about creatures attacking the aircraft.

Samuel shook his head
“This was why we worked with the Lord Low Troll Colonel” the leprechaun replied.

“Get in touch with the FAA and whoever you can” Samuel ordered, “Ground all aircraft world wide and get those in the air to make emergency landings wherever they can”

“Can we do that?” the first officer objected

Samuel stood up, “If you don’t feel like doing it, I’ll do it”
“Sir” The First officer pressed, “We lost the Vice president and the leader of the house in the explosion in DC and the president “
“Who ever is left” Samuel insisted, “Get them. The person’s responsible for those bombs have let loose creatures whose sole motivation is to bring down aircraft.”

“I’ll speak to the captain sir” The first officer replied when he wakes up
“You’ll wake him now officer” Samuel replied contemptuously, “And while we are at it, you need to ground all the aircraft aboard the Bataan, otherwise those creatures will come after us”

+ + +

Residential area of the marine base at Quantico
Virginia, United States of America

Pete Smith finally pushed open the door of their assigned accommodation at Quantico and cancelled the intruder alarm. It was amazing that it had not triggered when the bomb had gone off in Washington.

He then signalled for Sue-Lim Wang and Simon Hargreaves to get out of the car. They had been two or three hours driving gridlocked roads after getting permission to drive, and finally they had got home, skirting around the area affected by the nuclear blast.

Except it was not Simon’s home.

The mobile phones were still not working to allow emergency services to operate, and they had not been able to verify if Simon’s parents were still alive, as they had both been on Capital hill when the blast occurred. With Simon’s autism, it would not be right to take him to an empty house, and besides, with traffic, it was not possible to get there that day. The best Pete had been able to do was trying to send them an email from the hospital.

As Pete watched Sue-Lim get out of the car, he reflected on the fact that she was only out because they needed space for casualties of the bombing. They had given Pete some leaflets and discharged Sue-Lim into his care.

“Aren’t we going to my place” Simon whined after he had finished using the bathroom.
“Possibly tomorrow Simon” Pete told him for the umpteenth time.
“But I need a change of clothes” Simon insisted.
“You can wear some of mine “countered Pete, “The roads are still closed to all but essential traffic Simon; we need to get permission to travel there” Pete explained further, “Now go and wait in the living room and I will dig you out some clothes”

Simon went in to the living room while Pete and Sue-Lim stood in the doorway.

“I want to just go to bed” Sue-Lim said quietly
“You’re not going to eat first?” Pete asked
“I don’t feel like it Pete” Sue-Lim replied with sadness in her voice, “I don’t know how anyone can eat after what has happened today”.

Pete lightly placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. He wanted to hold her tighter but was worried that doing so might bring Sue-Lim flashbacks of when she had been raped in a Miami immigration detention centre.
“Sue-Lim you are not helping anyone if you waste away” Pete gently insisted.
“Please leave it Pete” Sue-Lim asked, “I just don’t feel like eating” she insisted.

Pete took his hands off her shoulders and backed away, “OK, but let me know if you change your mind”

Then Sue-Lim hugged Pete and broke down, “It’s so horrible Pete” she sobbed, “All our colleagues at the IDEC”

Pete gently and nervously hugged Sue-Lim back, “I know” he whispered and kissed the top of her head.

After a minute, Pete said “lets go inside, and if you want to go to bed that’s fine”.

Then as Pete was leading Sue-Lim in by the hand, he heard the sound of a car drawing up outside. “You go in” he told Sue-Lim and turned to face this visitor.

The car was a black limousine, and it came to a stop outside their quarters.

Pete crossed his arms as he stood in the middle of the door entrance. He suspected who it might be, and he was right. Their evening visitor was none other than Sue-Lim’s estranged father, the enigmatic Mr Vee

“What are you doing here” he asked with venom as the elderly man got out of the back seat of the car.

“I came to see all three of you” Mr Vee replied with no hint of any emotion
“Oh really” Pete snapped back, “Sue-Lim’s tired and I was about to cook dinner for just the three of us”

Mr Vee sighed and went to the boot and opened it, and took out a large case.

“You’re not planning on staying” Pete asked with an air of incredulity

“Not really” Mr Vee replied, “I’m not even sure how long you two will be staying here Mr Smith”
“And what do you mean by that?” Pete asked

“You obviously have not heard” Mr Vee said with just a hint of mock astonishment in his voice
“A lot of things have happened today Mr Vee” Pete retorted, “Various cities being nuked and now we’ve just heard that the President’s plane has crashed with no survivors, so what did we miss”

“The part where Inter Dimensional Entity Control has been disbanded” Mr Vee replied with a matter of fact manner, “And you only had this place because you worked for that organisation”

“What?” Pete Shouted. Pete walked up to Mr Vee, “Are you coming to evict us” he snarled.
Mr Vee shook his head, “Not me” he replied
“So you’ve just turned up to tell us we have to pack” he shouted, “Where do you expect us to go”

“Dad?” Sue-Lim said from the doorway, she had come to see who it was

Pete turned to her, “This b*****d has come to tell us we have been kicked out of our home because they’ve canned the IDEC”

“But why?” Sue-Lim asked, “I know that our head quarters was at ground zero, but we’re still here”

Mr Vee sighed and removed his glasses and cleaned them on his cravat, “Mr Smith, Sue-Lim” he began, “I did try and tell them that they were being short sighted, but their argument is, that as it seems according to the colonel, the attacks were due to hostile entities from IDW01, then we are technically in a state of war with that world.”

“But that’s crazy” interjected Pete, “You need us more than ever if that is the case”

“I tried that too Mr Smith” Mr Vee replied, “But they feel there is no point having an agency now that is designed to work with the inhabitants of that world if we are now at war with them. And since most of the equipment and files were at ground zero, so to speak, it is thought that the fight should be handed over to what is left of the Joint chiefs and the military.”

“So we have to go to work at the Pentagon?” Sue-Lim asked
“Sue-Lim, it’s more serious than that, as we speak the next politician in the line of succession, will be sworn in tomorrow when he gets in from Chicago by train. When he does, according to my sources, they will be issuing arrest warrants for all of you”

“You can not be serious!” Pete exclaimed, “Our headquarters is nuked and they are arresting us for it?”

“Mr Smith” Mr Vee said with a hint of passion, “I share your outrage here, but there are voices that are saying that because we were dealing with this other world, they took advantage and there is a danger that those who survived may be fifth columnists, possibly doppelganger assassins. As we are declared to be in a state of war, you are to be considered as if you are illegal aliens and interned”

“But that would mean you as well Dad” Sue-Lim replied as she walked outside
“Don’t wory about me Sue-Lim, I still have my old CIA connections” Mr Vee replied, “But I can not protect all of you. And if it is any consolation, I can not believe they are making the same mistake as they did in World War Two with the Japanese and German Americans”

“So we have to go on the run?” Pete asked
“Yes, if that is how you want to put it” Mr Vee responded

Then Sue-Lim thought of Simon, “Dad” she asked, “Do you know if Simon’s parents survived?”

Mr Vee sighed, “I’m sorry Sue-Lim” he replied, “His father was in the blast zone so we believe and his mother although further way was hit by debris. She passed away due to her injuries three hours ago”

“How did you find that out” Sue-Lim asked
“Because he’s a spy” Pete said before Mr Vee could speak

“Like I told my daughter” said Mr Vee, “I prefer the term intelligence officer, and I know, because they were friends of mine as well as that of the late Miss Cooper. How do you think Mr Hargreave got his security clearance with his condition?” Then Mr Vee asked, “Where is Mr Hargreaves?”

“He’s waiting inside in the living room” Sue-Lim replied
“Do you think I should break the news to him?” Mr Vee replied
“I think it had better be me” Pete replied, “Simon and I have developed a good working relationship”
“I better be there as well” Sue-Lim said as she lightly took hold of Pete’s arm.
The two of them walked into the house hand in hand, while Mr Vee quietly made his way outside so he was outside the living room window.

The curtain’s were still open, but like her mother, Sue-Lim had net curtains in place, so all Mr Vee could see were the silhouettes. Impassively he watched as the shadow of Simon got up from the chair, while that of Pete went further into the room. Then it seemed that Pete was instructing Simon to sit down on some sofa.

Simon sat down and then Mr Vee saw the figures of Sue-Lim and Pete’s silhouettes sit down either side of him.

Briefly Mr Vee thought back to how as a boy he was told of the death of his father by an army official and an army chaplain. They never did say how he died at that time, as it was a matter of national security. He had had to wait several years before he was able to find out.

Mr Vee then heard the sound of Simon wailing the word “No”, as he watched both his daughter and her fiancé embracing the young man with higher functioning autism. Simon was one of the brightest savants around, but his parents, while they were still alive, did not believe he could ever cope with living on his own. The wail therefore was even more heart wrenching because of that, and so Mr Vee had to use all his will power not to succumb to emotions that could overwhelm a person. In his line of work, impassivity could mean a matter of life or death.

Mr Vee looked at his watch, ideally he would allow the three of them to grieve, but time was not on their side. He wandered over to his limousine and knocked on the driver’s window. The driver wound the window down.
“Any word?” Mr Vee asked
“It looks like the base commander has been informed” the driver replied, “We should still be ok?” he asked.
“I expect so” Mr Vee replied, “And even if not, the car is I am told quite bullet proof”

Mr Vee then left the car and headed towards the open door and entered the house and went into the living room.

“Mr Vee” Simon sobbed and looked up at Mr Vee, “They say Mom and Dad are dead”
“I’m sorry Mr Hargreaves” Mr Vee said, “I knew them well, they were good people”

Pete looked up and was again incensed, “Get out” he shouted

“Mr Smith” Mr Vee replied in his trademark quiet voice, “You’re forgetting the impending arrest warrants”
“Do we have time to pack” Sue-Lim asked

“Arrest warrants?” Simon asked, “Have I done something wrong”
“No Mr Hargreaves” Mr Vee told him, “But some of those left in government believe you may be in league with those who attacked us today”
“But I’m not” Simon sobbed, “I promise” he added
“We know that” Sue-Lim interjected and gave Simon a hug. By now Sue-Lim had tears streaming down her face as well.

“So” Pete then spoke up, “We need to drive off tonight”
“I’m afraid that will not be possible” Mr Vee told the three of them, “The base commander has been given orders for you to be detained should you try”
“So are we leaving in your car?” Simon asked

“No” Mr Vee replied, “They are also being told to search all vehicles, even mine. As far as I know the detention orders do not yet apply to me”
“So how are we going to get away?” Pete asked

Mr Vee placed his large case he was carrying on the coffee table and opened it. He took out what looked like a Geiger counter, but was in fact, an artificial wormhole generator.

“A little souvenir from my time with Sir Sidney” Mr Vee explained, “actually this is the original device that that Mr Zachary developed”
“So you want us to go to the Mystical Realms?” Pete asked
“But if we go to the Mystical Realms” Sue-Lim protested, “Won’t the people who attacked us track us there”
“And what about Skyguard” Pete objected, “They will just home in on us in seconds”

“Don’t worry about Skyguard” Mr Vee reassured them, “I managed to convince one of the controllers of that system at the Pentagon, that it would be in his best interest if tonight it was down for maintenance. Anyway, you are not going to IDW01, this still has the settings to go to that other world the Commander and Miss Green stumbled across, IDW02”
“But according to the brief note from Commander Johnston that’s deadly that world is” Pete replied, “If we are caught in the open when that star gives out a flare we will be fried”
“The co-ordinates are for just outside a lava tube” Mr Vee insisted
“Even so” Pete went on, “If it in the middle of a flare we will be dead the moment we arrive”

“I could set it to IDW01” Mr Vee suggested.

“There’s another option” Simon interrupted, “I was going to tell Miss Wang it just before they nuked Washington”

The room fell quiet as they all looked at Simon

“What do you propose Mr Hargreaves?” Mr Vee asked
“You can get a wormhole to loop back to the universe of origin” Simon insisted, “I was working on it. We can modify the generator to open a wormhole to another place here on Earth”

Sue-Lim put a gentle hand on Simon’s shoulder, “That’s a great idea Simon” she began, “but we do not have the equipment to do the modification here”
“Oh” was all Simon could say as he looked at the floor.

“This brings us back to IDW02” Mr Vee said, “I believe Mr Smith you have a Geiger counter here”
“Yes” Pete replied, “But if you are thinking it will detect if it is safe to go through the wormhole, forget it. The radiation will most likely be gamma and coming straight down”

“How about to IDW01 and then straight back to Earth” Sue-Lim suggested
“We can do that” Mr Vee replied, “I have the co-ordinates to our base at that Citadel the trolls have”
“But where on Earth do we come back to” Pete asked

Mr Vee pulled out a mobile.
“That won’t work” Pete interrupted, showing his mobile, “see, still no signal”
“Mine works on a different network” Mr Vee replied as he typed a number.

“I want my Mom and Dad back” Simon whispered as he sat on the couch.
Sue-Lim gave him a sympathetic hug, “We do too Simon, but their gone so we will take care of you now” she offered.
“I want to find Celeste” Simon then told her, “She said she would be my girl friend”

“Ok” Mr Vee then announced, “Mr Smith does your phone have Bluetooth?”
“Mine does” Simon said before Pete could answer
Pete just shook his head, what was this spy dragging an innocent like Simon into.

Mr Vee walked over and Simon stood up, “Mr Hargreaves” Mr Vee said to him, “I have here the co-ordinates of the USS Bataan, they are holding position for two hours, can you switch your Bluetooth on so I can pass them to you”

Simon took out his mobile and switched on the Bluetooth function, and then Mr Vee sent across the ship’s location.
“This is all very well, Dad” Sue-Lim spoke up, “but those generators take a while to recharge”

Mr Vee gave a small smile, “You better use this one as well” as he took from the case another wormhole generator, “I believe this one was the one Sir Sidney had built. Just put in the co-ordinates and set it going as soon as you arrive, that should cut the time down a bit”

“Are you coming with us Mr Vee” Simon asked
Mr Vee shook his head, I’m afraid shortly after you leave, thee will be an unfortunate gas leak followed by a fatal explosion in this residence”

“Your faking our deaths, aren’t you?” Pete asked
“It would make things less complicated if you were considered dead” Mr Vee replied, “I’ve done this a number of times over the years” he added

“We better pack some clothes” Sue-Lim said and got up to go upstairs.
“You better pack too Mr Smith” Mr Vee replied, “I’ll stay with Mr Hargreaves”

For the next twenty minutes, Sue-Lim and Pete were filling rucksacks with clothes, and some minor electrical equipment including their laptop computers. Finally they brought everything downstairs, where Mr Vee was sitting with Simon.

“Ready?” he asked

“As much as we can, when we have to go on the run” Pete replied, and then started the first of the wormhole generators.
Simon informed Pete and Sue-Lim that he had entered the co-ordinates for the Bataan into the other generator.

They watched as a green dot grew in mid air and became a swirling vortex.

“I’ve never seen this up close before Miss Wang” Simon shouted above the noise of the vortex.
“I’ve done this before” Sue-Lim told him and squeezed his hand then they picked up various bags, including the wormhole generator they would be using to return to Earth, and jumped through the vortex.

Then Pete picked up a shoulder bag and the wormhole generator that had opened the door to the Mystical Realms and jumped through it himself.

Mr Vee waited for the vortex to collapse and then pulled out a radio and asked his driver if the coast was clear. The driver indicated in the affirmative, so Mr Vee put on his gloves and went into the kitchen. There he opened all the taps on the gas cooker and the gas oven and pulled from his pocket a small black box.

Then he went outside to his car, the driver had got out and opened the trunk. Mr Vee handed him a talisman, “This is a talisman of distraction” he told the driver.

The driver put his talisman on, and Mr Vee put on an identical talisman, these were to make sure that anyone looked in their direction, they would be distracted and look elsewhere. Mr Vee had picked them up from his recent trip to London, and his time when he had been held by the disgraced industrialist, Sir Sidney Gerald.

The two men, then, pulled from the trunk of the car a body wrapped in a black body bag. As quickly as possible they carried the body into the house. Then just as quickly they went to the car boot and retrieved another body in a body bag and took that into the house. They then took the bodies out of the bags. One was a man and one was a woman.

“What about the boy?” the driver asked, “We only have two bodies here”

Mr Vee looked at his driver in silence

The driver thinking he knew what Mr Vee was contemplating shook his head, “But Sir I’ve served you faithfully” he pleaded

“Don’t be so stupid” Mr Vee replied, “We need victims of an explosion not a murder, now, get some of these sofa cushions” he told the driver and picked up a spare cagoule that was hanging up in the hall. “Mr Hargreaves is going to be coming with us”

“I’m sorry sir” the driver replied and went to get the seat cushions.

Then the two men stuffed the cushions and the rolled up body bags into the main body of the coat, then Mr Vee took a seat cover from one of the cushions and placed it into a small plastic carrier bag he had on him, and stuffed that into the hood.

“We better go” Mr Vee then said and the two men went back to the car, placing the stuffed coat onto the back seat. Mr Vee got in beside it and carefully placed the seat belt around it.

Then the driver got in and removed his talisman, as did Mr Vee.

Carefully the Limousine drove away and headed for the front gate of the Quantico base.

There a soldier stopped the car.

Mr Vee rolled his window down and showed his ID to the soldier.
“Who’s that with you in the back sir” The soldier asked, “We were told to make sure that former members of the IDEC did not lead the base.

“This is Simon Hargreaves” Mr Vee replied, “He is classed as a vulnerable adult on account of having Higher Functioning Autism”
“Even so sir he is a member of the IDEC Sir” the soldier replied
“Mr Hargreaves has to be taken to a different facility because of his disability” Mr Vee explained, “I thought it would be kinder if I took him there myself. At the moment we have had to sedate him since he has discovered that both his parents were amongst the victims of the bomb today”
“I don’t know sir” the soldier replied, “I’ll have to confirm with my superiors”
“And at a time like this, do you think they will thank you for disturbing them?” Mr Vee asked
“Erm”
“They should know my reputation son” Mr Vee persisted, “I was amongst those who urged caution and suspicion of IDEs. Do you really think they will want to be disturbed”

The soldier sighed
“A lot of people died today” Mr Vee continued, “Mr Hargreaves is not much of a threat like this, plus it will make your job easier tomorrow”

“Ok sir” the soldier relented and waved for the barrier to be lifted.

The Limousine drove past the gate and out onto the main road. Mr Vee then took from his right coat pocket another small black box with a numeric keypad. He pulled out an areal and then typed in a code and then pressed an enter key.

In there distance there sounded like another explosion.

“Oh dear” Mr Vee said to his driver, “It seems that my daughter and her fiancé have met with an unfortunate end”

+ + +

Karam Tag Chou
The Citadel of the Troll Emperor

Sue-Lim and Simon landed in the state room that had been assigned to the marines from Earth. The scene was of utter carnage. There was blood everywhere and smashed equipment. In the air was the smell of burning.

Pete came through the wormhole and closed it, and he too stood in shock at what he saw. “This was supposed to be a US Marine post” Pete spoke up
“What happened to them?” Simon asked
“I have no idea” Pete replied as he started to look to see if any of the equipment there was useable.

Sue-Lim walked over to a smashed window, outside in the courtyard in the light of the two setting suns, there was what looked like the remains of a large bonfire. She looked intensely and it looked like the charred remains of humans.

“Sue-Lim?” Pete asked a he noticed here shaking and looking out at the courtyard
“We need to get out of here now” She replied her voice displaying terror, then she turned round and went up to Pete, “Don’t let Simon look outside”
“Why?” Pete whispered
“They slaughtered them” Sue-Lim replied with a tear running down her cheek.
“It looks that way” Pete said quietly, and then he said to Simon, “Simon, the Bataan is waiting so start up that other generator”
“What’s that outside” Simon asked
“Forget what’s outside” Pete said forcefully, “We need to get out of here as fast as possible”
“Are we in danger?” Simon asked back

“Please Simon” Sue-Lim pleaded, “Just do it”
“Yes Miss Wang” Simon said with a puzzled look and started the wormhole generator up.
“I hope those co-ordinates are correct” Pete whispered to Sue-Lim, “Or we will land in the middle of the ocean.

Pete instructed Sue-Lim to stay with Simon while he went to the doorway that opened on to the courtyard. The door was in splinters.

As far has he could tell, this was near where his and Sue-Lim’s friend, Jason Turner had died. Jason had been killed when an army truck he was in had been hit by a stolen missile when the cult of the Magnus Timor had attacked all those months ago.

He looked intently to see if there were any signs of life, and hoped they would be through the wormhole before anyone spotted them. He too saw the remains of the pyre. The US contingent had been slaughtered and their bodies burned, it was obvious. With the nuclear blasts around the world and the assassination of the US president, it now seemed obvious that there had been some coup de tat after their ally the Clan Chief of the Manjura had been arrested on Earth. The leaders of this coup were most likely the ones waging war against Earth, but why?

Then in the distance, Pete saw a patrol with torches coming along one of the road ways leading onto the courtyard, so he ran back to where the generator was building up the swirling green vortex.

“There’s a patrol coming” he said to both Simon and Sue-Lim, “How long before we can get out of here”

“It’s only up to forty percent” Simon replied
“That’s not what I asked” Pete reiterated, “How long?”
“I don’t know” Simon whined
“About a minute” Sue-Lim said in an annoyed tone at Pete’s impatience..

Pete picked up as much as he could carry in his right hand, and glanced back. Would the patrol see the green light from the growing vortex of the artificial wormhole

“Get ready to run as soon as we can” Pete told the rest of the group, “I think that patrol is coming this way”

Pete watched in morbid fascination as the patrol got nearer to the courtyard. With the light being given off by the growing vortex they were bound to spot it. Then just as he feared as they reached the courtyard, he saw them point in their direction and start running towards them.

“We have to go NOW” He shouted.

Immediately Sue-Lim with all the bags she was carrying ushered a nervous Simon into the swirling green vortex.

Pete wasting no time grabbed the active wormhole generator and jumped through the wormhole.

+ + +

The Flight Deck
The USS Bataan

Colonel Samuel Peters stood with the captain of the Bataan on the flight deck. They had received word that someone from the Colonel’s “team” was heading their way. The captain had been annoyed that someone in Washington, what was left of it, had gone over his head and given away their position.

It was a small consolation that by now they would be out of range of any fighter jets from Venezuela, had they a mind to attack them and assuming they would not draw the attention of the deadly gremlins that had been deliberately unleashed upon the Earth.

Shamus had gone inside to sit with Celeste, who was being kept sedated in the ship’s infirmary. An adolescent entity that may or may not have regained the ability to teleport might cause further problems, even if she did have a good heart Shamus had told them.

Samuel looked at his watch, they had thirty three minutes before they would be leaving, either heading back north, or pressing south. Thirty three minutes left of being a sitting duck.

Then the tell tale sign of the incoming artificial wormhole appeared in mid air, just above the flight deck in front of them/

The captain gave an order to some marines to take up position with their guns trained on the green dot, which was now growing fast.

Samuel watched impassively as it grew. “I hope they were right about Skyguard” he muttered
“Skyguard?” asked the captian
“A satellite network that detects doors between their world and ours” Samuel explained, “it was set up under a previous administration, we kind of kept it”

The green vortex was now ten feet in diameter, and through it came two figures. A small Asian looking woman in her mid twenties and nineteen year old man, both heavily laden.

The two of them saw the soldiers with the guns trained on them, dropped to their knees and froze with fear with their hands raised.

Then another man exited the vortex and immediately turned around and with a box he was carrying, pointed it at the vortex. Instantly the vortex dissipated in seconds. The man turned around and saw the array of guns trained at him as well.

On seeing the other two, he put down what he was carrying and knelt down with his hands behind his head.
Samuel was about to walk forward when the captain stopped him.

“They’re my people” he told the captain, “I recognise them”
“How do you know they are not doppelganger assassins” The captain asked
“So you know about Haitch eye dee ee forty sevens then” Samuel asked
“What?” the captain replied
“Sorry that’s the cataloguing we gave doppelganger assassins” Samuel replied, “How did you hear about them”

“One of our guys on the Bataan is an expert in hacking into other government agencies so we hacked into your system to see what kind of new government agency we were working with” the Captain answered back, “From what we read in the files, those creatures are dangerous”

Samuel gave a brief laugh, “I under estimated you Captain”

“Sir” yelled the woman, “It’s us. Sue-Lim, Pete and Simon”

Samuel looked at them again, “I believe them” he told the captain
“Sorry but, I’m still the captain” the Captain insisted, “and I need to make sure they are who they say they are”
“And how do you plan to do that?” Samuel asked
“DNA tests” the captain suggested
“Too long” Samuel replied, “I have a quicker test that was done when we went up against the Magnus Timor, if your hacker told you about that”
“Ok” the Captain agreed
“Do you have a thermal imaging camera” Samuel asked
“We have some” the Captain replied, “We used them in 2005 when we helped with the aftermath of Katrina”
“Get one of your guys to get one” Samuel ordered.
The Captain called over a sailor and instructed him to fetch a thermal imager immediately.

Samuel then walked toward the three figures being held at gunpoint on the deck.

“OK” Samuel shouted, “All three of you remove all your clothes now”

One of the male figures put up a hand, “Does that include underwear?” he asked.
“Yes” Samuel replied, “Every last stitch or those marines over there will open fire”
“Why?” the female asked.
“Just do it” Samuel replied, “and throw your clothing over there” he added pointing to a place on the flight deck.

Slowly the three of them started to undress. One of the male figures, the youngest started to cry and complain that he was cold and tired and his parents were dead.

The woman removed her jacket, blouse and skirt but for a moment hesitated and burst into tears, “Please isn’t this enough, I don’t want to go through that again” she pleaded.

Samuel swallowed hard, if this was, as he suspected Sue-Lim Wang, he was forcing her to re-live the ordeal when she was effectively gang raped by two detention guards at the behest of a third older guard who had despised her because her mother had been Vietnamese. That senior guard’s brother had been killed in the Vietnam war.

“I’m sorry” he whispered inaudibly, “this is the only way they will trust you” he whispered

The eldest of the male figures was first to completely strip and as he removed his last item of clothing he threw it to where they had been ordered. Then he knelt down with his hands behind his head, not bothering to cover his modesty

The youngest of the males was down to his under pants. With one hand he pulled them down, while with the other he tried desperately to cover his modesty. Then he kicked the underpants away, picked them up and tossed them to the place designated.

The female, still in her underwear was still pleading to keep them on.

“Everything” Samuel insisted, “Nobody will hurt you if you comply” he added still feeling wretched and sick at what he was ordering.

In tears the female unclipped her bra, and removed it, doing her best to cover her modesty, and then she did the same with her panties, and threw them to where she had been instructed.

“Take the clothes to the Captain” Samuel ordered some gathered sailors. They hesitated and looked at the Captain for confirmation, but the Captain just nodded.

Three of the sailors then came and removed the piles of clothes, leaving the three figures who had come through the wormhole kneeling naked on the flight deck in the cold dark night, and dropped them in piles by the captain

“I bet you’re enjoying this you b*****ds” the eldest male yelled, “Did Mr Vee tell you to do this” he added.

The female, was now in floods of tears and pleading with the marines to kill her as soon as they had “done” her. To Samuel, she was obviously convinced they were going to rape her as well

The younger of the two males was kneeling, crying about the cold and trying to cover his private parts

All of them were noticeably shivering

Samuel just stood there with his stomach in knots. “Where’s that thermal imager?” he yelled
“This is a big ship” the Captain replied, “it could take a while”
“And if they are human after all they could suffer serious harm from exposure” Samuel retorted as he walked over to the Captain
“You’re the one who insisted they remove their clothes”

Samuel bent down and picked up a bra, “Tell me Captain” Samuel went on, “When you looked up IDE47’s it told you they were shape shifters didn’t it”

The Captain nodded, “One even tried to assassinate your chairman, only to be stopped by this Mr Vee in person”
“Yep” Samuel replied, “And tell me, how can a shape shifter operate if they are encumbered with clothing.”
“What?”
“Captain, Doppelgangers don’t’ wear clothing” Samuel explained, “They mimic it” he pressed, “How else could they change from one form to another. That’s why I got them to strip to show you they had clothes and were human”
“That maybe true about Doppelgangers Colonel, but they may know that we know that and this could be a double bluff” the Captain countered.
“So you want to play let’s see if these guys die of exposure then” Samuel said with incredulity, “If they are doppelgangers they turn to ash, except IDE47’s are resilient to cold”
“Is that why you wanted the thermal imager” The Captain asked

“I thought it might help show you that these are my people” Samuel replied

“Please can I get dressed now” the younger of the two males wailed in the cold dark night

“Colonel, I’m sorry but I have to think of the rest of the crew of this ship” the Captain insisted ignoring the plea from the younger male’s plea

“Ok” Samuel replied, “Let’s shoot each one in the back of the head, if they are doppelgangers then they turn to ash, if not we prove them innocent, just like a twenty first century version of ducking witches where the accused dies either way”
“There’s no need to be like that” the Captain responded
“Well what will it take to convince you these are my people” Samuel demanded
“Well more than cheap party tricks like getting them to strip naked” The Captain answered, “especially if a properly briefed doppelganger could use them to deceive us”

Samuel walked up to the three figures, “I’m sorry, but the Captain here can’t risk you not being human so we are going to kill you right now”. Then Samuel shouted at the marines, “Aim at their necks, your captain believes they are a threat, so he is going to order you to fire”

There was the sound of rifles cocking

“We’re human” the female screamed
“I’m sorry but the Captain refuses to believe that” Samuel told her and then walked over to the captain, “You can execute them now captain” Samuel growled, “It will be kinder than letting them freeze to death while we wait forever for someone to find a thermal imager.”

Just then the female was hit by a bolt of green light, causing her to fall over apparently unconscious
“That one’s human” Came the voice of Shamus McTuckle from behind them

Then another bolt of green light hit the older of the two males, and he fell over.
“Please” screamed younger of the two males as he saw the other two shot by the green bolts of light, but it was to no avail. He too was hit by a bolt of green light and he too collapsed.

Shamus pushed forward, turned around and looked up at the captain, “You are a stupid fool Captain, they are all humans”
“What makes you so sure?” The Captain retorted
“Give me strength” swore the leprechaun, “I just put a sleep spell on them. Doppelgangers can not hold their form when unconscious, and we should know, we’ve dealt with them before.”

“I’m sorry, but I need to check for myself” The Captain insisted, “As soon as we get the thermal imager”

“They will be dead by then” Samuel interrupted, “Captain, you get a hacker to break into our system and immediately you consider yourself an expert, yet we who have actually gone up against them are considered idiots”

“At least let us get blankets to them” Shamus pleaded
“No body is going near them until I am satisfied they are humans” The Captain insisted.
“Even if they are dead by then” Shamus asked
“Do the math” The Captain replied, “Three lives versus the number of lives on this ship”
“What about my life, let me go to them” Shamus insisted
“Sorry, but I am responsible for your life as well, I can not allow it” The Captain replied.
“Why don’t you just order your men to shoot them now” Samuel asked.

The Captain stared at the colonel, and then took his two way radio from his belt, “Where’s that thermal imager?” he asked
“We’re on it” a reply came on the radio
“Captain” Samuel insisted, “This is a big boat, by the time he get’s it they will be dead from hypothermia”
“Then why ask for one” the Captain responded, “And why get them to take their clothes off”
“Doppelganger’s run at a different body temperature” Samuel explained, “And I told you I got them to take their clothes of because as I told you before doppelgangers do not use them. It was a quick test, we have used before. Why won’t you listen to us the real experts, instead of some stupid hacker?”

“You are a stubborn fool” Shamus interjected.

The captain again stared at both the colonel, the leprechaun and then at the three naked bodies, lying unconscious on the flight deck amongst their belongings.

“Listen you fool, why would we be told to expect people from the colonel’s team, by your own private secure channel from your own Pentagon if it was a trap” Shamus asked.

“Do you want me to shoot them dead myself” the colonel asked, “Because I do not want them freezing to death because you think your hacker knows more about doppelgangers than people who have actually fought them” At this Samuel pulled out his side arm, turned and faced the figures lying on the deck.

“I’m going to kill all of these myself “he shouted, “So the captain can be sure their not shape shifters”, then he added, “Afterwards I will tell you where to send their bodies”

Samuel reached the female figure, lying unconscious on the deck and showing the ill effects of exposure. He cocked his gun and pointed it at her head point blank. “I’m so sorry Sue-Lim” he whispered, “I let you all down. This will be quicker”

“Wait” Yelled the captain, and pointed to a sailor with a camera type device, a thermal imaging camera.

The man came forward with the device and scanned the bodies on the flight deck. “They’re human Sir” the sailor shouted

“Now do you believe me?” Samuel shouted at the captain and put the safety back on, on his side arm and holstered it.

“Ok they are confirmed as humans” the Captain shouted to his marines and then ordered, “Take them to the infirmary and stow their luggage in the officer’s mess”

Immediately the group of marines disarmed their rifles and some ran forward and picked up the three figures and headed for the central section, while others picked up the cases they had brought through the wormhole.

“Shamus” Samuel asked the leprechaun, “Can you wipe memories?”
“Alas no” Shamus said as the two followed the marines carrying the three people who had come through the wormhole, “Only elven and drow healers can do that”
“Damn” Samuel swore
“You’re thinking of Sue-Lim” Shamus replied
“Assuming it’s not too late already” Samuel muttered

Samuel then took off his top coat and ran up to the two marines with the female and insisted on putting his coat on her. Then he ordered, “When you get to the infirmary I want female medical staff to tend to her and tell them to treat her as a suicide risk” Samuel added.

As they got inside, two thermal blankets emerged from somewhere and these were wrapped around the two males.

Samuel and Shamus continued to follow them to the infirmary and then waited outside while the medical staff attended to three people who had come via the wormhole.

While they were waiting, Charlene appeared, “I heard Sue-Lim and Pete had come here” she asked
“And Simon” Samuel muttered as he stared at the wall with a haunted expression.

“Can I have a word Doctor Henshaw” Shamus asked her and led her away from the colonel.

“What’s the matter?” Charlene asked
“When they came through” Shamus began, “That fool of a captain took it into his head they might be doppelgangers. The colonel thought if he ordered them to remove their clothes that would prove they were human, just like when the fairies rescued you a while back, yours and that elven dignitary. We used your lack of clothes as proof you were who you said you were”
“But what about Sue-Lim” Charlene asked, “You know what happened in Miami”
“Ai, and so does the Colonel, it must have been the hardest things he has done” Shamus replied, “And that should have been enough, but that fool of a captain thought he knew more about doppelgangers than we do and made them kneel out there naked in these conditions for ages. Even my attempts by putting a sleep spell on them seemed to cut no ice, he was determined they were doppelgangers whatever the colonel or I said”
Charlene shook her head in disbelief, “What happened?”
Shamus sighed and closed his eyes before continuing “The Colonel was on the point of shooting Miss Wang out of kindness when they produced some thermal imaging device that proved to him they were who we said they were. Only then did he relent and they’re being treated for exposure right now”

Charlene again shook her head, “I know Pete can handle that, but Sue-Lim and Simon?”
“I could try and find an elven healer, to remove that memory” Shamus suggested, “but that would mean putting this ship at risk”
“I could talk to Sue-Lim” Charlene offered, “remind her about what happened to me”
“I hope that works” Shamus told her, “She needs someone to watch her, preferably female”
“Because of what happened in Miami” Charlene asked
“And because of what happened in that FBI building” Shamus told her
“Well don’t worry, I’m not letting that Celeste near her” Charlene said with venom
“That’s unfair Doctor Henshaw” Shamus chided, “Celeste did not know anything about that enchanted scarf and she did get help to save her”

Shamus then noticed someone talking to the Colonel. The Colonel got up and walked over to them.
“How could you?” Charlene growled
“Leave it Doctor Henshaw” Shamus spoke up, “If that fool of a Captain had listened”
“He still ordered her to strip in front of men” Charlene interrupted
“It was my fault” Shamus butted n and then turned and faced Charlene, “Blame me Doctor Henshaw, not him” he told her angrily. “If I had been there when they had arrived I could have used the sleep spell on them as they arrived and they would not have had to strip. If the captain had been on the ball, none of them would have had to go all the way”

“After this is sorted out Doctor Henshaw” Samuel interrupted, “You have my word that I will be tendering my resignation because of that”
“Now you’re being a bloody fool” Shamus swore, “Nobody is resigning and making matters worse than they already are. Doctor Henshaw here can sit with Sue-Lim”
“They say she’s too far gone, they don’t think she’s going to make it” Samuel replied

Shamus shook his head, “They are not giving up on Miss Wang that easily” and then he rushed down the corridor into the infirmary, followed by the others.

Shamus marched over to the bed where Celeste was being kept sedated, “Wake her now” he ordered
“Do it” Samuel ordered

The doctor removed the drip from Celeste’s hand and then injected a stimulant into her.

After about half a minute Celeste’s eye’s flickered open, “What happened” she muttered weakly
“We have no time” Shamus told her, “We need you now”
“What?” Celeste replied, still out of it.
It was becoming clear, that by the time Celeste had fully recovered, Sue-Lim would have succumbed to complications induced by hypothermia.

Just then there was a smell of ozone and then a crackle of electricity, and then the figure of Major Bolak of the Drow – Russian liaison task force appeared, holding up his hands.
Instantly Samuel pulled out his side arm and pointed it at the Dow

“Colonel, I surrender” The Drow said as he arrived with his arms raised, “and I wish to claim political asylum”

Shamus eyed the drow, “First things first Mr Bolak” he said and strode up to the drow, “Do you have any of that healing potion”
“I have a vial” He said, confused by the question.
“We need it now” Shamus said loudly
“Let me get it out for you” Major Bolak answered

“Slowly” Samuel interjected, still training his gun on the drow

Slowly the drow removed from a pocket a small green vial. “Let this be an expression of good faith on my part Colonel” Bolak sneered

Shamus held out his hand, and the drow passed it to him. Immediately Shamus ran over to Sue-Lim’s bed, where Charlene was sitting with tears in her eyes as she watched Sue-Lim’s dying moments.

“Get this down her and hurry” Shamus ordered and handed the vial to Charlene. Charlene recognised the potion, after all one of the labs at the IDEC had been trying to replicate it. She undid the top of the vial and pressed it to Sue-Lim’s lips so it could trickle down in her mouth.

Then Sue-Lim’s weakened swallowing reflex took over.

The medical monitors suddenly went crazy as the potion took effect. It took about a minute and then Sue-Lim started to open her eyes.

Sue-Lim put her hands to her head and burst into tears, “Please no” she wept, “Not again”
“Sue-Lim” Charlene said to her, “You’re safe”

Sue-Lim took her hands away from her face. Charlene gently took Sue-Lim’s right hand, “Nobody’s going to touch you” Charlene reassured Sue-Lim, “Not with me here to protect you”

“I’m not going to be raped again” Sue-Lim sobbed
“Absolutely not” Charlene told her, as she to started to shed tears.
“But why?” Sue-Lim asked, “I felt so ashamed out there, Pete won’t want me now” she wept
“They say they had to be sure you were you” Charlene answered, “They did the same with me back in England at RAF Welford” Charlene told her. Charlene then brushed Sue-Lim’s hair from her face and smiled at her, “Now I am going to stay here and make sure nothing happens to you, and Pete would be a fool to let a catch like you go”

Major Bolak turned to the Colonel, “See, I have helped heal your comrade, I assure you I am on your side this time”

Shamus came back over to the drow, “What do you mean about seeking asylum” he asked
“Mr McTuckle” Bolak began, “The drow I was investigating is a member of a dissident faction. His group has successfully mounted a coup de tat as you humans would call it in Russia against us. I only just got away with my life”

Samuel shook his head, “Bolak” he growled, “That drow was responsible for these nuclear attacks, wasn’t he”
“I’m afraid so” the drow admitted, “We thought he was selling old tactical nuclear weapons to humans on the black market, it turns out that was wrong”
“He was dealing with a troll by the name of Brameana the daughter of the Lord Low Troll” Samuel ventured.
The drow nodded.

“Colonel” Shamus interrupted, “I’m afraid we have no choice but to grant him asylum. He has after all saved Miss Wang and I know of him and for a drow, the Major is one of the more honourable ones”

“No, please No” Came Celeste’s voice from behind, “Please don’t let him touch me” she pleaded. Celeste was still coming round
“Ah My dear Celeste” the drow said in a pompous sounding tone, “I do owe you apology, it seems you were not involved with that traitor to drow-kind. I have no need to interrogate you any further”

“Let’s get out of here” Samuel said to the drow as he holstered his gun
“I agree” the drow replied, “I need to speak to your Captain of this vessel”
Shamus walked over to Celeste’s bed, and muttered an incantation and Celeste collapsed unconscious again. “You can return to keeping her sedated” Shamus told the shocked medic, “And don’t look at me like that” he chided, “I don’t want Celeste up until after that young man Simon Hargreaves is up and about”

“Colonel” Charlene then said as she came over.
Samuel turned to face her, “I’m sorry about your friend” he replied
“Don’t say anything” Charlene said with venom, “I don’t want to hear it” then Charlene stopped and closed her eyes for a moment, “I’m sorry, I’m still so angry at those b******ds who raped Sue-lim” she admitted, “Sir Sue-Lim has just told us, what is left of your government is planning to have us all arrested over the nuclear attacks”
“It seems” the drow sneered, “we are all fugitives by the look of things. I just hope I can alert our human partners to the danger of this faction that has taken the drow enclave in Russia”

A telephone rang in the infirmary. A nurse answered it and then called over to the Colonel, “Sir, the Captain needs you on the bridge now, there’s been another attack”

“Stay here with the others” Samuel ordered Charlene and then left followed by Shamus and Bolak.

It took five long minutes to get to the bridge, where the captain of the USS Bataan was looking very grave. “I’m sorry about your people, but we have had more important news. Colonel, there has been another attack” he said in a cold manner
“Where” Samuel asked
“Moscow” the captain replied, “And according to satellite and seismic monitoring just coming in, it was a much bigger explosion than the other attacks, this one is in the order of fifty Megatons”

“What?” exclaimed Major Bolak, “The weapons they stole were only seventy six kilotons”
“Obviously” Samuel said to the drow, “They stole more than just battlefield nukes”
“What’s he doing here” the Captain asked pointing to the dorw
“A lot more good than you have done” Samuel retorted

“Sir” an ensign who had suddenly arrived on the bridge, “There’s a transmission from those who have been attacking us. It’s coming in on all radio and television frequencies”

“What?” The Captain asked and then picked up a mike, “Patch the transmission from those attackers to the bridge”

Then there was a slight crackle and then the voice came over the radio.

“I repeat” a female troll voice spoke out, “I am Brameana of the Troll clans of Ghetto and Manjura, daughter of the Lord Low Troll, from what some of you call the Mystical Realms. I have attacked your cities with battlefield tactical nuclear weapons, weapons which humans created and weapons of which I now have an unlimited supply. I now have access to unlimited supplies of what you call hydrogen bombs and that is what I have used as a demonstration of my power against that city you call Moscow. My demand is simple, that the people of Earth surrender to me and my allies, or else I will rein hydrogen bombs over every square mile of your world. It matters not to me if I make your puny species extinct and render your world lifeless. Now as a further demonstration of my power I will now wipe out two entire island states to show that I am totally capable and willing to inflict as you call it, Genocide.”

Samuel looked in horror at Shamus and the drow

Then an announcement came over the intercom informing the bridge that two large nuclear explosions had been detected in the Pacific Ocean. Then came the chilling words from the intercom, “They’ve nuked Tuvalu and Tonga”

Then Brameana’s voice came over the radio, “You have one rotation of this world to surrender to my rule or you will all be annihilated”


To be continued