Holloway Prison
London, England
(One Year Previously)
The female prisoner was frogmarched into what must be as far as she knew a little used room in the prison where she was serving a life term for conspiracy to commit murder.
Something was not right by the way the prison guards were treating her, even if she was considered a murderer. For one she had been ordered to strip completely naked, then she was handcuffed with he hands behind her back, and her legs shackled. Finally, she was blindfolded.
This was obviously being done to degrade her, and was most likely illegal, but as she was a convicted murderer, would anyone, apart from those in the liberal elite care
She was forced to sit down on what felt like a cold hard stool with a post for a back which her head was pushed against. The handcuffs were removed briefly, only for her hands to be handcuffed again around post the chair was up against
“What’s going on?” the prisoner protested.
“Orders” one of the guards replied curtly.
Then to her horror she felt them fastening some metal band around her throat, which was obviously connected to the post.
They had locked her into a Spanish style garrotte
The female prisoner expected them to start tightening it and thus strangle her to death, with the added possibility of a spike to sever her spinal column, but instead she heard the sound of the door closing as the two guards left.
“HEY” the female prisoner shouted, “Why am I here?”
There was no answer.
The female prisoner could not understand why she had been singled out for this rough treatment, there were other female murderers who were worse than her. In fact since her conviction two and a half years previously, she had lived the life of a model prisoner. The death of her half-brother had taken much the fight out of her. Her privileged job as a PA to a high powered industrialist, who happened to be her father had crumbled to dust, when she was convicted of being involved in his crimes of murder and high treason. To rub it in further, her father was considered dead and beyond justice, so she was effectively tried in his place, for all of his crimes, and the seeming injustice of that had caused her to lose some of the spirit she once had.
But that was not entirely why she had virtually given up, one thing constantly played on her mind, she had been mortally injured when she had been shot with an arrow, and then magically healed by a teenager who had once been her father’s new protégé but had swapped sides, after her father had betrayed her first. This strange teenager her father had taken on and then betrayed when she had out lived her usefulness had given this female prisoner a second chance at life.
Maybe it would have been better if she had allowed her to die by that arrow
All these experiences had caused her to give up hope of ever going free and trying to go against the system as some of the other prisoners tried; this was to be her lot.
What was the point in hope anyway, she had been told she would be here for the rest of her life, on one of the few whole life tariffs given out, such was the nature of the murders and treachery her industrialist father had carried out, to which she was considered a party to. Even her trial had been in secret, without a jury.
The female prisoner was now terrified, was she to be secretly executed at the behest of one of security services of some foreign government that her father had once penetrated? Was this treatment a prelude to rape and was that why she had been stripped of her clothes? Was she going to be executed?
The door opened.
Someone had entered the room, from the sound of the shoes on the floor, it seemed to be a man.
The executioner?
“So you are human” the voice of the man muttered
“Why am I here?” the female prisoner asked.
“Janine Dobson” the man’s voice began, “Or shall I say Janine Sedlacek, a life prisoner at Holloway Prison will be found dead today, after hanging herself in her prison cell. This very machine will make it appear to be the way she died at autopsy, because unlike the Catalan version there is no messy spike. You will be strangled to death, just as if you had hanged yourself”
A cold fear went through the female prisoner, as this man knew her true Czech name as well as the name she had been tried under. Before her arrest she had used the name Dobson, as it was the family name of the couple who adopted her, when her natural mother’s “boyfriend” made her give her up for adoption.
“I thought we had abolished the death penalty in Britain” the female prisoner whispered
“We have” the man replied, before adding menacingly the word, “officially”
“So I’m to be executed then and it to be made to look like suicide” the female prisoner asked, her voice breaking with emotion.
“That’s the idea” the man replied menacingly before adding, “Don’t think you’re the first and you certainly won’t be the last we will do this to”.
Suddenly she felt his hand on her bare shoulder and flinched accordingly, expecting him to fondle her naked body further.
But No the man walked away slightly to behind her where lever would be on the garrotte
“Of course whether this happens this time is up to you” the man replied, “It could still be your body they will find hanging in your cell today, or maybe it could be some Jane Doe who nobody will miss, dressed in your clothes and passed off as you”
“I don’t understand?” the female prisoner whispered in terror
“You are in possession of certain knowledge that cannot be allowed ever to enter the mainstream” the man whispered into her ear, “As matter of national security you are a liability. If need be, I have the authority to personally terminate you right here and right now”
“So that’s why I am to be executed?” the female prisoner asked her voice raw with emotion, “Because you think I know too much?” she asked
“However” the man went on, “there are some who think you may be useful to us”
“I don’t understand?” the female prisoner uttered, barely audible at this time.
“Your father appears to have returned from the dead” the man volunteered, “He has certain plans which we need to be in on” the man continued, “And once we have them, we need him taken out, permanently”
The female prisoner did not reply, it seemed obvious this man was going to kill her, but if it were true that her father was back, how could he be killed? He was immortal, and why were they telling her this just before her execution.
“Your father knows you are serving a life sentence here at Holloway” the man went on, “Our sources tell us he now carrying out his plan to spring you from prison.”
“So that’s why I’m being executed today?” the female prisoner said with resignation in her voice, “so he doesn’t get a chance”.
“Not necessarily” The man replied, “We want him to think he is successful. He has been arranging for some woman of equal build to you to replace you as the corpse they discover in your cell. She may even still be alive for all we know. Once she is found dead, a number of prison officials have been either bribed or blackmailed to confirm her as you”
“You want me to go along with this?” the female prisoner asked with incredulity.
“Well he could be too late, and find that you have hanged yourself in your prison cell” the man said coldly.
The female prisoner heard a slight sound and then the band around her neck tightened and started to crush her throat. After a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity, the band was released.
“It’s your call Miss Sedlacek” the man told her, “I am quite happy with your father being emotionally destroyed that he failed to get you out before you allegedly committed suicide”
“You want my father dead” the female prisoner then asked
“Yes” the man answered back, “He caused a lot of embarrassment in certain places and betrayed quite a number people he worked for. You have one last chance, before I use this interesting contraption here to wring the very life out of you, right here and right now”
“Can I ask one question” the female prisoner asked
“What?” the man asked
“If I go along with what you want, can I be the one to kill that b*****d” the female prisoner spat out.
The female prisoner heard the man laugh and then pull out some keys.
Quickly he undid her handcuffs and removed the metal band from her neck.
“I’m so glad you have decided to work for us Miss Sedlacek” the man told her.
The female prisoner removed the blindfold and looked up at the man in his forties in a Barbour jacket.
“This other women?” the female prisoner asked, “Does she really have to die?”
“Someone does” the man replied as he handed her the keys to her shackles, “I’m afraid your father is still too powerful at the moment and if she survive and lets people know she is not you, well you get the picture”
The female prisoner bent down to undo the shackles around her legs, when she felt the man’s hand on the back of her neck giving a painful vice like grip. “Just remember Miss Sedlacek” he told her with further menace, “We own you, and you won’t be the first or last corpse found floating in the River Thames if you are not being straight with me, do you understand?”
“Yes you b*****d” she replied.
“I just needed to make sure you knew where you stood” the man replied as he held her neck in the vice like grip, “Now once you have left here, your father’s chauffer will meet you outside. You are to work for your father just like before, until we tell you when he is to be sanctioned, and not before. IS THAT CLEAR?”
“Yes” the female prisoner replied.
The man pushed her to the ground and walked over to the door. He took out a small radio. “We have a deal” he said into the radio, I’m afraid that young prostitute Sir Sidney captured will have to be hanged in Miss Sedlacek’s cell after all, just make sure the woman is sedated while you string her up with something that can’t be traced so she doesn’t attract attention. Oh and bring in a female prison warder’s uniform, especially as that young prostitute will be dressed in Miss Sedlacek clothes”
+ + +
Janine stared at the candle she had just lit for a moment, and then proceeded to light a second. “I’m so sorry Cindy” she whispered at the candle.
It was a ritual she had performed ever since she had got out of prison.
“You’re not supposed to have your phone switched off” a familiar male voice came from behind.
Janine Sedlacek turned around, it was Drake Matthews her commanding officer at the Entity Affairs Directorate.
This was a top secret division of the British security services, dedicated to dealing with the threat from any alien or entity that might threaten UK interests or any human who may be in on the secret that once there had been access to a place called the Mystical realms.
“Sorry Sir” Janine apologised, “I was just about to come back to the directorate sir, I always switch my phone off when I come into a church”
“Since when was a person like you religious?” Drake sneered
“My adopted parents were Roman Catholic Sir” Janine explained, “It’s something that always stays with you”
“Even when you know what’s out there?” Drake pressed
“I know how much people take their religion seriously sir” Janine answered, “I was showing them some respect”
”Well put it on silent then” Drake instructed Janine
“Yes Sir” Janine replied as she pulled out her cell phone and switched it on.
Drake looked at the candles Janine had lit, “Two candles?” he asked with a tone of incredulity
“Yeah” Janine replied, “One for Adrian and one for Cindy”
“Your half-brother and the prostitute who was hanged in your prison cell and passed off as you” Drake said coldly
“She had a two year old daughter sir” Janine replied insistently, “And I feel I took that little girl’s mother away”
“She would have been taken away from her mother sooner or later Miss Sedlacek” Drake said contemptuously, “Cindy was a prostitute who was also feeding coke habit, if I recall, that little girl is far better off with a social services foster home than with a mother like that. And” Drake pressed further, “if it weren’t for her, it would have been you in that make shift noose, and don’t you forget that”
“I don’t sir” Janine replied, “That’s why I light a candle for Cindy as well as for Adrian, and I also remember that it was my father’s idea to have her killed”
“And being a good catholic you are heavy into guilt” Drake sneered sarcastically
Janine paused, “Was there a reason you wanted me sir?” she asked her commanding officer.
“Yes, but not here” Drake replied, “It’s too public”
Drake pointed his thumb at the front doors of the church to order Janine to follow him and then he headed towards them himself.
Janine briefly looked up a statue of Mary
“Sorry” she whispered, somehow the knowledge that she had dispatched that evil father of hers who had arranged the murder of an innocent woman gave her no comfort, especially when it was that murder which had bought Janine her freedom.
“Now” Drake called out across the church from the door before he walked out of it.
Janine quickly came to her senses and followed her commanding officer out of the church, only catching up with him when she reached bottom of the steps.
Outside was Drake’s grey nondescript car, chosen to blend in with London traffic. Without comment Drake clicked on his remote to open the doors and motioned for Janine to get in the passenger seat, which she duly did.
Drake got in, closed the door, started the car and pulled into traffic without saying a word.
“What’s the problem sir?” Janine asked Drake
“They say it’s possible to lip read from CCTV” Drake replied with irritation, “I prefer to speak where we control the camera”
Janine was not sure if Drake was being serious or not and whether he was overly paranoid. Because they were part of an elite group that was cleared to kill innocent men women and children, should the need require it, to keep secret the existence of The Mystical Realms, their existence had to be kept secret, security was higher than members of the more conventional security services. Just in case, Janine she sat in silence, contemplating the women that was hanged in her prison cell in her place and whatever became of her two year old daughter. She had been surprised that there had never been reports of her going missing.
Drake drove the car further into South London, to the new base of operations for the Entity Affairs Directorate, or EAD. She had once learned from her father that the first base the British had, the old Inter Dimensional Entity Control, or IDEC, was in North London, because her father had used a complex web of shell companies to ensure all his enterprises were used to supply it. After all, how else did he learn the secret of the Mystical Realms?
Drake drove up to the main gate and showed his ID to the guard on duty, as did Janine.
“Clear to drive through the scanner” the guard instructed them
Slowly Drake drove his car through a specially constructed archway which blasted air through small holes. It’s job was to screen for explosives and was based on Airport security scanners.
From what Janine knew of the former base in North London, it had been destroyed by a lorry bomb. The EAD was determined that this would never happen again
Drake’s car checked out clean and it was allowed through the gate into the underground car park.
Still in a stony silence, Drake parked the car in his reserved space, near the door. Janine still wondered why her lunch break had been interrupted.
The two of them got out of the car and Drake locked it and they headed for the door.
Both held up their security passes before the door would open.
They walked into what seemed like a reception area which seemed deserted and all in white.
“Miss Sedlacek you have locker number five” came a female electronic voice from somewhere in the ceiling, “Mr Matthews you have locker number seven” it went on, “Please remove all items of clothing and jewellery and place them in the designated lockers”
Without thinking, both Janine and Drake stripped naked in front of each other and placed their clothing in the assigned lockers.
This was yet another security measure, to ensure that they were human and not IDE47’s as they were referred to, or more colloquially, doppelgangers the shape-shifters from the Mystical Realms who would work for hire as assassins. This security measure had been introduced because a previous technician at the old Inter Dimensional Entity Control UK facility had once collaborated with one.
The reason behind this measure was because Doppelgangers never wore any clothing, they always mimicked it, wearing anything was an anathema to that species. Only by completely undressing could you prove yourself to be human. Therefore, beyond this reception room, not one stitch of clothing from outside could be worn, and everyone working there accepted it.
Janine by now, was so used to stripping off in front of colleagues at the EAD, including Drake that she did instinctively not attempt to cover herself with her hands to preserve any perceived modesty, neither did her commanding officer Drake. The two of them seemed to have both learned to be comfortable with their shared nudity without it causing Drake certain obvious anatomical responses occurring, that Janine would occasionally observe in some of the younger and newer male members of staff
One time, Janine had gone into work with a new male technician. He had found it very embarrassing that they had to strip off in front of each other, but she had found it highly amusing. Her best laugh was when the male technician had a certain anatomical response to the situation she told him how his obvious embarrassment could be “cured” and offered her services to facilitate such a cure.
The demeanour of Drake when he had come for her at the church had blown any such frivolity away, if there had ever been any.
A door to a lift opened up as soon their clothing was locked away and Janine and Drake entered it.
“Identify Drake Matthews” Drake said out loud
“Identify Janine Sedlacek” Janine said as well
“Voice identifications confirmed” the lift voice said in a metallic male voice.
That response always made Janine relieved, if the voice identification was not made, then the lift would have been filled with a fast acting nerve agent, guaranteed to kill anyone and anything, including any inter dimensional entities
The lift started to descend.
Janine was still worried about what was wrong, but somehow it did not seem right to ask Drake what it was. He always preferred to keep people guessing and to brief people formally.
The lift came to a halt after about a minute and the door opened up.
A young woman of Chinese origin who was only wearing black panties and nothing else greeted them, carrying what looked like some kind of brownish garments over her right arm. “Smocks and flip-flops?” she asked Janine and Drake
Drake took a smock from the woman without saying a word and put it on. It was a simple and cheap smock with holes for the arms and his head and made entirely of paper so it could be ripped off if required. He then accepted the foam rubber flip-flop and placed them on his feet.
Janine shook her head, “I know you have to ask every time, but as I’ve said before I’m fine as I am Katrina, thanks anyway”
Janine never wore the smocks because she found that they scratched her and made her skin itch badly. The flip-flops likewise were a form of footwear she could never quite get used to.
Like Katrina, who had offered her the smock, and a number of others at the EAD, Janine elected to work completely naked rather than wear the smock, there was no other option. One observation Janine had once made about the smocks, was that most of those who wore them, were men. The odd female did wear them, but it was mostly if not all men who wore them,
”were these wimpish males shy about something?” Janine had once cheekily thought, but not today.
It might seem odd to outsiders that some in a top secret base might work in the nude, but after a while working at the EAD, people did not really notice that some were naked and some were not. It became a non-issue, and there were far more important things to worry about.
Of course the one other bonus of not wearing a smock, was Janine thought it helped convince the armed guards in the main control centre that she was not carrying anything concealed, the paranoia there was that intense given what had happened to the North London base!
“Ok Miss Sedlacek” Katrina smiled at Janine, “I knew you would say that, but as you say I have to ask you anyway”
“That’s ok Katrina” Janine replied, “I just love showing what a fantastic body I have just like yours”.
Katrina blushed and smiled and was about to turn around and walked away with the unused smock and flip-flops when Drake coughed loudly.
“That’s not regulation issue Miss Lee” Drake said sternly pointing to Katrina’s black panties
“But I thought it would be ok as it is my time of the month?” Katrina said nervously.
“You should know the drill about that” Drake said bluntly,” remove them and bin them now!”
“Sorry sir” Katrina apologised and quickly pulled off her panties and placed them in one of the few landfill bins that was situated next to the lift.
“Don’t let me catch you doing that again Miss Lee” Drake went on, “It’s smocks or nothing, IS THAT CLEAR?”
“Yes sir, sorry sir” Katrina said, visibly shocked and frightened by Drake’s tone of voice
Janine looked daggers briefly at Drake, as if that would do any good, was there any need for that, as Katrina was new, and was probably unfamiliar with the regulation sanitary products the female members of staff at the EAD were proscribed on grounds of hygiene. Janine though had to admit that Drake had a point, the threat from doppelgangers had been proved once before, and these extreme measures were there to save lives.
Katrina retreated, her head bowed as she went. Janine was not sure, but it looked like Katrina was on the verge of crying.
Drake then walked up to a computer terminal where the only naked man Janine could see at the EAD sat. This was Kevin and he dealt with the Sky-Guard satellite system which alerted the EAD to any intrusions from other parallel universes, either by magic orbs or artificial means. Kevin, like Katrina was relatively new was in his early to mid-twenties. Kevin was also like Janine, in that he too found that the paper smocks caused him skin irritation and had reluctantly elected to work naked.
“Can you put what you showed me earlier on the main screen please Mr Brown?” Drake asked
Kevin complied and a large screen in the front burst into life. It was a map of London.
“If you recall a month or so ago we picked up on Sky-Guard a penetration into our universe from what the Yanks used to call wormholes, or what in my opinion we should call, inter-universe gates.” Drake went on
“I remember that Sir” Janine cut in, “they found a dead homeless vagrant who had been shot”
“With a gun of an unknown calibre” Drake interrupted back
“Yeah and we had the scene sanitised if I recall to remove any traces of incursion” Janine cut back in, “only because we were able to arrive just before the police did thanks to Sky-Guard. I believe the police still have that one as an open investigation”
“That’s my understanding as well Miss Sedlacek. Well the report of the incursion came from Sky-Guard four to be precise” Drake went on, “Mr Brown” Drake then said to Kevin.
Kevin turned around on his swivel chair to face Janine and Drake. Janine noticed that Kevin had his hands instinctively classed over his private parts, he was obviously not yet used to working in the nude around other people.
“About two hours ago” Kevin nervously began, “We lost the feed from Sky-Guard Four”.
“What?” Janine asked, “How?”
Kevin turned back to his computer and pressed a few keys on his keyboard, “I hacked into the US Space command network” he explained, “I used their system to try and look at what happened to Sky-Guard Four and found that it was not there”
“Where’s it gone?” Janine asked as she walked up to Kevin’s chair and leaned in front of him to look at his screen, gently placing her hand on his bare shoulder without thinking.
“According to er Space command” Kevin replied in a hesitant tone as he tried to look up at Janine, past her obvious assets, “All that is er left, up there is a debris field. Someone or something has taken out Sky-Guard Four”
Janine sensed his nervousness and she then stood up so her obvious womanly assets would not be in his face and withdrew her hand, “Sorry” she whispered, realising she had technically violated the no physical contact rule that had been instigated because not everyone wore the notorious paper smocks.
“I need you to work with Mr Brown on the” Drake interrupted, “We have a serious hole in our coverage of this sector and we need to re-align the rest of the Sky-Guard network to deal with it and then we have to find out who took out Sky-Guard Four”
“What do you mean who?” Janine asked Drake, turning back to look at her commanding officer, “couldn’t be something like a micro meteor strike or even collision with space junk?”
“Mr Brown” Drake simply replied.
Janine turned back to look at Kevin, who had moved his chair closer to the computer so he was right up against it, his lower half hidden by the desk.
Obviously Kevin was not quite used to working in this environment, and like Janine unable to wear the paper smocks on offer. Janine suspected that a certain part of his body was reacting in an unfortunate manner. She was not sure if she should feel flattered that she could still turn some men on, as it were, or sorry for Kevin as he struggled to get used to working in these strange conditions that were deemed so vital to security at the EAD.
Kevin intently kept his eyes on his computer screen as he typed, trying, as Janine guessed to focus on his work and not on her naked body next to his.
The main screen changed to that of a
website from the European Space Agency
“This is the website of Integral or the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory” Kevin went on, “Someone on twitter mentioned that it had located some kind of anomaly in the region of where Sky-Guard Four was located”
“A wormhole” Janine, a cold shudder going down her spine.
“Someone has deliberately targeted Sky-Guard Four” Drake summarised, “We need to find out who and where from”
“I did a further analysis of what Integral detected”, Kevin went on, “It does not match the historical records concerning the magical orbs the trolls used”
“Meaning?” Janine asked
“Whatever opened that wormhole to take out Sky-Guard Four, used an artificially produced wormhole” Kevin explained, “which does not make sense if it were anyone from IDW01”
“Plus the radiation barrier between us and them blocking any direct connection would rule them out” Janine added. Janine thought for a moment, “Maybe it came from Aurelia, or IDW02 to give it, its classification on the old system” she suggested, “That world wasn’t blocked by the barrier, and it would make a stepping stone IDW01”
“That was how your father was going to reconnect Earth with IDW01”, Drake interjected, “But would mean taking one hell of a risk.” Janine responded, “That world orbits a red giant and is prone to solar flares. Unless you are deep within a cave system or have serious protection, when they hit, you’re dead”
“Why take out Sky-Guard Four” Kevin asked, “Why take such a risk so you could attack one of our satellites when you could easily use ASAT missiles”
“Maybe it was too high for an ASAT” Drake suggested
“There’s another possibility” Janine cut in, “I remember my father mentioning something from that alternate timeline he saw”
“You mean the one where Earth fell to that troll?” Drake asked inquisitively
Janine nodded
“What possibility?” Kevin interrupted
Janine looked back at Kevin as he twisted around in his chair so the desk continued to give the illusion of protecting his modesty. For an instant she felt like telling him that he had to get over his inhibitions about having to work naked, since he chose not to wear the smocks on offer, after all they were grown adults and had seen everything all before. Janine then remembered she too found working like that took some getting used to when she first found it impossible to wear the paper smocks, so she let this one go.
“What possibility?” Kevin repeated
“Sorry” Janine apologised, “The American IDEC lot were on the run in some kind of hover craft, the husband of that major spirit of virtue my father abducted, developed a way of using the artificial wormhole generator that Timothy Zachary developed to use it as a teleport so they could escape from a hovercraft to the island of South Georgia”
“I remember that” Drake replied, “it was the fall of Earth in the other timeline that gave the opponents of the US IDEC cause to shut it down and the justification for us here in the UK to start up the Entity Affairs Directorate”
“Still leaves the problem of why?” Janine mused
“Well let me work on that” Drake told Janine and Kevin, “I have a meeting to discuss this with someone from the Security Services Select committee in twenty minutes, so I have to leave you to the process of fixing that hole with our remaining satellites as soon as possible”
“We will need to reposition the entire network somehow without leaving any other gaps in coverage” Janine replied.
“That’s why I came and got you from that church Miss Sedlacek” Drake said dismissively, and then he approached Kevin.
“Can you stand up for a moment Mr Brown” he said in the same tone that he had spoken to Katrina about the unauthorised underwear she had been wearing.
Kevin nervously stood up, hands trying to preserve his modesty.
“Hands by your sides Mr Brown, now!” Drake instructed Kevin sharply.
Instantly Kevin complied, his face showed he was highly embarrassed.
“If you don’t like people seeing certain measly parts of your body Mr Brown” Drake reprimanded Kevin, “Then wear one of these” he added tugging on his own smock.
“But th-hey, they ma-make me come out in a rash sir” Kevin stuttered
“Well get used to working naked” Drake pressed home, “We have more important things to concern ourselves here than whether you consider the size of your manhood is pathetic or not. You trying to hide it with your hands just draws attention to it and is distracting to others. Don’t let me catch you doing that again. If you want to continue working here, it’s everything on show or wearing the smocks, got that?”
“Yes sir” Kevin replied.
Drake then turned around and headed back to the lift, where he removed his smock, placed it in a waste receptacle and entered the lift.
Kevin just stood there for a moment naked and stunned. As Janine had earlier observed, some of the female workers at the EAD who chose to work naked rather than wear the paper smocks probably did so because they wanted to show off their bodies. Kevin on the other hand was one of those, like her who genuinely had an issue with the smocks irritating their skin. However unlike Kevin, Janine was more like the other female colleagues in that she was remarkably comfortable with her semi-enforced nudity.
Janine walked right up to Kevin and momentarily held his arms with her hands and looked down his torso and then up at his face. “You’ve got a lovely manhood, much better than his” Janine whispered to Kevin, “I would love to cop a feel, in fact, maybe later you could treat me to a sample of it” she cheekily added hoping to instil some confidence in Kevin, and I can let you play with these” she added as she lightly held her womanly assets.
Kevin gulped and went red, Janine could not help but notice that her “offer” was having a certain effect on poor Kevin. Janine realised she need to be careful, lest she be hauled over the coals for sexual harassment.
“Sorry” Janine quickly apologised, “I didn’t mean for you to be embarrassed. Let’s just try and realign the Sky-Guard net for now” Janine suggested.
“Er right” Kevin replied and sat back down on his chair at his computer and pulled the chair right up to the desk, in an effort to hide his embarrassment.
Janine pulled up a chair from an unoccupied computer terminal, so she was sitting with Kevin at his computer terminal.
Kevin did his best to ignore Janine’s womanly assets as he concentrated on the job in hand. Kevin moved his mouse to call up on the screen a schematic of the Earth with little red dots, symbolising the various Sky-Guard satellites.
“How about moving Sky-Guard Six so it covers some of Southern Africa as well as South America, that way we can move Sky-Guard Two north of the Equator to reach Northern Europe.” Kevin nervously suggested.
Janine shook her head, “Sky-Guard Six was placed there because that was where those Columbian drug dealers used that orb to carry out their drug running into IDW01” she explained, “I would move Sky-Guard Five north from where it covers India and the Middle East, then we can move Sky-Guard Eight west from covering Russia to get it to cover northern Europe. Sky Guard Seven can be moved East a few degrees, after all Sky-Guard one gives decent coverage of the Pacific from where it monitors North America”
Kevin thought for a moment, “That might work” he muttered
“How long would it take to reposition the network?” Janine asked
“Once I program in the co-ordinates, which will take about an hour, with the satellite’s
ion engines we are looking at a flight time of sixteen hours at the earliest to get repositioned” Kevin answered
“And during that time they will be unable to detect incoming or outgoing wormholes” Janine asked
“Afraid so” Kevin replied, “We could just move one at a time, but that could take days”
“We can’t afford a hole in the net to exist for that length of time” Janine sighed, “I’ll help with the orbital transfers, so we can get this done as soon as possible, then maybe we could go for coffee once they are on their way!
“Oh” Kevin replied
“Topside” Janine suggested, “So you can be fully clothed if you like, or in the canteen if you want to show off to me what a manly body you have and maybe we could possibly share more than just coffee” she gently teased
“Topside would be good” Kevin replied nervously.
+ + +
MI6 Building
London, England
The official driver dropped Drake off outside the MI6 building.
“I’ll call when I need to get back to the Directorate” Drake told the driver. The driver nodded and drove off.
Drake headed off towards the main door and displayed his security pass to the security guard on the door. “Drake Matthews to see the Sir Andrew Kneller MP” he said gruffly
The security guard nodded and let him through the doors and Drake approached reception. Again Drake stated his business and the receptionist informed him that that particular person had not yet arrived due to parliamentary business.
“Great!” Drake exclaimed, “Parliamentary business my a**e, I bust a gut getting here, and he can’t be bothered to tear himself away from the House of Commons bar on time”
“I’m afraid the new parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Defence wanted to pay a visit” the receptionist replied curtly.
“Is he insane?” Drake asked, “The whole point of going through the select committee was to ensure the PM had
plausible deniability”
“She!” the receptionist corrected, “The old one went in the recent reshuffle”
Drake shook his head in disbelief, one politician from a select committee was bad enough, but a member of the government a problem. The EAD had to operate in grey areas, if not in violation of the law to protect the secret that parallel worlds existed and there were creatures in the UK which had serious powers that posed a threat. At least Sir Andrew Kneller MP understood all this; after all he was a former MI6 handler who had once run espionage operations in Bulgaria when he had been a military attaché to the British embassy in that country. A government minister, no matter how junior, might very well get in the way of what need to be done.
+ + +
An abandoned factory
Somewhere in London
(Sometime later)
A stray cat prowled through the remains of the factory hunting for its next meal.
There was a strange high pitched noise and a sudden wind.
It looked up and saw a dot forming in mid-air and becoming a swirling vortex. The cat did not need to be told that this was not good and instantly ran with all its might out of the factory, leaving the vortex to grow.
After a minute the green vortex was fully grown and out stepped two humanoid figures, one a troll and one an elf. They were accompanied by another humanoid figure that was grey and tall, and with a strange collar around its neck.
“So this is the other world of the despicable humans” the elf sneered
“Indeed it is Callum” the troll replied, “our leader Padow, the Lord High Troll yet again proved himself a genius in finding it”
“I cannot wait until every last human is dead” the elf said in revulsion, “especially after what they did to my family with their infernal magic”
“But this world of humans like us chose the route of science and technology” the troll went on, “which is why Padow believes they will have the key to the destruction of all humans on every world that we find them infesting”
“Including this one” the elf said with venom
“Of course” the troll spat back, “Humans are vermin where ever they breed, vermin that must be exterminated”
“But why on this world” the large grey figure pleaded, “These humans have not been involved in your war”
Suddenly the grey figure collapsed in agony clutching the collar
“Who asked you to speak, you miserable doppelganger human loving scum” the troll shouted with venom as he held a small black box, “any more of your lip and we will detonate that collar which will detonate the collars of your wife, son and daughter back home”
The troll then handed the box over to the elf, “Make sure this shape-shifter behaves and knows who they serve” the troll angrily told the elf.
“Of course” the elf replied and then to make a point pressed another button on the box that made the doppelganger scream in agony. The elf watched the doppelganger writhe in pain on the ground and smiled. “These human loving creatures have to be put in their place.” The elf added
“I have to return to the Manjura Empire to attend our Lord High Troll” the troll told the elf
“I understand General Strang” the elf replied, “So what is this weapon that Lord Padow has discovered these humans have”
The troll grinned, and pulled out a sheaf of papers that had been stapled together, “During our last excursion here Lord Padow used his portable computer to pull down a number of possible weapons we may use from the humans own version of electronic space. I believe they call it Cyber space”
The elf took the piece of paper, and looked at it, “It’s a section the history of these infernal creatures on this world” Then the elf looked closer at the print out, “I can see why Padow is leader of the Manjura Empire, this is a work of genius, and those humans will not know what hit them”
“Make sure victory is ours” The troll said to the elf aggressively. Then the troll turned to the grey figure that was still on the ground. “And remember Shape-Shifter” the troll growled, “remember who your masters are”
The grey figure looked up at the troll in terror, he was being forced to take part in something with every fibre of it’s being he knew was wrong and a crime against sentient life, but if he did not comply, it would be his family as well as his own life that would be at risk”
“As I said Callum, I must return” the troll told the elf, “From the empire we will ensure that these humans will not be able to track you or anyone else we may send, like the humans here almost did when Lord Padow first came here”
“I thought you had already taken care of that device the humans had in orbit around this world” the elf said with an air of confusion.
“That was just for this region” the troll replied, “The device that Lord Padow left on his second incursion here indicated that they have other tracking devices orbiting around this world. They still pose a threat to the mission and we must deal with them all if we are to be victorious”
With that the troll walked back into the vortex and seconds later, the vortex was gone.
“Get up” The elf shouted at the grey figure, “You saw the picture of the dead Human from this world that Lord Padow exterminated, now change!” the elf ordered.
Slowly the grey figure morphed into the shape of a human male in his late fifties in shabby clothing.
+ + +
MI6 Building
London, England
“Sir Andrew, Minister” Drake said through gritted teeth as Sir Andrew MP and the Julie Osborne MP, the parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Ministry of Defence, arrived.
Drake was not looking forward to this as he had heard that this new minister had once worked with the Chief Secretary to the treasury where she was a notorious
bean counter before moving to the whips office, prior to her move to the Ministry of Defence.
“Well Mr Matthews” Julie replied, “My right Honourable friend here was briefing me on that secret organisation you work for”
“With all due respect Minister” Drake replied, “I would rather discuss it in private as not everyone in this building is security cleared to be read in on it”
“Of course” Julie replied, “I quite understand”
“Our usual room Drake” Sir Andrew asked
Drake turned to the receptionist who instantly knew the answer.
“Your usual briefing room is ready sir” the receptionist replied, “I just need the parliamentary under-secretary of state to sign in along with Sir Andrew” she added pushing forward a large black book.
Drake then waited impatiently while the meddlesome parliamentary under-secretary of state took her time signing in and obtaining a visitor’s pass. Sir Andrew, like Drake had a permanent one, which usually speeded things up.
Finally she was signed in and they headed off to a private office away from prying ears
Drake closed the door and took out a small black box and pulled out an aerial and switched it on. After a few seconds a green light came on.
Drake collapsed the aerial and put the box in his pocket
“You’re not seriously thinking that MI6 would bug this room?” Julie asked with incredulity
“A standard measure” Drake replied abruptly.
“He does it every time Minister” Sir Andrew told the parliamentary under-secretary of state, “Given what happened over four years ago at The Facility”
“What facility?” Julie asked, “What happened”
“It was the forerunner of the Entity Affairs Directorate” Sir Andrew explained, “It was destroyed by a lorry bomb by an extremist group from what some called IDW01 and others The Mystical Realms.
Drake just sighed, [i]How come this parliamentary under-secretary of state was not briefed on the facility so they had to waste time explaining about it, if she insisted on sitting in on an important and urgent meeting[i]
“I see” was Julie’s only response
The three of them then sat down around a table
“Will they be providing teas and coffees?” Julie asked.
Drake mentally rolled his eyes, “No minister, we never usually bother and also it helps keeps the hospitality budget down and reduces public spending, which I believe is government policy?” Drake turned to Sir Andrew, “Sir Andrew” he began but was interrupted by the parliamentary under-secretary of state
yet again!
“Mr Matthews” Julie began, “From the little briefing I have had since the reshuffle, I find your organisation very odd and I am not sure if it provides value for money for the tax payer. In some aspects, I am not sure it would pass what one of the Pea-Pea-Esses called the Daily Mail Test”
This time it was Drake’s turn to looked confused, “Daily Mail Test?” he questioned
“It means would we get a bad headline in the Daily Mail” Sir Andrew cut in, “I do find it so tawdry Minister that we have to worry what cheap down market tabloids think”
“Never the less Sir Andrew” Julie persisted, “It is a good
bellwether as to how the electorate are viewing government and public spending and it is them we are accountable to”
Drake sighed, “Minister” he began, “We have proved that there are other universes which have intelligent life. We have established that some of the entities from those worlds have abilities which could allow them to threaten our national security, in fact when the Americans took charge of our predecessor organisation, not only did we lose the Facility with great loss of life, but in an alternate timeline, which incidentally they could only fix by dealing with a former dictator of IDW01, this whole world was conquered and enslaved by hostile entities from IDW01. Our mission, Minister, is to prevent that happening again”
“Yes I got that briefing from my predecessor’s PPS” Julie replied dismissively, “But I thought that the direct link to The Mystical Realms was severed, so why do we need this Entity Affairs Directorate?”
“I’ll field this one” Sir Andrew cut in before Drake could respond, “Minister, the Entity Affairs Directorate contains people with vital skills in one place needed to counter such a potential threat from other parallel universes, and with respect to that link to IDW01 being severed, as Mr Matthews can tell you, it still can in theory be reached by those entities or by rouge states here on Earth”
“An industrialist and former MI5 officer by the name of Sir Sidney Gerald discovered a way around the radiation barrier Minister” Drake told Julie, “If he has found a way, then most likely someone else will have done the same and we need to be ready”
Julie glowered, so it seemed at Drake before speaking again, “There is one other thing about your organisation that might not pass the Daily Mail test” the parliamentary under-secretary went on, “I here when you are in your secret base you all strip off naked. What if that got out to the tabloids?”
Drake shook his head at how petty this politician was becoming.
“Is it true?” Julie persisted
“Minister” Drake replied in a weary tone, “That is a misrepresentation of a vital security measure we have to have at the EAD. Some years ago, our predecessor organisation the Inter Denominational Entity Control, or IDEC, was penetrated by an IDE47”
“A what?” Julie interrupted
“A doppelganger” Drake explained, “A shape-shifter with great strength that could change its appearance to appear like one of us, this IDE47 killed a number of IDEC personnel in a bid to kill its way up the chain of command by replacing those it killed. As IDE47s never wear clothes themselves but mimic them, to ensure that we are not penetrated again, every employee must remove all clothing on entering the complex on camera and place it in a secure locker. That is the first check that they are human. They then take a lift, and yes they are naked, down to the operation centre. The cameras in the lift can photograph body hair, something these creatures have trouble mimicking.”
“So you do work naked?” Julie accused
Drake gave the parliamentary under-secretary a momentary cold stare before continuing, “When they get to the command centre, they are offered a cheap paper smock, which is sufficient to cover staff, and low cost footwear to wear as temporary clothing.”
“No underwear?” Julie interrupted
“No minister” Drake wearily continued, “It was considered too expensive and not cost effective, anyway, the smocks have to be paper so if there is a drill or a suspected IDE47 infiltration, employees can rip off the smocks, if challenged to show they are human. The working naked part you may have heard about is because there are some individuals who claim that they have bad skin reactions to the paper clothing and elect not to wear them. As I explained, from previous experience with doppelgangers, an attempt to mimic a naked human would not be as successful, so personnel working naked as you put it is one way, all be it extreme of protecting against infiltration”
“Why not offer hypoallergenic clothing to those with problems with the paper clothes” Julie asked
“Cost again” Drake replied, “We looked at it, but as each garment is discarded when an employee finishes their shift, it was deemed that it was too costly, plus the hypoallergenic material does not tear as effectively as paper, which could mean a security issue. That, Minister, would not be good value for money for the tax payer would it? Besides Minister, they are all adults and all professionals, plus we have a no physical contact policy and nobody has ever been caught in flagrante. They all just get on with their jobs”
“If that is the case with your staff, that they are the epitome of restraint, that is very commendable Mr Matthews, but as a minister with some nominal responsibility over this agency, I would like some alternative explored” Julie responded, “You may have a good reason for how you operate and as you say clear rules and codes of conduct, but we have to consider the political realities of how things might look, should they ever come to light”
Drake could not believe this minister, this top secret organisation which theoretically had authority to kill innocent men, women and children to keep secret the existence of certain parallel universes in the aid of National Security and all this minister was worried about was what the personnel may or may not wear when on duty at the EAD
There was a long stony silence, before Sir Andrew broke it, “Minister we did explore the issue of protecting against doppelganger infiltration a while back when this issue came to light, but we can explore it again in committee, assuming you can get us more resources during the next public spending round, but I think Mr Matthews here called this meeting to discuss other issues that are more pressing?”
“Quite”, Drake replied, “Someone seems to have taken out Sky-Guard Four”
“What do you mean taken out?” Sir Andrew replied
Before he could answer the parliamentary under-secretary jumped in, “Excuse me, what is Sky-Guard Four” she asked
“It is part of the Sky-Guard satellite surveillance grid” Drake explained, “It was originally launched to monitor one of the nuclear test ban treaties, but we took it over when it was discovered that it could also detect intrusions from alternative universes, the main one at the time being IDW01. If an entity used one of their devices to enter our world, we can detect it, track it and co-ordinate an armed response”
“How did they take it out Drake?” Sir Andrew asked, “It’s too high up, even for the Chinese ASAT program let alone the Russian one”
“Preliminary findings indicate that someone used artificial means to open a gateway next to the satellite to detonate an explosive device next to it” Drake answered
“I thought people travelled to and from the Mystical Realms using magic orbs” Julie interjected, “At least that is what my predecessor told me”
“Some years ago” Drake responded with an air of resignation, “As an unofficial black project an employee of the old IDEC UK reversed engineered a captured dimension jump orb and created artificial devices to travel to and from IDW01, and later from IDW02. Data collected covertly from ESA’s Integral satellite, the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory shows the distinctive pattern of an artificial device rather than a magic one being used to deliver the device that took out Sky-Guard Four”
“This is serious” Sir Andrew said shaking his head, “Which area did Sky-Guard Four cover?”
“The whole of northern Europe Sir Andrew”
“If I recall there were two countries that were known to have that capability, and we were one of them” Sir Andrew said to Drake and Julie
“Who was the other one?” Julie asked
“America” Drake replied without much thought
“Are you seriously saying the Americans, our partners in the Special Relationship, have done this?” Julie asked with obvious incredulity in her voice
“I wouldn’t thought so” Sir Andrew replied, “given the way the current administration over there turned on those who worked in the IDEC and the half breed entities that they claim to have converted to being fully human, thus neutralising any powers they may have had”
“There are always the Russians” Drake cut in, “They had some kind of treaty with the Drow before the worlds were separated.” Then to clarify for the sake of the parliamentary under-secretary, “They were a kind of dark elf and sworn enemy of the elves”
“So where do we go from here?” Julie asked
“I suggest” Drake went on, “We investigate a possible Russian involvement, meanwhile my people are working on realigning the Sky-Guard network to resume some cover over Northern Europe. Whatever the people who did this are up to, they knew of Sky-Guard and do not want their activities in this sector monitored”
Julie thought for a moment, “You said the Sky-Guard network came out of monitoring nuclear test ban violations, could this be related to that?”
Drake shook his head as did Sir Andrew,
“The countries covered by Sky-Guard four already have the bomb or go on about how they refuse to have it” Sir Andrew answered, “Besides there is also no suitable place in Northern Europe to test a nuclear weapon”
“Plus” Drake added in, “Whoever did this, definitely use the same technology that was used for crossing between Earth and IDW01”
+ + +
The Entity Affairs Directorate
South London, England
The setting of the trajectories for the remaining Sky-Guard satellites proved far more complicated then Janine and Kevin first thought. They had to take into account that the network had to remain as hidden as possible from the general populace.
“That’s all programmed” Kevin told Janine, “It just needs to be” he added before stopping
After a few seconds announced quietly, “We have lost contact with Sky-Guard Seven”
Janine looked at the monitor and saw the red flashing icon of where the Satellite should have been.
Just then another Sky-Guard satellite showed signs that contact was broken.
Now three, no four, no five Sky-Guards were going off line.
Quickly Kevin hacked into the Integral probe’s live feed and pulled up the details of gamma emissions from where the satellites had been. Like Sky-Guard four, they had a certain tell-tale signature to his and Janine’s horror; this tell-tale signature indicated the presence of the kind of gamma radiation that accompanied wormholes that had been artificially created.
“It’s like the whole of the Sky-Guard system is being taken out” Kevin whispered.
“Get US Space command online” Janine ordered
Kevin quickly complied and used the American system to scan the area where the various Sky-Guard satellites had been.
Radar images showed debris where the Sky-Guard satellites had been.
“We only have two Sky-Guard satellite’s left one and two” Janine told Kevin, “Remember last month’s software upgrade, We only have one chance at this, we need to get them looking at one another fast, they are just in position, I’ll do two, you do one”
Quickly Kevin programmed one terminal whilst Janine programmed the other.
Just in time!
The feed from Sky-Guard Two ended as Sky-Guard one confirmed an artificial wormhole, right next to Sky-Guard Two.”
“The new software will give the co-ordinates of where that wormhole came from” Kevin announced, just before the feed from Sky-Guard One cut out.
“I know” Janine replied, “I worked on that software with Drake”
Kevin put the originating co-ordinates up on his computer screen before running an analyser program on them.
“If they are using wormholes as teleports” Janine commented, “Like those Yanks did in the alternate time line, it will point to somewhere on Earth and we will have them”
The computer processed the co-ordinates and displayed the result.
Both Janine and Kevin peered at them in incomprehension,
they were not coming from Earth at all like Janine had suspected
“They seem to be coming from a whole new universe” Kevin said with utter astonishment, “and if they have created artificial means to enter into this one that could mean it’s a technological universe like ours. And if that’s the case then their taking out of Sky-Guard, could be the prelude to invasion”
“Or there’s another possibility Kevin” Janine replied
“Like what?” Kevin asked
“They say in that alternate timeline” Janine explained in a quiet voice “that troll Brameana tried to provoke a nuclear war between America and Russia by detonating nuclear weapons in America and a number of western cities. Those satellites” she went on, “were originally designed to monitor illegal nuclear weapons tests. Assuming it is another universe Kevin, then this could be another attempt to get us to blow ourselves up, prior to invasion”
To be continued