They say when you sup with the Devil, use a long spoon.
Sometimes we are forced to unite with once bitter enemies to achieve a certain goal.
Western governments during the cold war routinely dealt with regimes with poor human rights records, because they were against the communists as well, such as General Pinochet in Chile. The former members of the Inter Dimensional Entity Control even had to do this to free Earth from the evil Troll Brameana, by doing a deal with her evil father, the Lord High Troll.
Now members of the new Entity Affairs Directorate, along with former members of the IDEC are faced with a stark dilemma. They are in the EAD headquarters in South London, which has been plunged into darkness, because someone seems to have attacked the complex using magic which prevents anything using electricity from working.
None of their torches work, and so far the only illumination has come from a cigarette lighter, owned by the EAD director, Drake Matthews
In order to navigate to Drake’s office where there is the last dimension jump orb on Earth to get away from the magical damping field they will have to be guided through the darkness by a doppelganger shape shifter, who claims it wants to help humans. In their past dealings with this type of creature, they have always been assassins
+ + +
The Holding Cells of the Entity Affairs Directorate
South London, England
“I don’t like this one bit” Drake complained, “I have never trusted an IDE, let alone a known HIDE”
“That sounds just like my father” Janine volunteered, “He only trusted humans, he even betrayed that Celeste girl that he pretended to be a father figure to. I remember once when she somehow messed up an assassination attempt on the Brigadier General here, she disintegrated all her clothing and offered to sexually gratify my father in whatever way he wanted to try and make up for it”
“I knew she messed up the assassination” Brigadier Samuel Peters replied, “But she never mentioned that bit”
“Well my father would probably have taken up her offer like the way he forced my mother to give him sexual favours” Janine continued, “But back then as she was considered to be an IDE, he held back and got me to go and get her replacement clothing”
“And the point of that little story is?” Charlene asked accusingly
“Celeste at that point would have given him anything he wanted” Janine answered, “But he refused to trust anyone who was not human nor have any intimate contact. It was one of his prejudices”
“Meaning” the Brigadier General cut in, “That if we refuse to trust this doppelganger we will be making a bigger mistake, not that turning Celeste down was a mistake back then, but you get the picture”
“Sir” Sarah, the receptionist at the holding cells volunteered, “I just remembered, we may have some glow stick chemical lights in the drawer at reception. We got them as back up last month”
“They’ll work for a fixed area” Samuel responded,” but for getting back to the command centre, they will not be much use. Plus they have a limited life. I suggest we get them but only activate them when we need to. We don’t want whoever has caused the damping field to be tipped off to our presence”
Drake extinguished the lighter and darkness returned, “OK” he grudgingly accepted, “I will put the lighter back on, leave the cell and pick up the glow sticks at reception and then we will use this HIDE47 to guide us back to my office.”
“Sounds like a plan” the Brigadier General told Drake
Drake reignited the lighter and summoned Sarah to come with him.
Sarah meekly headed towards Drake.
“And you can return the Brigadier General’s coat” Drake ordered Sarah.
“Yes sir” Sarah replied and started undoing it.
“That’s not required” Samuel objected, “We are not making people work naked”
“You have items in it I dare say you may need” Drake responded, “Like that torch, even though it didn’t work. Staff here are used to working in the nude, its second nature, besides, she can wrap that towel around her if you like, even though she should never have had it down here in the first place” Drake added as a stern rebuke to Sarah.
“I’m sorry sir, I was cold down here, but I won’t bring it down again sir” Sarah replied on the brink of tears
“Like I said” the Brigadier General cut in, “From now on you will be wearing your own clothes”
Sarah removed the coat and handed it back to the Brigadier General, making her the only one there, apart from the doppelganger that was naked, in accordance with EAD protocols. Sarah and Drake then left the cell.
Janine looked out of the cell and watched as the two of them went down to the reception desk. Within a minute, Janine saw Sarah pull out some small cylinders of plastic and hand them to drake. She then watched as Sarah did her best to wrap the towel around her small slim body, as if she had stepped out of a bath, and fastened it as best she could.
Then darkness fell again as Drake extinguished the lighter.
“Bring it out then” Drake called out of the darkness
“We need to get to our command centre” Janine heard the Brigadier General tell the doppelganger
Janine just hoped that Charlene knew what she was talking about, as in the pitch black a powerful creature with the ability to see in the dark could be a lethal combination.
“Follow me” the doppelganger called out in a metallic style voice, and then it kept repeating it’s injunction as it breezed past Janine and out of the cell. She heard the footsteps of the brigadier general following closely behind, presumably because he was armed.
Nervously Janine started to follow the metallic voice in the darkness.
Then she hit something
“Watch where you are going” she heard Charlene shout out, almost instinctively. The two women had collided.
Even if this IDE could be trusted, following it in the darkness would not be as easy as she thought.
“I am at a door” the doppelganger announced.
Janine heard Drake describe the door and the doppelganger confirm the description. Drake then told it that the door was the way they had come in and described where the manual leaver was to open it.
There was the scraping of metal and then a rush of air that turned into something like a gale in the darkness.
The other door had been open and by opening up the inner door, the air pressure was equalising, as the holding area was kept at a lower air pressure to the rest of the EAD. The idea was that it would contain any possible release of contaminants or bacteria from any IDEs that may be being held.
The sound of the doppelganger continued as Drake continued to describe the route. Janine did her best to try and follow the voices, but it was hard and frightening.
”Is this what it is like for blind people?” she kept on thinking. Even if the lights had been on, this was a section she had not ventured since it had been her job to deal with detection and going out into the field.
Then she heard the sound she had been expecting, but dreading, the doppelganger said how it could see people with burning torches in the distance.
Drake and Samuel then whispered at the three women to get back and hide round the corner while they crept round to see what was happening.
Janine then heard the sounds of guns being cocked from both Drake and the Brigadier General,
Somehow that did not seem like a good idea, especially if whoever had infiltrated the EAD had been able to block all flow of electrical items, could they stop guns from working?
“They are coming this way” the doppelganger announced in his metallic voice, “with crossbow weapons” it added.
“I’ll see if I can take one of them out” Drake told the Brigadier General, “You stay with the others”
“The hell I will” The Brigadier General swore
“With all due respect Brigadier General” Drake hurriedly replied, “I know this place better than you do, this is my briar patch as you yanks put it”
Slowly Drake made his way around the corner while the doppelganger waited with Janine, Charlene and Sarah and the Brigadier General
Even Janine could now see the light levels increasing due to the approach of someone with what seemed like a flaming torch; just as if it was out of the medieval period.
BANG
There was the sound of Drake firing his gun.
Suddenly Drake rushed back around the corner and holstered their guns.
“Those b******s have got some kind of shield” Drake said to the others.
“Your weapons are useless” a voice called out from where the light was approaching, “You will surrender and perhaps we may allow you to live for a while”
The voice was familiar to Janine; it was the voice of the leader of the men using magic that had killed Kevin.
“If you know any other human” the Brigadier General told the doppelganger in a quick whisper, “You better mimic them now”
“Why?” the doppelganger asked
“Just do it” The Brigadier General ordered.
In the flickering light, Janine saw the doppelganger morph into the image of the elderly man that a couple of months previously they had found dead in the warehouse where these magic using humans killed Kevin.
“We are waiting” the voice of the leader of the group that had killed Kevin called out again
“Sir” Janine whispered to Drake, “That’s the guy who led the team that killed Kevin”
Drake shook his head, and then walked around the corner with his hands up.
“On your knees” the voice called out, “All of you, including that wench we met before”
They watched as some invisible force, shoved Drake to his knees in the corridor.
Janine went to go around the corner, only to be grabbed on the arm by the doppelganger. Suddenly the doppelganger morphed to the likeness of Janine, and then released her arm.
The Brigadier General shook his head, “No” he told the doppelganger.
The doppelganger morphed back into the form of the old man and went around the corner.
Suddenly all of them found themselves forced to kneel, the spell was obviously an area affect spell.
All of them, including the doppelganger seemed utterly powerless to move, as the man Janine had met before at the abandoned factory came round along with three men armed with swords, some of them dripping with blood. The man himself was carrying the foil he had when his team had ambushed Janine and Kevin.
“My liege” the man with the foil said in surprise, “I did not realise you had come here as well”
The other men seemed to be shocked by the appearance of someone in the group, Janine could not fathom out who.
“Timothy?” Janine heard the Brigadier General utter under his breath. It seemed like the former marine seemed to know this man.
“Release Lord Samail” the man with the foil who the Brigadier General called Timothy ordered.
There was some strange chanting and then the Brigadier General got to his feet.
“Pray tell me my liege” the man with the foil asked, “what brought you here and why did you not tell me, and why are you in these strange clothes”
“It was a last minute thing” the Brigadier General answered, “And I thought if I dressed like these people I would blend in” he lied
The man that Janine had met at the abandoned factory then pointed at Janine, “That is the wench I told you about, do you want to interrogate her before we execute her?”
Janine looked up at the Brigadier General, for some strange reason the murderer who had led the team that killed Kevin seemed to think that the Brigadier General was some kind of leader of his. Given the run-ins that she had had with the Brigadier General, because of her father, this was a perfect time to pay her back.
“I would like to interrogate her myself, and this man who is her master” the Brigadier General said slowly and deliberately as he pointed at Drake.
“Who are these two other wenches and this other man?” the man with the foil then asked, “one of them is dressed almost like the wench and yet another here seems only to be wrapped in some kind of blanket”
“The woman who is dressed is one of my servants” the Brigadier General replied, “I would like you to release her”
“How come my liege, I never saw her back at The Castle Lodinium” the man with the foil replied with a puzzled expression
“I had sent her on an errand” the Brigadier General replied, “maybe that was why you never saw her”
The man then walked up to Sarah and placed his foil on her neck, “That blanket remove it” he ordered, “Let our lord Samail see your body”
“That’s not necessary” The Brigadier General replied, “I have seen it, I allowed her to wrap herself up because it was cold where she was kept prisoner along with this other man”
“Well I dare say it is a bit warmer here” the man with the foil said with an evil sneer, “If I may I would like to see her naked body”
Janine looked up at the Brigadier General and wondered what he would do; it had become obvious that the man with the foil had mistaken Brigadier Samuel Peters for someone else. Even the name he addressed the Brigadier General as, Samail seemed strangely familiar to his first name of Samuel.
With what Doctor Henshaw had said about “classical parallel universe” could this man’s lord be an alternate version of the Brigadier General? Did that mean there was a version of her in that parallel universe where humans used magic?
“Sarah, remove the towel” the Brigadier General said softly
”What was the Brigadier General playing at?” Janine thought
“Sir?” Sarah said in astonishment
Suddenly without warning, the man with the foil smashed the back of his hand into Sarah’s face with his full force. “When you are ordered to do something by Lord Samail of the Petros Lands, you do not question him”
Janine watched has blood streamed from Sarah face as she started to remove the towel with tears streaming down her face. Janine also noticed that Doctor Henshaw was looking daggers at the Brigadier General. The only thing Janine could think of was that the Brigadier General was trying to maintain the pretence that he was the lord that the man with the foil had confused him with from alternate Earth where the man had come from
Or was that an alternate Mystical Realms?
Sarah dropped the towel to the floor, and immediately the man with the foil put his left hand to her throat, “Just remember wench who your masters are” he growled menacingly at her.
Janine could see the terror in Sarah’s eyes, but equally she could guess that their fates depended on this man thinking that the Brigadier General was this Lord Samail, long enough for them to escape.
“I would prefer it if you did not damage one of my selected concubines” the Brigadier General told the man with a foil.
“Another one for the harem then?” the man with the foil asked as he removed his hand from Sarah’s throat.
The Brigadier General nodded, “I would like to add to it someone from this world, to add a bit of variety”
“As you wish my liege” the man with the foil replied, “But as you said many a time, wenches need to be put in their place”
“Definitely” the Brigadier concurred
Janine noticed even more black looks from Doctor Henshaw, it was obvious from her reputation of being a feminist, that what the Brigadier General was agreeing to was definitely an anathema to her. Janine could see that this was the only way. These humans who used magic had obviously attacked the EAD, but unlike the trolls, whose attack had been thwarted, these humans with magic had managed to overpower their security completely and were now in charge.
“Now”, the Brigadier General went on, “I was going to take these prisoners to this man’s office” he said pointing at Drake, “I would be grateful if you could release them, so we can go there”
“Why do you need to be in his office” the man with the foil asked, “Why not take them to the dungeon at the Castle Lodinium”
The way the man with the foil had asked this question seemed alarming to Janine, causing her to wonder if he was finally realising that Brigadier General Samuel Peters was not Lord Samail of the Petros Lands.
“This man is the leader of this place” The Brigadier General explained, “I would like to see where he runs this place from”
“Like you do from your throne room” the man with the foil asked
“Exactly” the Brigadier General answered.
“Ok” the man with the foil replied, “I will escort you and this master of that wench that got Travis killed to his throne room or office as they call it, the others we will take with the other prisoners here. It will be a fine site my liege when we hang them by their scrawny necks over the walls of the Castle Lodinium as a warning for those who doubt the superiority of magic over machines, but don’t worry we will make sure your servant is unharmed and this one is taken to your harem” he added placing a hand on Sarah’s naked shoulder
“I want them all with me when we go into this man’s office” the Brigadier General insisted, “Do you question me?”
The man with the foil shook his head, “not if that is what you want my liege”
The man then gave an order and then Janine found she was able to stand up
More men came however with swords and they were pushed along the corridors until they came into the main command centre.
The scene there was of utter carnage, all the security guards with guns were dead, as were quite a number of other colleagues. There was blood everywhere.
In the centre were about five women and one man, all naked, kneeling down with their hands tied behind their backs. Over the top of them walked three men in black flowing robes, unlike the various fighting men with swords and crossbows.
“Your magic users were excellent as was Quaylong” the man with the foil boasted, “as you said on our world; machines and technology is no match for magic. We have even neutralised that force they call electricity with in the area where this citadel is located. When the magic users finish telepathically interrogating the heretics we will know what our troll enemies are planning before these prisoners are executed for their heresy”
“Where is your office” the Brigadier General said gruffly to Drake
“I’ll never tell you” Drake replied.
It was obvious to Janine that Drake must have guessed what had happened and was playing along
Suddenly Janine was grabbed by the throat by the man with the foil and then put in a headlock, “You will tell us or I will snap this wenches wretched neck”
“Over there” Drake replied, obviously pointing to where his office was.
Janine then felt herself being released by the man with the foil, although she thought she heard him say “pity”.
The group then were herded by the other men with swords towards Drake’s office.
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the man with the foil had picked up a crossbow.
They stopped at Drake’s office door, it was shut.
“I can’t open this door with the electricity shut down” Drake complained, “I need it to power the palm print reader”
“Quaylong” the man with the foil shouted.
A man came up from the main part of the command centre came across, He was wearing what looked like leather under a long flowing black robe. Janine recognised him as one of the men at the abandoned factory; he had been the one that cast magic spells by chanting.
The man with the foil pointed at the closed door.
“Door open spell?” the man called Quaylong asked before holding up some kind of crystal and chanting some unintelligible language.
The door slid open.
Drake went in first followed by the Brigadier General.
Janine was ushered in, followed by Doctor Henshaw Sarah and the Doppelganger.
Finally the man with a foil came in, accompanied by Quaylong.
Quaylong chanted and the door slid closed.
The man with the foil then raised his crossbow and pointed it at the Brigadier General. “Just who are you really?” the man with the foil said angrily, “The real Samail of the Petro lands does not have a harem or a throne room. He has various, wives, sisters and daughters of his enemies’ held hostage in his dungeons and seldom sleeps with them. He has one wife and a concubine to give him any heirs he might wish. As for the throne room, he makes decisions in the great hall.”
“He certainly looks like our employer Sir Timous” Quaylong interrupted, “Maybe he is one of those enslaved doppelgangers that the trolls sometimes use. If you wish my Liege I will cast a reveal spell”
“Yes Quaylong” the man with the foil replied, “Let’s see what the natural form of that beast is before we dispatch it”
+ + +
The Troll City of Power
The Manjura Empire
The elderly troll left the bar where he had been dining with a hob goblin friend of his earlier days. It was dark and he was heading home.
As he walked down the street he thought he caught sight of a dark figure on a two wheeled motorised transport, ridden by an elf. Immediately he dismissed it as probably one of the many couriers throughout the city on such transports carrying documents or given the time of night probably ordered meals being delivered to trolls, orcs or whatever who were too lazy or too busy to cook for themselves.
This elderly troll never used such services, as because of his position he preferred to dine out in the best restaurants, which were usually run by kobolds, who were the finest cooks around. (Although he usually dined out to be seen)
As he walked down the street he wondered if he should invite Captain Strang along or whether that would be too provocative towards the current Lord High Troll. But then Padow needed to be shown that his star was not as bright as it once was the loss of more cities to the humans and their accursed magic was showing him to be a lead incapable of protecting his people. Even his idea of raiding a world of technological humans to gain a bio-weapon had had to be rescued by Captain Strang.
Maybe it was time for the incumbent to consider retirement in favour of a new dynamic leader, like Captain Strang.
There was a sudden roar as the two wheeled vehicle revved up and passed the elderly troll on the street. It was then that he noticed it was carrying two riders, both elves, the one not driving was pointing something in his direction.
The elderly troll collapsed in pain as something ripped through his body, within seconds he was lying on the ground gasping for breath.
The elf driving the vehicle turned it around and drove right up to the elderly troll. The passenger elf got off the vehicle, and pulled out a handgun, aimed it at the elderly troll’s head and fired the trigger. Next he reached into the blood stained coat and pulled out his wallet and ripped off his solid platinum pocket watch and pocketed it. The elf then got back on the two wheeled vehicle and then both elves sped off into the night.
The entire attack had been less than a minute.
+ + +
The Entity Affairs Directorate
South London, England
The man called Quaylong began his chanting but it seemed to have no effect on the Brigadier General, instead the real doppelganger cried out in pain and lost his ability to pretend to be the man that Janine had found killed by trolls’ months before.
“What!” the man with the foil exclaimed, “You are an imposter, you have to be”
In a fit of anger, the man with the foil fired the crossbow at the Brigadier General.
What happened next seemed to Janine to be in slow motion. The bolt headed towards the former US marine, but just as it reached him it looked like the bolt turned around in mid-air and headed back along the path it had just come”
The bolt hit the man with the foil squarely in the chest and he dropped the crossbow. The man with the foil sank to his knees.
Immediately the man called Quaylong cried out “My Liege” and ran to him. The man called Quaylong held up his hand and recited an incantation, immediately there seemed to be some kind of force field between Quaylong and the man with the foil and the others in Drake’s office”
Quaylong pulled the man with the foil to his feet and dragged him out of the door”
“Drake, we haven’t got much time” the Brigadier General shouted
Drake grabbed at his desk drawer and pulled out what seemed to be a blue sphere.
“Charlene you know how to get that to go to IWD02?” the Brigadier shouted
“Give it here” Doctor Henshaw ordered Drake and grabbed the sphere from his hand. Immediately she chanted some strange incantation Janine had never heard before.
Immediately a small blue dot appeared in the air and began to grow.
Janine looked out at the office window and saw the commotion outside, somehow something the Brigadier General had, had caused the man with the foil to shoot himself, and it seemed the focus of attention of those who had taken the EAD was on using whatever magical means they had to save the man with the foil. It reminded Janine of that time when she had been working for her father, and she had been shot with an arrow. That time her life had been saved by Celeste, who she later discovered was the Spirit of Second Chances.
Janine then noticed three men in clothing that looked like it belonged to the medieval period all pointing crossbow bolts at the window.
“Get down” Janine yelled instinctively.
Immediately the glass became like a mosaic, but held.
They were lucky that this glass had been made out of security glass, even so the crossbow bolts almost penetrated.
There were further thuds as more crossbow bolts hit, under such an onslaught, even this toughened glass would most likely fail.
By now the blue dot was now a swirling vortex
“Everyone through” Yelled the Brigadier General.
Janine closed her eyes and flung herself through the vortex. This was her very first time through a vortex that was not to an artificial universe.
+ + +
The Troll City of Power
The Manjura Empire
Captain Strang stood next to a law enforcement dwarf as the body of the elderly troll was placed into a van.
“Looks like a robbery to me” the Dwarf told Strang, “But that’s what happens when some see wealthy trolls walking the streets”
“I don’t believe this is just a robbery” Strang told the dwarf, “this was an assassination of a member of the troll high council”
“Do you know how many murders a week we have?” the dwarf said with irritation in his voice.
“No” Strang admitted
“We have quite a few!” the dwarf exclaimed, “With refugees coming into the city as their lands are taken by the human menace, we are seeing an increase in gang related crime and turf wars. As prices get put up, more are turning to robbery with violence.”
“With knives and at close quarters maybe” Strang protested
“And with firearms” the dwarf interrupted, “As I say, this troll elder should have known better not to go out dressed the way he did, whoever robbed him may have seen him go to the restaurant and got his friend to take part. Robbery plain and simple and NO NEED” the dwarf emphasised, “for needless conspiracy theories and talk of assassinations”
“Is it true?” came a voice from behind that Strang did not find welcome.
Strang turned around and there to his disgust was Padow, the Lord High Troll with two troll bodyguards.
“As if you didn’t know” Strang shouted
Padow feigned a look of bewilderment, “I have no idea what you’re talking about”
“That’s enough of that sir” the dwarf intervened between the two trolls
“That troll there ordered this assassination, I’m certain of it” Strang told the dwarf as he pointed at Padow.
“That is a very serious allegation against a senior troll” the dwarf said angrily, “I am satisfied that this is just another robbery, plain and simple”
“I am afraid the captain here was very close to Belgran” Padow interjected, “And a simple robbery as this is, seems so senseless so he’s bound to think it was something more”
Strang narrowed his eyes, it seemed unbelievable that this was a mere robbery when earlier in the day this elder had praised him for taking human prisoners to test the deadly pathogens they would create to exterminate all humans once and for all. It also seemed that either the dwarf was in the pay of Padow, or he was going for the version that would make his paperwork easier. An assassination would create a lot of paper work, where as a robbery would not.
Strang turned around and walked away, he would have to warn his other benefactors amongst the elders, but would they believe that Padow would stoop to murder?
+ + +
The Entity Affairs Directorate
South London, England
Sir Timous sat up, Quaylong had once again proved his value with his healing magic, even though the crossbow bolt had not penetrated thanks to his chainmail armour underneath his leather armour. Even so the impact had taken his breath away.
But how did a crossbow bolt fired at a clear imposter turn back on itself and hit him. Obviously some form of technology that their magic had not taken out since these heretics never used magic
“I am afraid that group have escaped my liege” Quaylong apologised, “The man who looked like Lord Samail was indeed as wise as he as you can see the glass surrounding the room they went into was as good as plate armour against the cross bows.”
“I cannot believe that I let them get away, including that wench” Sir Timous said angrily, “But how could they have escaped, none of their artificial devices should have worked with the banishment of electricity spell in place”
“It looks like they had their own orb of travel my liege” Quaylong explained, “It looked exactly like ours so they did not need any of their devices”
“Heretics with Magic, then we must head back” Sir Timous replied, “Who knows what damage those heretics will do on our world”.
“As you wish my liege” Quaylong answered and pulled from his pocket a blue sphere
“First of all” Sir Timous interrupted, “We must make sure that the prisoners are made an example of”
At the sound of this there were some gasps of alarm from the Entity Affairs Directorate personnel who had been captured.
“But they will my liege” Quaylong replied, “They will all hang by their necks over the walls of the Castle Lodinium”
“Not enough” Sir Timous replied, “I want them to be made an example of to this heretic world, to show them that they too must bow to our will and abandon their heretic ways”
“What do you have in mind?” Quaylong asked
“Men” Sir Timous ordered, “Quaylong has got all the vital information we need from the heretics so make sure all them are secured to the floor with nails in their hands and feet, it if you have to”
“Quaylong” Sir Timous said with anger in his eyes, “I believe just like on our world there is a large river nearby”
“Yes my liege?” Quaylong asked
“I want a gateway opened from that river to this complex, I want all the prisoners drowned by their own river. Produce a plaque in their own worthless tongue, let it say these prisoners were executed for their heresy on the orders of Sir Timous of the Zacharan, loyal knight of Lord Samail of the Petros Lands”
“It will be done my liege” Quaylong replied as he found a suitable piece of metal.
While Quaylong used an engraving spell, Sir Timous smiled as he oversaw the prisoners being fastened to the floor. All of them screamed in agony as nails were hammered through their limbs to secure them to the floor or whatever they could be secured to.
These heretics would pay dearly for the deception that that heretic that looked like Lord Samail had done.
There were pleas of mercy from the prisoners as they were nailed down, but this only made Sir Timous laugh.
“Mercy?” Sir Timous said with incredulity, “Mercy is a sign of weakness for cowards who have not got the guts to carry through with the punishment of those who deserve it or put to death so called innocents if expediency demands it” he sneered.
As the last member of the EAD staffed was nailed to the floor, rendering them all unable to move, Quaylong opened up a gateway to their world.
As the men that Lord Samail had leant Sir Timous passed through back to Castle Lodinium, Sir Timous and Quaylong held back. Then Quaylong held up a green crystal disc and gave a quick incantation. A red wormhole opened up
Immediately water started gushing through as Sir Timous and Quaylong entered the blue wormhole and collapsed it.
The command centre rapidly filled with the murky water from the River Thames as it passed through the dimension door that had been left open.
Within minutes the whole of the EAD complex below ground had flooded completely, drowning every last member of the Entity Affairs Directorate that served in the command centre.
+ + +
Deep inside a lava tube
Inter Dimensional World 02
Janine came back from the cave entrance with Drake where they had gone on a kind of reconnaissance.
“I’m so glad you got the co-ordinates right Doctor Henshaw” Drake said to the rest of the group, “That red giant star has definitely just gone active at the moment”
“It was horrible” Janine said with emotion in her voice, “There was some creature out there”
“A gulphog I believe” Drake interjected
“It was screaming in agony and then it died” Janine said with disbelief.
“Solar flare” Doctor Henshaw commented as she did her best to tend to the injuries Sarah had sustained from the man with the foil, “any creature on this planet who doesn’t get under cover in time will get fried, that’s how it is here” Doctor Henshaw added unsympathetically.
Sarah was still naked, as she had left the towel back at the EAD headquarters. The Brigadier General had offered Sarah his coat, but Drake had vetoed the offer, insisting that as a serving member of the EAD, she had been expected to either wear paper smocks or work naked. Sarah had nervously acquiesced insisting, unconvincingly, that she was ok to be naked and that it was no big deal.
Unlike previously, the Brigadier General had not contested this like he had back at the EAD. The incident where he had ordered Sarah to drop the towel, which led to the man with the foil smashing her round the head, had for some reason had affected him. Janine could see that the Brigadier General had a haunted look in his eyes, it was as if that had reminded him of another incident, both he and Doctor Henshaw were aware of.
Whatever that incident was, it must have been bad as Doctor Henshaw had barely spoken a word to him since they had arrived on IDW02, or Aurelia as Doctor Henshaw called it. Janine had heard that both the Brigadier General and Doctor Henshaw had been around in the alternative timeline where Earth had fallen to some megalomaniac troll, and that incident must have occurred there, however neither of them would talk about it.
Janine had also wondered about stripping off too, to show sisterhood to Sarah, but for the moment thought better of it, besides to make the gesture more meaningful would require getting Doctor Henshaw to strip off as well, something she was clearly not going to do, as far as Janine could tell, and there was no way she felt like asking, given the history between the two of them.
As for this world where they had landed on, it was strange. In the sky in the same position was a large
red star, and outside there were strange creatures. Some of them looked like plants, but were in fact not. Drake had called them Stinger fans
According to Doctor Henshaw this was a world created some years ago by the imagination of one man, namely the late Timothy Zachary, a former member of the IDEC UK who had gone rouge. According to the Brigadier General, this Timothy was the spitting image of the man with the foil. This whole planet had been based on that man Timothy’s favourite television documentary, where experts had tried to come up with how life might have evolved on a very different world. Whatever had shaped IDW01, or the Mystical Realms out of the collective unconsciousness of humanity, had shaped this world from the single mind of that former IDEC UK member.
As for the doppelganger he sat in the cave, a small distance from the others and was now in his natural form. It seemed odd to have him around, as HIDE47’s as they were called, were always considered a threat, as they were assassins for hire and worked without a conscience, that was the whole reason for the paper smocks and the reason why Sarah was naked, and why Janine usually worked naked at the EAD. These creatures never wore clothes as they mimicked them and were not that good at mimicking a naked human. This Doppelganger had come from an alternate world, where trolls used technology not magic, and if this one was to be believed, unlike their counter parts in the Mystical Realms, they eschewed any sort of violence, especially to humans.
“So Brigadier General, how long do we have to wait here before we try for IDW01” Drake asked with irritation, if that is your plan
“My understanding is that a dimension jump orb needs a few hours to recharge” the Brigadier General replied to Drake’s question.
“But this is magic not an artificial wormhole generator.” Drake objected, “It’s a pity I didn’t have one of those in the office or we could have brought that along as well”
“Would not have done any good Mr Matthews” Doctor Henshaw chipped in, “The fuel cell would have decayed too much by now, unless you were constantly replenishing it, or had a handy major Spirit of Vice or Virtue and a magical amulet you didn’t mind wasting”
“It was considered a health and safety risk” Drake answered back, “They are kept in a special store for radioactive materials”
Janine glanced at the bruising on Sarah’s face, it was awful. Sarah was quite a petite girl with an Asiatic appearance as her father was from Singapore. From her accent you would never have known.
The Brigadier General held up the dimension jump orb, it was black, rather than the blue it was prior to leaving Earth. “I’m not sure how the trolls managed to get them to cycle through faster, but it is not ready yet by the look of it”
“That’s because you have not done the finishing incantation” the doppelganger interrupted.
“Before the trolls took many of us prisoner on my world” the shape-shifter went on, “A number of these magic using humans as you put it visited our village by the ocean using such orbs”
“Did they attack you as well?” Doctor Henshaw asked the shape-shifter
The Doppelganger shook his head, “Unlike the other races we live a simple life, without all their technology. The humans who visited seemed nice because we did not use machines like the other races use on our world. We do not use things powered by electricity, we do not usually use our shape shifting ability there either. In fact we do not know why we even have it. We just grow small crops and catch fish from the sea. Then the elves found out about their visit and betrayed us to the trolls. They said we were traitors because it seems they were at war with these humans, and they were losing against their magic”
“Hence the reason” Drake interrupted “Why the trolls attacked Porton Down and stole those pathogens”
“Obviously the magic using humans were trying to find out what the trolls have stolen” the Brigadier General added, “But those guys had a spell to reveal your kind” the Brigadier General challenged the doppelganger
The shape shifter looked at the ground and shook his head, “We believe the humans were made to think we betrayed them” The doppelganger then lifted his head, “We just want to let them know we did not betray them and wish them no harm”
“So” Janine found herself asking, “How does this finishing incantation go”
The doppelganger thought for a moment and then morphed into the form of some human from that world where humans used magic and then chanted words in a strange tongue.
Instantly the orb changed to its former deep blue colour.
The doppelganger reverted to his natural form
“Thanks” The Brigadier General said to the doppelganger, “Now all Doctor Henshaw and I have to work out, is how to do the incantation to get to IDW01 from here”
“And then what’s the plan?” Drake asked
“We try and find out if the Clan Chief of the Manjura is still around and see if we can get help to deal with the magic ability of those other humans and try and take on those technological trolls” The Brigadier General answered
“This Clan chief” Sarah then asked, “Does he have a name?”
The Brigadier seemed thrown by the question, “I don’t believe they use personal names once they have a title”
“Oh” Sarah replied, obviously back tracking for asking what by the tone of the Brigadier General’s voice was such a stupid question
“His name is Padow” Doctor Henshaw told Sarah, “It’s a Delethon name as his mother was from the Delethon clan”
At this the doppelganger began to shake his head vigorously.
“What’s the problem shape shifter” Drake asked dismissively
“Padow is the most evil of all the trolls!” the doppelganger exclaimed, “He is the Lord High Troll”
“We really do have a super symmetry here” Doctor Henshaw cut in, “Samuel here has a counter part in the magic using human world and now we seem to have two Padows”
“And both total opposites” the Brigadier General murmured “and both deadly enemies”
+ + +
The Castle Lodinium
(An unknown world)
Sir Timous approached Lord Samail with reticence and then knelt down before him.
“How did it go Sir Timous” Lord Samail asked
“Only a partial success my liege” Sir Timous replied
“Partial?” Lord Samail queried, “How so?”
“We easily took and subdued that subterranean citadel that the wench had come from and put many to the sword, their weapons rendered useless by our superior magic. Those who we did not put to the sword, we interrogated and nailed them by their limbs to the floor and allowed the waters of a mighty river to come in and drown them”
“A death too good for heretics” Lord Samail for a moment sneered, and then smiled, “But one that will suffice. But if you obtained the information and destroyed a main stronghold of the heretics, why do you say partial success?”
Sir Timous looked at the floor, “We came across that wench, along with her master, another wench who like your servant girls, serves naked and one of those shape shifters”
“And?” Lord Samail asked
“There was also a man who looked and sounded exactly like you. He had a name similar to yours and was a strong leader like you”
“Oh really?” Lord Samail asked with interest
“At first I thought it was you” Sir Timous went on, “but he said things that made me think he was one of those treacherous shape-shifters who betrayed us to the trolls”
“And was he the shape-shifter?” Lord Samail asked
Sir Timous shook his head, “No my liege, Quaylong cast the spell to reveal shape-shifters but he was not the shape-shifter, he was definitely human.”
“Was he one of those you nailed to the floor to drown?” Lord Samail asked
Again sir Timous shook his head, “No my liege, he had demanded we go to the chamber of the master of that wench, where I confronted him on his deception. I fired a crossbow at him, but the bolt turned and hit me. Only my armour and Quaylong’s healing magic saved me. They used that diversion to produce some orb such as we use that allowed them to escape. I have therefore failed you”
“Magic” Lord Samaiel said in a quiet voice, “is a strange thing. With regards to that cross bow bolt, he must have been wearing something like this”
At this Lord Samail pulled out a small crystal amulet he was wearing.
“It is an amulet of protection” Lord Samail explained, “Any distance attack weapon fired at me will be returned with full force back at whosoever fired it. Indeed Sir Timous, you are lucky to be alive”
“I thought those heretics used only forbidden technology” Sir Timous said with confusion.
“Obviously, they have somehow got hold of some magic” Lord Samail replied, “The only thing I can think of is that this other me must be what some call a double walker, a magical spirit being, whose sole aim is to destroy and replace those it looks like.”
Sir Timous looked up, “That will not happen. I will lead any loyal bodyguard to ensure such a being will not come near you and live”
Lord Samail shook his head, “I admire your loyalty but I believe this adversary cannot be defeated by sword and crossbow, I will assemble Quaylong and the other sorcerers to formulate a magical defence. You say they escaped using an orb like the ones we use to fight our enemies the trolls. I will also get our sorcerers to see if those heretics have entered our world, or that of our troll adversaries. They have the ability to see across many dimensions, there will be no hiding place.”
+ + +
The Troll City of Power
The Manjura Empire
Padow walked into the laboratory in the special clothes required for the clean room.
The orc scientist looked up from working at his computer and immediately stood up.
Padow waved his arm and smiled, “At ease Jankle”
“What brings you here my lord” Jankle the orc asked, “We have only begun to combine the virus with bacteria as it only arrived today”
“I understand Jankle” Padow smiled, “Unlike that idiot Strang, I know the value of the long game”
“Then how may I be of service” Jankle asked
Padow paused for a moment, “You have been more loyal to me than any troll”
“We orcs pride ourselves on honour and integrity Lord Padow” Jankle replied with pride.
“Good” Padow answered, “I need something from you to help me deal with a few awkward trolls who may cost us our victory over the human menace”
“You want a pathogen that will kill a troll without leaving evidence of dishonourable actions” Jankle said slowly and deliberately
“It will not be murder” Padow told the orc, “It will be ensuring our survival by removing those who would stand in the way of what needs to be done”
“I have just the thing my lord” Jankle smiled.
The orc turned around and went to a locked cupboard and typed in a coded number. He removed a small vial.
“This will kill in minutes” Jankle said as he removed the vial, “It is a skin contact poison and is undetectable” he told Padow as he handed it to him.
Suddenly Jankle felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, and then he looked down.
It was a dagger that Padow had stabbed him with, for a moment he recognised it as one that had been captured from a human that Jankle had once experimented upon before it died..
“I’m so sorry” Padow smiled at Jankle as the orc sank to the floor, “I cannot risk you talking. Those magic using humans are treacherous scum. Fancy the nerve of them attacking one of our own laboratories”
Padow pocketed the vial as he watched the life ebb out of the orc. It had been a shame to kill him, but there were other orcs who would create the bioweapon to use both against the humans in that magic using world, and that one that used technology, and besides, Padow needed to ensure that when he went after Strang, there would be no one to tie him to the poison he had had Jankle give him.
+ + +
Deep inside a lava tube
Inter Dimensional World 02
“Are you sure we want to do this” Sarah nervously asked, “What about that radiation barrier?”
“That’s only between Earth and the Mystical Realms” Janine replied, “Whilst my father was non corporal with the Spirit of Lust, he was able to establish that it would be safe to reach there by going by this world”
“It’s a bit like those times you can’t drive down a street because of an obstruction and you get put on a detour” The Brigadier General cut in.
“A little quiet here” Doctor Henshaw interrupted “me and the shape shifter here are trying to make sure we get this right”
Janine noticed that Doctor Henshaw had removed her top and was carrying it in her left hand whilst she held the orb in her right hand. Doctor Henshaw was now stripped to the waist, as Drake had insisted.
There was a cough from Drake.
“I Said that is not necessary” the Brigadier replied to the cough.
“If we are meeting with the trolls let them decide that” Drake countered.
Then Janine remembered what Drake had said about the troll customs, single unmarried female trolls were not allowed to wear clothes above the waist so the male trolls could see their mammary glands easily in order to assess if they would be adequate to suckle their troll children. Drake had also mentioned that some trolls imposed this on other races on IDW01, and that Doctor Henshaw and Janine should comply so as not to offend any trolls they should meet on IDW01.
The Brigadier General had countered by saying how the Clan Chief of the Manjura was going to make sure trolls did not follow or impose this out dated custom. Drake had pointed out that after three years, there was no guarantee that the Clan Chief of the Manjura would be in a position to do so, and that Janine and Doctor Henshaw had to remove their tops just to be on the safe side at the very least.
Janine took of her jacket, and then her shirt and unclipped her bra. She rolled these up into her jacket so like Doctor Henshaw had done with her clothes it was easy to carry.
Janine then noticed Drake signalling to the Brigadier General, that he wanted to speak with him, and so made sure she was in ear shot, if that were possible.
“It seems strange that a doppelganger from a completely different world knows how an orb from IDW01 works” Janine heard Drake whisper.
The Brigadier General did not seem to say anything, but it seemed obvious, that Drake still did not trust the doppelganger. The Brigadier General had more reason to mistrust it, but he had persuaded them to use it as a guide back at the EAD and the doppelganger had not betrayed that trust.
But did Drake have a point? The orb came from IDW01, or the Mystical Realms and yet this doppelganger had got these commands from men who use magic, who came from a totally different parallel universe.
“We’ve got it” Janine heard Doctor Henshaw yell
There in the cavern the tell-tale blue dot formed in mid-air and began to grow.
Within a minute it was a rich blue swirling vortex. Drake went through first, followed by Sarah and then the Brigadier General.
It was now just Doctor Henshaw, Janine and the Doppelganger left on IDW02
“You help vouch for the shape-shifter” Doctor Henshaw ordered, “I’m going back to Earth”
“You can’t” Janine insisted, “We need you”
“I need to get reinforcements” Doctor Henshaw insisted
“I am afraid Miss Sedlacek is right” The Doppelganger chimed in, “The humans who use magic will easily track you down on Earth, if the trolls don’t get to you first”
“Ok” Doctor Henshaw said reluctantly, and then all three jumped through the vortex together.
+ + +
Karam Tag Chou
The citadel of the Troll Emperors
The Mystical Realms
Janine heard the vortex close behind her as both the Doppelganger and Doctor Henshaw stepped out of it.
They seemed to have arrived at what looked like a large medieval castle near some mountains
Janine saw how the Brigadier General was trying to wrap his coat around himself and Sarah’s naked body. Then it hit her how cold the place was, she wanted desperately to put her top on.
Drake could somehow sense what she was thinking and stared at her and shook his head.
Janine, to pardon the expression, would have to grin and bear it.
“Miss Willows” Drake said sternly to Sarah.
Janine shivered as she saw Sarah pull her naked body away from the Brigadier General and step out of the warm coat into the freezing cold.
“I told you need to show respect for their customs and laws” Drake said with mild anger in his voice.
”Poor Sarah” Janine thought, but maybe Drake had a point, maybe she should be totlly naked like Sarah was.
Janine kicked off her shoes and then dropped her coat to the floor with her top still rolled up in it and started to undo her jeans.
Doctor Henshaw looked daggers at her, Janine just mouthed the words “Do it” at her, and seconds later Janine was completely naked too.
“Ok if this helps” Doctor Henshaw said reluctantly and removed the last of her clothes.
“So when those three die of hypothermia will you be happy?” the Brigadier General asked Drake
“Just get on with it” Drake retorted
The Brigadier General shook his head and then shouted “Hello” at the top of his voice
The place seemed deserted.
“There’s nobody here” Drake told the Brigadier General dismissively
“There has to be” The Brigadier said quietly, “This is the troll seat of power”
“I just wish I could have remembered how to land at Central City” Doctor Henshaw admitted to Janine, “It is so much warmer there”
“WHO GOES THERE” Came a loud shout, “FRIEND OR FOE” it added
Janine turned around
Whatever this creature was it was definitely not a troll, and it was armed and did not look friendly at all.
To be continued