[Sticks]

Episode IV– Symmetric-Partners

Spoiler:

It is often easy to under estimate how dangerous or serious a situation can be. Many people getting into trouble on the hills or the mountains, are tourists who set out on what seemed like a fine day, only to be caught out by a change in the weather.

It is often true of the sea, which can change very quickly.

This seems to be what Janine Sedlacek and Kevin Brown of the Entity Affairs Directorate had done when they were sent to investigate an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of London. This was where they had detected the arrival of a new set of hostile trolls. As that site had been cleared a while ago both assumed it was just a waste of time to get Janine out of the way.

This assumption has now led to the death of Kevin, shot in the back by a powerful cross bow and Janine’s capture by what seems to be a group of men who are using magic!

+ + +

An abandoned factory
Somewhere in London

The man in what seemed to be a tuxedo, drew what seemed to be a foil and placed its sharp point on Janine’s throat.

Janine wanted the scream, but she was paralyzed by the spell that one of the other men was chanting. The man with the foil at her throat seemed to be the leader of whoever these men were

“It was a pity you were too eager to pull the trigger Jamaal” a fourth man said in a thick accent.

Like the man with the foil, he was wearing what looked like a tuxedo but unlike the man with the foil it did not quite fit him. This fourth man was carrying what looked like a Samurai sword, and a bad imitation of one at that. Janine knew this, because her father Sir Sidney Gerald had once owned one that had been presented to him by the Japanese ambassador several years ago.

“We could have interrogated him as well instead of just his slave girl” the fourth man complained

“Do not let appearances deceive you Travis” the man who had killed Kevin replied, “In my profession some of the best assassins have been women because nobody expects an attack to come from them, besides she was carrying the heretic weapon not him and I could not allow him to escape”

“What’s done is done” the man with the foil said to the others, “Jamaal go collect this wench’s weapon, Travis come here and restrain this wench”

The fourth man approached Janine as she lay helpless on the floor and then roughly pulled her up by grabbing her upper arms in his vice like grip as the man with the foil backed off.

“This wench is wearing too many clothes” this large man they were calling Travis growled at Janine, “I say we should strip her here and now, it is not decent for a slave girl to be attired in anything. My father always said, a wenches place was either in the kitchen or the bedroom in nothing but her skin”

The man with the foil again placed the sharp point of his blade on Janine’s throat, “All in good time Travis. Quaylong said that this was one of the oldest of the entry point of our troll enemies and we need to find out why these two were here.”

The man with the foil turned to the man who was chanting, “Quaylong, We have this one secured” he shouted across to him.

The man who had been chanting stopped and immediately Janine felt the paralysing spell leave her, but it was no good, as the large man held her firmly, while the other man, who seemed to be the leader held his foil at her throat.

“Now wench” the man with the foil said menacingly, “You will not speak unless you are spoken to. You are the prisoner of Lord Samail of the Petros lands. Your presence here with a weapon and another man in a place where trolls have intruded tells me that you know of them”

“My liege” the man who had been chanting, and who had been addressed as Quaylong spoke up, “Shall I open a gate to our world to take this prisoner back?”

“Do you not have a spell to loosen her tongue instead?” the large man holding Janine asked with irritation, “Once we get what we want, I say we snap her neck and get on to where that troll scum is more likely to be located”

“Patience my dear fighter” the man called Jamaal said in a smarmy manner, “You know why we chose this place over the fresher scent of their entry to this world”

“It did not make sense to me” the big man snapped back, “We find the trolls and we go in”

“And you forget our objective Travis” the man with the foil intervened, “If we just go in where they are, in open combat, they could very well prevail”

“My liege is right Travis” the man they called Jamaal said to the man holding Janine, “In my profession, the best way to deal with the target you have been hired to kill is to use stealth, so they never see you and never see the moment of their death coming”

“Now wench” the man with the foil addressed Janine, “I suspect you know about the beasts they call trolls who came this way, why else would you be coming to what is an obvious ruin, armed and with a man. Tell us what their plans are”

Janine shook her head, “We don’t know” she bleated out

“LIAR” the man holding her screamed out and then threw her down to the floor hard.

Before Janine could recover from the shock of landing on the floor, the large man quickly knelt down, grabbed her right shoulder and smashed her face with the back of his hand.

“You are in league with the troll scum” the large man shouted at her, “Now answer the question”.

“TRAVIS” the man with the foil shouted, “You will leave interrogation of prisoners to me”

Janine wiped her nose which was starting to bleed profusely. The large man grabbed her arms just below her shoulders and pulled her up. “Lie again and I will snap your neck” he growled at Janine.

“I said leave the interrogation of the wench to me” the man with the foil rebuked the large man.

“But this one knows more than she is telling” the large man countered

“She hasn’t been able to say much of anything thanks to you” the one called Jamaal sneered

“I have to agree with our fighter friend” the one called Quaylong interjected,
“Thank you” the large man replied gruffly
“But I suspect she has not given a deceptive answer” the man called Quaylong continued, “You do not need magic powers to tell that they know of the trolls, the fact even the wench is armed, shows that they were aware that they were here, but it also shows that they may not be in league with them”

“That kind of makes sense” the man named Jamaal concurred, “If they were in league with the trolls, why come to a place where they are not, and why come armed if they are allies”
“My liege” the man called Quaylong went on, “I suggest you modify your questions, and yes Travis, I do know a spell that will ensure her veracity”

“Very well” the man with the foil said, and then in a menacing tone to Janine said, “So wench are you also at war with these despicable beasts called trolls?”

“We don’t know, they attacked us” Janine could not help herself saying. Then she noticed that the man called Quaylong was chanting again, but this was not the same chant as before that paralysed her.

“So how did they attack you?” the man with the foil asked further

Janine wanted to resist, she so wanted not to answer, just as they were ordered to do so, to keep the existence of other parallel universes and other beings secret, but the spell that the one called Quaylong was chanting, would not allow her

“They knocked out our satellite surveillance system which monitors entry to and from our world and gated into our Entity Affairs Directorate control room and killed four of our people before their wormhole could be deflected to an artificial universe where the bomb they tried to send to destroy us detonated instead” Janine could not help saying.

“This wench is making a fool of us by speaking nonsense” the large man complained and then he spun her around to face him, took one hand off of her shoulder and made a fist to strike her again, “Your magic failed Quaylong” the man called Travis said angrily, “I will beat the truth out of this one the old fashioned way”

“NO!” the man with the foil shouted at the man called Travis, “If you want to be paid your fee, you will do as I say. You forget these heretics do not use magic as we do; they use and rely on machines like our troll enemies. You may not understand what she is talking about, but I recognise a veracity spell. The wench did not lie”

The large man glowered at Janine and then placed his hand back on Janine’s shoulder.

“If that is the case my liege” the one called Jamaal piped up, “Then this wench knows nothing of the troll’s plans, there is little point wasting Lord Samail’s time”

“Then I say we should snap her worthless neck” the one call Travis said in an angry tone, “We don’t want her telling her friends at this Entity Affairs Directorate place of our presence”

“On the contrary Jamaal” the man with the foil contradicted the two men, “These heretics like the trolls have an awareness of other worlds; this wench may have some value, just in case we need to take action against this world too. We need to know more about this Entity Affairs Directorate and how to take it out if we need to.”

The man with the foil turned to the man who was chanting, “Quaylong” he instructed the chanting man, “It is obvious that the trolls have long gone from here, we need to examine the other entry points these trolls have made to this world, ready the crystal to return so we can place this prisoner in Lord Samail’s dungeon and then we can return here by one of the other entry points.”

The man stopped chanting, bowed to the man with the foil, “As you wish Sir Timous”

This was the first time the other men had mentioned the name of the man with the foil. For some reason, he had looked familiar, but Janine could not quite place him. Now it looked that she was going to be dragged to a world, where men used magic, and if what this brute of a man that had hit her was anything to go by, women were very much second or third class citizens.

+ + +

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Salisbury, Wiltshire
England

One of the guards on the front gate walked towards the car as it drove up to the gate. The sharp manner in which it stopped seemed odd, almost as if the driver was unfamiliar with that vehicle.

He tapped on the window.

After several seconds the driver managed to find out how to open the window, It must be a new car, although it didn’t look that new!

“This is a restricted site” the guard told the driver.

“This is a ministerial visit” the driver said in what was a strange accent, almost like an eastern European accent.

The guard took a look at the front seat passenger; it was the new Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology. For some reason the minister looked sad and dejected and was not talking at all, could it be that he did not get the job he was expecting to get in the last government reshuffle?

“We haven’t been told of any ministerial visit” the guard told the driver.

“Because it has had to be kept secret for security reasons” the drive replied in a condescending tone.

The guard narrowed his eyes at the driver, “Sir, as a matter of security at this site, we are informed of all visits by ministers by their private offices. I realise the minister is new to his post, but as his PS you should have known”

“Oh sorry” the driver remarked, “The usual PS was taken ill and I was asked to drive our minister here to the meeting. If you wish we can just turn around and return to London, and you can explain to your commanding officer why the minister failed to show up to the meeting he himself called”

“If you are not the PS” the guard pressed, “then I am going to need some ID”

Before the driver could reply there was a large explosion as one of the outlying buildings erupted into a fire ball.

Just as suddenly there was another explosion. Time it was in the road a few feet from the rear of the ministerial car, causing its back windscreen to shatter and knocking the guard off his feet.

Then there was the sound of incoming gun fire. Whoever was attacking this installation was using some kind of rocket launchers and automatic weapons. Quickly the guard got to his feet and yelled at the other guard to open the gate to allow the ministerial car to enter the site.

That was the last thing he did, as seconds later he died in a hail of machine gun fire.

The second guard saw the first guard go down and swore. He hit the switch to open the gate and fired a burst of returning fire over the ministerial vehicle.

It was still unclear who was attacking the laboratory or how they were so heavily armed.

The ministerial car lurched forward and stopped as the driver seemed to have problems. Then it started up and drove through the gate.

The second guard pulled out his radio started to report the attack, as he was doing so he saw several huge figures that were definitely not human. They were big, wearing some kind of strange body armour and carrying large machine guns.

The guard aimed his weapon at one of the creatures, but he was too slow, and a second later, his head exploded as it was hit by a burst of machinegun fire from one of the creatures.

+

Captain Strang looked on through his field glasses as his troops pressed home the attack on the human installation. He had seen Callum go in the front gate with that human loving doppelganger and so technically his men should be making just noise and then at some point withdrawing.

“What is the status” Strang asked over his radio.

“We have taken out the human guards” came back the reply

“Any further resistance?” Strang then asked

“None that we can see” came back that answer

Strang thought for a moment, Callum’s plan rested on the forced co-operation of a doppelganger to get into a position to steal what that weakling Lord High Troll described as a pathogen.

Strang was not too sure what a pathogen was, all he knew was that it would help build a super weapon that would annihilate those humans that used magic and who had been using it to great effect against Troll technology, as if that were possible!

Strang considered his troops he had with him on this strange world of humans with technology.

The Lord High Troll was not here!

Suppose that despicable elf failed, and given the reliance of his plan on a doppelganger, that was probably most likely, then it would be up to him, Captain Strang to retrieve the situation.

“There will most likely be some other barracks” Strang said over the radio, “Take that out and kill all you find”

“Sir?” the troll questioned over the radio, “I thought our orders were”

Strang interrupted “Our plans have been changed” he said into the radio, “We are going to press home the attack as our intelligence indicates this military base is only lightly defended. We are now going to capture this base and then take any prisoners back to our world for their trial and execution. When we secure the pathogen ourselves, then the honour will go to the Manjura and not some elf who is without honour”

“That is not the plan and you know it!” came a voice from behind.

Strang turned around, it was the orc technician.

“But we have a tactical advantage over these humans” Strang retorted, “Why shouldn’t we continue the attack. I believe we can secure this pathogen ourselves, without having to trust to the guile of an elf and a human loving doppelganger”

“But that is not what the Lord High Troll ordered” the orc protested.
“The Lord High Troll is not here” Strang retorted

The orc narrowed his eyes at Strang, “His excellency thought you might disobey him” the orc went on , “So he authorised me if the occasion arose to”

Suddenly the orc sank to his knees, unable to use the handgun he had just produced.

Strang stepped aside as the orc fell forward, a combat knife in his back.

Another troll came up to Strang, “You were right about the orc sir” the troll told Strang.

Strang smiled, “Looks like Deltron was an unfortunate casualty in this operation against the humans”

“And by the way things are going sir, he was the only casualty” the other troll grinned
“Unless of course the elf and that doppelganger get killed in this action” Strang replied

“Unfortunately sir” the other troll went on, “those two are in the compound already”
“And were it not the case that we needed that pathogen thing, we could just level those buildings with our mortars” Strang sighed

+

As Callum and the doppelganger were ushered further from the action by the unsuspecting humans, it was becoming clear that something was not right. The sound of gunfire and incoming mortars was continuing long after Strang was supposed to order the ceasefire.

What was that fool Strang up to? Did he not realise he could end up destroying the vital pathogen weapon ordered by the Lord High Troll?

Now Callum had another worry, would that doppelganger manage to hold this form, or at least not arouse suspicion of the humans.

+ + +

An abandoned factory
Somewhere in London

The large man held Janine’s arm in an arm-lock as they watched the man who they called Quaylong hold out a deep blue orb.

Janine recognised the object from a captured one in the vaults back at the EAD, it was a dimension jump orb, But one being used by humans!!!

As Quaylong started to chant, in mid-air a blue dot appeared and started to increase in size.

“DROP YOUR WEAPONS” a shout came from behind

Janine felt herself being thrust forward as the large man pushed her to the ground so he could turn around to face whoever had shouted.

Janine could just about see from the ground where she lay at what was going on.

A green vortex had appeared in the abandoned factory.

Out of which two clean-up squad members had emerged

Janine watched as the large man called Travis pulled out his version of a samurai sword, screamed and ran at the clean-up squad swinging it ready to strike.

There was a burst of gunfire

Janine watched as the large man dropped his sword and fall to the ground.

Behind her was the sudden sound of a vortex closing up.

The others had taken advantage of the distraction caused by the man called Travis to escape through the blue vortex back to their own world.

By now two other members of the clean-up squad had emerged from the green vortex, one of them coming up to her pointing his gun at her, the other at the man they had just shot.

“It’s me Special Operations officer Sedlacek” Janine said to the clean-up squad member.

Just then there was the sound of flames, and instinctively Janine looked at where the sound had come from.

The man that had been called Travis had erupted into a fierce inferno, just the way that creatures from the long cut off Mystical Realms did when they died here on Earth.

Within seconds, the body of the large man had been reduced to ash.

The clean-up squad member next to Janine continued to point his gun at her.

“Excuse me if I don’t believe you” he growled.

“Would it help if I took my clothes off?” Janine replied

“It might” the clean-up squad member replied.

By now all the members of the clean-up squad were training their weapons on Janine, and she could understand why. For all they knew she was a doppelganger, and they had just seen what appeared to be a human burst into flames.

Slowly Janine stood up and began undressing.

First she unbuttoned her coat and dropped it to the ground and then she kicked off her shoes. Luckily she was not wearing any socks.

She pulled off her blouse and dropped that to the floor. Next, she undid her trousers and pushed them so they dropped down her legs and onto the floor.

She stepped out of them, unclipping her bra.

As the men pointed their guns at Janine, she took her bra off and then pushed her panties down and stepped out of them, so she was totally naked.

She then put her arms up in surrender.

One of the clean-up squad went over to Kevin’s body and knelt down as he examined it. He then shook his head.

The commander of the clean-up squad took out a radio, “Confirmed there was an incursion here, we have one human fatality and it appears one IDE fatality which is ash. We also have someone here claiming to be S-O-O Sedlacek”

Janine could not here the reply, but the commander told whoever it was on the other end that she had stripped naked to prove she was human.

There was the sound of a text on the commander’s cell phone. He pulled it out and looked at it.

“Stand down men” the commander called out, “It’s confirmed that is the S-O-O”

The commander walked up to Janine, “You can get dressed now” he told her, “they are sending round a van now”

Janine ignored her clothes lying on the floor, instead she asked the commander of the clean-up squad, “How did you manage to convert a wormhole generator to be a teleport device so fast, and how did you know to get over here?”
“They’ll explain that back at HQ” the commander replied, “Now please could you get dressed?”

“Is there any point if we are going back to the EAD I’ll only have to strip off again” Janine asked

“I would prefer it Miss if you got dressed” the commander replied in a blunt manner.

“Ok” Janine said rather crest fallen at the commander’s manner and then proceeded to get dressed again.

She then glanced at Kevin’s body, lying on the ground; a clean-up squad member was in attendance. Shook her head and swore quietly.

+ + +

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Salisbury, Wiltshire
England

Callum knelt alongside the remaining civilian staff in the main canteen as the troll guards pointed their machine guns at them.

Callum looked at the body of a young woman who had merely tried to ask a question after their surrender.

Callum was seething with rage at Captain Strang, the plan had been to use deception to make the humans hand over the pathogen without them knowing it was gone. Now it would be obvious to the humans on this world what they were after, all because that stupid oaf Strang who wanted a bit of glory.

All he could hope for was that Padow the Lord High Troll might see this as insubordination, but then he remembered how Padow had explained the politics within the ruling Manjura clan. Strang was probably using this to oust the Lord High Troll in favour of himself.

Just on cue, as it were, Captain Strang walked in, accompanied by two more troll guards.

“Who is the leader of this facility” Strang said in a rough voice.

A bald headed man in his fifties nervously put up his hand, “I am the director of this laboratory” he said hesitantly.

Strang pulled out his pistol and shot the man right between the eyes, “Your surrender is accepted”

Callum glowered at Strang, but could do nothing, he expected that the next bullet would be for him after he had just done the typical tactic of killing any leader of a captured unit to show the others who was boss.

Strang walked over to Callum and placed his pistol to his head.

“What are you waiting for Strang” Callum said with venom, “Do you think Padow will award you a medal for this disobedience”

“I will get a medal elf” Strang replied back, “But it won’t be from that weakling Padow. When I come back with these prisoners and the super weapon to eliminate all humans, I will show what a better tactician I am than that runt. Not only will I have the Manjura elders eating out of my hand, but the other troll clans will fall in line and elect me Supreme Troll”

Strang cocked the pistol ready to fire again, “It was a pity that the humans killed you, the orc and that doppelganger scum” Strang went on, then Strang stopped, “Which one is the doppelganger?”

It was now that Strang realised that the human government minister form that the doppelganger had taken on when he had gone into the base was not present.

“There’s a dilemma Strang” Callum sneered, “As soon as I realised your treachery I ordered him to take another form, and only I know who he is”

“Then I will have everyone here killed and that will see to that human loving shape shifter” Strang retorted.

“And who will you test the pathogen on to ensure it will do the job?” Callum snapped back

“What do you mean you miserable elf?” Strang asked

“Is it not the aim to use a biological weapon to annihilate those humans that have been attacking our world with their magic?” Callum asked

Strang just grunted

“Surely you don’t deploy a weapon against a foe without testing it Strang?” Callum asked, “What if it didn’t work? You need these humans as test subjects”

“So we appear to be at an impasse” Strang glowered, “I kill you and I don’t know where that doppelganger is”
“That’s right” Callum replied in an arrogant tone, “And when they get back they will tell of your disobeying direct orders given by your clan leader” Callum went on, “If you hope to be a leader you need to show loyalty if you want to gain the favour and support of the clan elders”

Strang withdrew his pistol and approached the humans kneeling in surrender on the floor”

“You are prisoners of the Manjura Empire” Strang barked at the humans, “You are not fit to wear clothing because of the dishonour of your defeat at our hands. You will stand up and all strip off every last item of clothing”

“What!” Callum exclaimed
“You are not the only one who knows about doppelgangers” Strang said with a troll like smirk.

There was the sound of machine guns getting ready to fire

“I said Strip” Strang ordered.

At once the humans stood up and started to remove their clothes, some, especially the females were crying at the humiliation.

“After you have disrobed” Strang went on, “You will hand over live samples of Y Pestis and H1N1

Strang then turned back to Callum, “Oh yes” Strang said with a smile, “I believe I had some unfinished business”

At that, Strang pulled out his pistol, aimed at Callum and pulled the trigger, hitting the elf right between the eyes.

“Another casualty of the raid” one of the other trolls remarked.

“Shame that” Strang replied, “No wonder we had to go to this back up plan”

Strang looked up at the humans, they were all naked. Callum had either lied or the doppelganger was never in the room when he had been captured along with the humans.

Strang pointed a gun at one of the female humans, “You, do you know where the pathogens are that I asked for?” he demanded.

The woman shook her head in fear

Strang shot her dead on the spot

“I want those pathogens” Strang demanded loudly

A middle aged man raised his hand, “I have access, if you will let the others go”

Strang walked over to the man and placed his hands around the man’s neck and bent over to whisper in his ear, “Give me them and I will let the others live” he growled.

Strang ordered a troll to accompany him while the other trolls guarded the rest of the humans.

“What about the doppelganger?” one of the troll guards asked

“Those creatures are instinctive cowards” Strang said gruffly, “We will leave it behind, it is of no consequence”

At that Strang, with one of the troll guards forced the man out of the room in the direction of the section that housed the most dangerous pathogens known to humans on their world.

+ + +

The Castle Lodinium
(An unknown world)

Sir Timous of the Zacharan approached Lord Samail of the Petros Lands in the main hall.

“So how was your first trip to Earth, as they call that world” Lord Samail asked

Sir Timous paused for a moment, “It did not go as I would have liked my liege”

“What happened?” Lord Samail asked with concern in his voice.

“I got Quaylong to take us to a troll entry point which supposedly had been used recently”
“And?” Lord Samail enquired.
“It took us to a ruined building where we found two heretical humans, a man and a wench. They were also investigating the trolls entry to that world at that the ruin. Jamaal dispatched the man and we disarmed the wench and were about to bring her back here for you to interrogate further”
“Why would I want to do that?” Lord Samail asked
“Because” Sir Timous went on, “She claims that the trolls attacked them also at some citadel where they deal with incursions from outside of their world”

“After what we said” Lord Samail said with an accusing tone, “are you suggesting an alliance with these heretics? Did we not go into how their technology could lead to the destruction of our society?”

“By no means my liege” Sir Timous replied, “As the trolls had long since gone from that place I had hoped that I could bring the Wench back here. Then we could find out what effort they put in to deal with the troll menace, in case we could use that against the trolls and if need be deal with these heretics”

“A valid reason I suppose, Sir Timous, so what went wrong?” Lord Samail asked further

“A small army came through a gate similar to the one the trolls used” Sir Timous answered, “except their gate was green like the gates the trolls use instead of our blue ones. This small army was armed with projectile weapons similar to the ones used by the trolls. Travis let go of the wench and charged at them giving us time to escape. The last I saw was how he died a more valiant death than I would deserve for running away like a coward”

Sir Timous pulled out his sword and handed the scabbard end to Lord Samail, “I will understand if you declare my life forfeit and wish another to return to the world of the heretics”

Lord Samail took the sword, but immediately returned it.

“I don’t understand my liege?” Sir Timous objected, “I made a cowardly escape whilst Travis showed his worth by dying a hero in glorious battle”

“You merely made a tactical withdrawal in the face of a superior adversary” Lord Samail told Sir Timous, “A true coward would never own up to being one, and would seek to justify their actions. By coming here, you tell us one thing, our enemies the trolls must be after a weapon, if they are attacking places these heretics have set up to counter such incursions into their world. This makes it vital that you return there to find out what it might be and to destroy it along with any heretics who may have knowledge of such a weapon”

“I am grateful for your faith in me My liege, will not fail you again” Sir Timous asserted and then said in a quieter tone, “I will need however another warrior mercenary to replace the one who gave his life”

“If these heretics are in conflict with the trolls, as it seems from what you report” Lord Samail continued, “A replacement for Travis will not suffice, you will need to be more armed than you were. I will engage all the sorcerers I command. I will make sure you and those you lead into battle on that heretic world, are impervious to the weapons of these heretics. It is obvious, when you enter the world of the heretics again, you must go in with overwhelming magic superiority, just like the way we have been winning in our war over the trolls and those other non-human races. Technology is one thing, Sir Timous, but magic will always win out over it as technology can only operate in the natural world.”

“Once again” Sir Timous replied, “I am grateful that you are giving me this second chance”

+ + +

The Entity Affairs Directorate
South London, England

It had been a sad and lonely journey back to the EAD headquarters. Janine had had to sit in the back of a clean-up squad van with the body of Kevin and three other clean-up squad members. A fourth had been tasked with driving the car back to the EAD, as Janine was not yet been cleared for driving official vehicles. Her original driving licence was in the name of someone who supposedly committed suicide in Holloway Prison and a new one still had to be sorted out.

As she had looked at the body bag in which Kevin had been placed, his death started to hit home, and a tear rolled down her face.

She kept on wondering what she did wrong, and how she should have done things differently, plus who were those men who seemed to use magic?

And now she stood outside reception of the main building.

Quietly Janine entered the main front doors.

Once again the familiar electronic voice announced which locker her clothes would go into, and in silence Janine stripped off and placed her clothes in the locker before heading to the lift.

After passing the voice identification in the lift, it started to descend. After an eternity, the lift doors opened onto the EAD command centre.

She was met by Derek a man in his late thirties, he was wearing a smock and offered her a smock and flip-flops. It was obvious that he had been asked to fill in for Katrina, who had been killed by the troll incursion.

For a brief moment Janine wondered if she should for once accept the paper smock, even though she was allergic to them and they made her itch. Perhaps she deserved some discomfort because of Kevin’s death at the hands of the magic using humans.

Janine shook her head, “Thanks anyway Derek” she told him, “Those things make me itch, that’s why I work naked”

“Ok Miss Sedlacek” Derek replied, “Although I have to say, there are some of us who find that distracting”
“Well that’s your problem” Janine snapped back angrily, “You get us some paper clothes that don’t make us break out in hives and perhaps we might consider wearing them”

Derek shook his head and turned to go away, but then turned back, “Mr Matthews wants to see you in his office” he told her and then he left.

Janine felt angry and upset. She had witnessed the death of one of the few men that understood what it was like to be unable to wear those paper garments that were vital in security against doppelganger assassins and all Derek was concerned about was being put off by a few naked women

Janine walked through the command centre, looking at some of the other members of staff. Some glanced at her and she heard comments about how bruised her face looked. Some however were too absorbed in their work, probably trying to cobble some kind of replacement for the now destroyed Sky-Guard system.

Then Janine stopped and looked at Kevin’s work station.

Never would Kevin work at it again.

Only that morning Janine had teased Kevin about his manhood and how allergenic responses to the paper smocks made them work naked at the EAD, but that seemed a lifetime ago.

It had been a long day

First there was the destruction of the first Sky-Guard Satellite, then of the whole network, the attack by the trolls; the visit to the minister and then that trip back to where the trolls first invaded their world, which resulted in Kevin’s death at the hands of men who used magic.

Janine shook her head and headed on over to Drake’s office.

She opened the door and got the shock of her life, even though she knew this was coming.

Standing there wearing a paper smock next to Drake sitting at his desk, was a platinum blonde woman of similar age to her.

It was Doctor Charlene Henshaw, the one woman whose career in science had been destroyed by Janine’s father, when he had sent a clean-up squad to CERN, which had killed several civilian staff.

Janine could not think what to say.

“You!” Doctor Charlene said with venom

“I” Janine stuttered out before Charlene interrupted

“Spare me your pathetic apologies Janine” Charlene spat out, “I thought you had topped yourself in a prison cell”

“Doctor Henshaw!” Drake interrupted, “That’s enough. It was Miss Sedlacek who took out Sir Sidney Gerald.”
“Yeah but didn’t the Brigadier General say she said I could be deleted from his artificial universe along with Celeste and her baby”

“That was never going to happen” Drake snapped back, “Janine was working for us”

“And was she working for you when her father had my friend Sue-Lim arrested by the FBI?” Charlene went on, “Was she working for you when her father manipulated Celeste into delivering her a cursed scarf that tried to make Sue-Lim kill herself?”

Drake was silent for a moment.

There was nothing Janine could do or say about that. During her father’s reign of terror when he had infiltrated just about every security service going and was dealing with dissident loyalist paramilitaries, Janine along with her half-brother Adrian were her father’s right hand men, it were. Even if Janine and Adrian had been biding their time before taking that monster down for what he had done to their mother.

“That’s ancient history” Drake spoke up, “and it was Sir Sidney who arranged that, not Miss Sedlacek, besides, we have a new threat and we can’t afford past recriminations and going over old ground”

Charlene glowered at Drake

“I’m sorry Doctor Henshaw” Drake went on, “But both the minister and your former CO both want you working with us on dealing with this threat by the trolls. We are not sure why after the American’s short-lived policy of engagement they have turned on us and why they have now killed five of our people”

“Maybe there has been another coup” Charlene suggested
“You mean like the one that brought that Brameana troll to power in that alternate timeline?” Drake asked
“How they got past the radiation barrier?” Charlene commented

It was only then that Janine could find her voice, “They weren’t trolls” she whispered, “They were men, using magic”

“What?” Drake asked, “When your detector picked up the strong residue of a wormhole and radioed it in automatically we just assumed the trolls were coming back there”

“Yeah” Charlene interjected, “And like a fool I showed them how to use an old wormhole generator as a teleport device”

“That was how the clean-up squad got there” Drake cut in, “But what do you mean by people”

“Like I said sir” Janine went on, “There were four men, they were all dressed in suits but they were carrying weapons such as swords, crossbows and daggers and one of them was using magic”

“That’s impossible” Drake retorted, “Maybe they were doppelgangers”

“But doppelgangers cannot use magic” Janine protested, “That was the province of the fairer races like the elves, the drow, and the leprechauns”

“There were no humans on IDW01 who used magic” Drake insisted

“Much though I hate to agree with her, but I’m afraid I have to concur” Charlene interrupted, “From our experience doppelgangers never used magic, they don’t have that ability”

“There’s one other thing sir” Janine interrupted back, “One of the Clean-up squad shot one of the men and he burst into flames”

“Huh?” Drake replied.

“I’m not making this up sir” Janine protested, “Ask the clean-up squad they will confirm what I saw”

“And we have the dead bodies of trolls in our sub-basement” Drake muttered.

“What?” Charlene asked, “Trolls using technology and not incinerating when killed, but humans doing so and using magic?”

“It looks that way” Drake commented

“But that’s what was reported” Janine insisted, “The trolls that attacked here used their own version of artificial wormhole generators and guns, the humans that killed Kevin were using magic and as I said I saw one of them incinerate when he was taken down”

Charlene shook her head before speaking again, “You know the other name for IDW01?”

Drake narrowed his eyes, “I believe that Mr Andrews called it The Mystical Realms. It’s a pity that Ireland refuses to hand him over when we sort to extradite him”

“Why?” Charlene interrupted, “Mr Andrews wants to have nothing further to do with that place, is this because he helped humiliate the old IDEC?”

“Sorry” Drake replied, “I digress, you were making a point Doctor Henshaw?”

“Oh right” Charlene responded, “It sounds almost like we are dealing with another Mystical Realms, but one where the magic is done by humans”

“And the trolls?” Drake asked

“Another universe completely to IDW01” Charlene answered
“Yeah” Janine piped up, “When the last Sky-Guard satellite was destroyed we discovered that the wormhole they used to attack it came from somewhere totally different”

“If this were the field of particle physics” Charlene continued, “It would seem like proof of what we call Super Symmetry with Super Symmetric particles”

Both Drake and Janine were silent, So Charlene thought she better explain, “In normal matter in addition to electrons we fermions and bosons. The fermions are effectively particles of stuff like protons, neutrons or quarks, and bosons are partivles which carry forces, like the photon is the particle that transmits the electromagnetic force, the gluon the strong nuclear force, the W and the Z for the Weak nuclear force and of course the theoretical Higgs boson which is supposed to give particles mass. In super-symmetry, for every type of boson there exists a corresponding type of fermion with the same mass and internal quantum numbers, and vice-versa. It’s all theoretical, because even though they are predicted by the standard model these super-symmetric particles have never been observed”

“I remember reading about Super-Symmetry a while back” Janine interrupted.

For a moment Charlene glowered at Janine.

“As I was saying” Charlene went on, “We are a human world using technology and so this other world which Janine says she saw humans using magic, and whose bodies combust when they die here must be our super-symmetric partner”

“And the technological trolls must be the super-symmetric partners of IDW01” Drake interrupted

“Exactly” Charlene agreed, “It is as if all four worlds are behaving like the standard model, and since we started at the Big Bang as a super dense particle”

Drake interrupted again, “This is all very interesting Doctor Henshaw but how does this help us?”

“Maybe it the other way around” Janine murmured

“What do you mean?” Drake asked.

“Maybe these technological trolls are our super symmetric partners and the world of humans using magic”

“So you’re an expert in particle physics now?” Charlene interrupted

“Well I know how to construct an artificial universe” Janine snapped back before realising what she was saying.

“Enough!” Drake said angrily, “Does it matter who is what? We have two incursions now by beings from two other universes; both have taken action that we must consider hostile. The question is why and what do we do about it?”

“They seem to be at war with the trolls” Janine offered, “The magic using people called them troll scum, referred to them as enemies”

“So we are caught piggy in the middle” Drake observed

“And if the trolls attacked first” Charlene came back on
“That means these magic using humans are reacting to something the trolls have done” Drake completed, “Which brings us back to where were are, What do we do about it”

“Maybe the trolls are after some kind of weapon we have, to use against the magic using humans” Charlene answered

“Well if this is a war, maybe we should pick a side?” Drake suggested

Janine shook her head, “No” she uttered, “bad idea”

“Why not?” Drake asked, “The trolls attacked first, these humans could believe they were operating in self-defence”

“You didn’t hear how they spoke sir” Janine insisted, “It was like back in the dark ages before women’s rights, they referred to me as a slave girl”

“I’m afraid I have to agree with Janine” Charlene interjected, “If we back any side, then the other will declare war on us, and we have no idea how the side we chose to back will be to us”

“Well the trolls have already done that” Drake answered back, “They attacked us first remember? They were the ones that attacked this command centre”

“But if they are after something we possess that they believe could be used as a weapon against them” Charlene insisted, “they could claim self-defence. What we have to do is come up with some-way to block access to our world from both universes so they can’t drag us into their war”

A phone rang on Drake’s desk

“Audrey” Drake yelled through the door, “Can’t you take a message?”

“It’s Sir Andrew Kneller” a reply came through the door.

“Great!” Drake said with irritation and picked up the phone

“Sir Andrew?” Drake said into the phone

Janine could not hear what was being said, but from Drake’s usually impassive face, she could tell it was something serious.

Drake picked up a TV remote control and pointed it at the television in the office.

It came on to a news channel.

It was breaking news about a terrorist attack on Porton Down, after someone coming in for a night shift came and discovered the carnage.

“Do you want us to come” Drake said into the phone

Janine could not hear the reply, but it seemed to be in the negative.

“Alpha team are a good team” Drake replied to the inaudible voice, “I’m sure they will contain things and make sure the media run with an Al-Qaida attack”

Janine recognised the name of one of the more expert Clean-up squads. Rumour had it that they were made up of members from the clean-up squads in the old days of the IDEC UK base before the Americans briefly took it over.

Then Janine saw Drake’s face turn to one of utter astonishment as he stood up suddenly.

“Bring it here, Alive” Drake said in a firm tone, “We need to work out what the trolls are after” he added before putting the phone down.

“What’s happened?” Charlene asked.

“It seems that someone, most likely trolls, have attacked The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and stolen a number of highly lethal pathogens”

“Casualties?” Janine asked nervously

“Heavy” Drake replied, “It was a full armed assault team by the sound of it. They slaughtered all the guards and it seems that some of the scientists are unaccounted for, my guess is that they have been taken back to the trolls own world. One of the dead at the laboratory is not human or even a troll”

“What is it?” Charlene asked
“An elf” Drake answered

“Any survivors?” Janine then asked

“One” Drake said with the sound of astonishment still in his voice, “A doppelganger, who has given himself up and is asking for asylum”

To Be continued