John Schettler - Touchstone

All eyesturned to the far end of the lab complex where a massive circular door gleamed in the cool light of the overhead neon. It was the portal that would lead to the access tunnel of the Arch. Far below the lab, the on-site generators were thrumming away to provide the enormous power required for the operation. Kelly was monitoring the buildup, watching as the power indicator swept through 80% on its way to maximum surge. It seemed sluggish to him, and he was concerned. As if he could read his friend’s thoughts, Paul looked over his shoulder and tossed him a question.

“How are we on power?”

“Eighty-seven percent, and building. But it’s not ramping up like it should. I think we may have lost our connection to the outside power grid.” He toggled a bank of switches and nodded his head. “Yup, nothing coming in from PG&E.”

“Damn storm has the whole Bay Area down,” put in Nordhausen, who looked at Maeve to see if he was about to suffer any reprisal for breaking silence. She let the remark pass, giving him a sideward glance, her attention primarily focused on Kelly.

“We’re on internal power now,” said Kelly. “Fuel looks good, at least for the next several hours. How’s the particle infusion?”

“I’ve got enough left for a retraction, but…”

The question that was in everyone’s mind was left unspoken. Who was coming through the Arch? How were they shifting in? Where were they coming from?

“Robert…” Paul looked away from the infusion chamber. “Make yourself useful. You and Maeve will have to form our welcoming committee. I have no idea what to expect, but could the two of you get down to the Arch?”

“But what if it’s the Assassins?” The professor was the first to vocalize the obvious fear. “Do you expect me to fend them off at the elevator? We don’t even have any weapons here.”

“Relax,” said Maeve. “I’ll take my parasol.” She was pulling him up from the chair and heading for the titanium door. Kelly had toggled the breaching command, and the massive door was swinging open on its oiled metal hinges.

“Come along, Robert. We’ve got to get through before it closes.”

“The intercom is open,” Kelly shouted after them. “Be careful! Damn,” he said to Paul, “I wish we had installed cameras. I don’t like the idea of someone dropping in unannounced like this. Who could it be?”

“God only knows,” said Paul. “One side or the other. But whoever it is, they seem to want to talk something over with the Founders.”

“Or blow the Founders to pieces,” Kelly suggested. “What if Robert is right and the Assassins come through to take us all out? What if there really was a Transformation and the world we’re living in now has no Internet—at least not one that functions as we might expect it. I was pinging all over the world moments ago, looking for my Golems. That’s one hell of a way to shout ‘here I am ‘ on the network, if there is one.”

Paul smiled. “You’re suggesting the Islamic Thought Police have a line on our location and coming in to take us down?”

“Well, we didn’t initiate the breach, Paul. I have no base number as a reference. Someone clearly knows our coordinates—the exact temporal and spatial coordinates of the Arch.”

“Forget the murder scenario,” said Paul. “The fact that the Arch is their focal target is good evidence that they intend no harm. As you can see, their arrival is not exactly a secret. I could reverse polarity now and stop the breaching sequence altogether if I wanted. They have to know that as well. And to answer your question, they are using the Arch because we’re in a Nexus Point. You can’t run a breach into a Nexus without assistance at the other end. I think they sent through their breaching pulse to give us a little nudge and ask for some help. How’s the power look now?”

“Ninety-four percent. It’s sluggish. I don’t know if the on-site turbines can give us a hundred percent, and we have no reserve if anything should fail.”

“When it hits ninety-five I’ll start the infusion.”

“Go!” said Kelly, pointing with his finger.

Paul activated the retraction module, feeding in the precious quantum fuel and hoping the equipment would hold together.”

“This is ridiculous!” said Nordhausen as the elevator opened on the bottom floor of the Arch bay. “Look at us… we’re still dressed up in costume. If anyone comes through they’ll immediately think they’ve got the wrong time.”

“Nonsense,” said Maeve. “Since this is the earliest functional Arch in any Meridian, they can’t be coming from the past. That means they’re from the future. They’ve probably had decades to research this,” she concluded.

“It’s creepy,” said Nordhausen. “I don’t like the idea of someone knowing everything I’m likely to do for the remainder of my life, and making casual visits to chat like this… unless they intend something more. Damn, I wish I had my walking stick.”

They were beyond the final door now, the last barrier between the world they knew and the heart of the Arch corridor where an artificial singularity was spinning out in a mad dance of quantum particles, a strange temporal waltz. The sound of the generators was pounding in the confined space, and the temperature was noticeably cold. But the most obvious sign that the breach was commencing was the cavalcade of lights, a whirlwind of auroras directly in front of them. The radiance and hue of the colors was awesome, and Robert found himself gaping at the display as he recalled the images he had seen when he first opened his eyes in the Arch flow.

The thick yellow line on the concrete floor ahead was the only thing between them and the hole that was now opening in infinity. Robert seemed to press toward it with an eagerness that seemed compelling. Maeve hung back, reaching to grab hold of the professor’s arm to restrain his forward movement.

“Not too close,” she warned. “This is a retraction. We’ve never tested for this scenario, and I have no idea what would happen if someone was in the Arch when the breach actually opened. Stay well back from the event line.”

Robert nodded, but his face was alight with wonder and expectation. Whatever fear he had conjured up, of sword wielding Arab Assassins bursting through the Arch on a death mission, it had evaporated now that he was in the presence of the incredible spectacle before him.

The temperature dropped precipitously, and there came a low growling sound, like a train passing, or again a tornado as it swept by on a raging unseen tempest. Then a hazy fog, thick and cold, and tinged with neon blue, began to materialize before them in the center of the Arch. Robert strained to see as the mist grew in density, resolving to the unmistakable shape of a man, though he remained obscured by the fog. There came a long howling sound, wolf like and hungry, as if pack of rabid dogs were on the prowl. Through the torrent of light and sound, they could hear the voice of Kelly on the intercom, distant and tinny.

“Breach closing… Is everyone alright down there?” His voice had a strange hollow echo to it, as though it was coming from a thousand miles away, barely discernable in the noise of the corridor.

A man strode forward, the cold mist evaporating around him in a crackle of blue light. He was heavy set, and Robert saw that he wore a long gray cape, and black floppy headpiece. He looked at Maeve, and they shared a flash of recognition as the man stepped toward them with a smile on his broad, fleshy face.

It was LeGrand.

“We meet again!” he said with enthusiasm.

He seemed a bit pale, clearly shaken, yet recovering well considering the strange disorientation and nausea that could accompany a time shift. Maeve raised her eyebrows, her suspicions immediately aroused, but civility prevailed, and she was the first to reach out and take the visitor’s arm, steadying him as he swayed in momentary spell of dizziness. Robert moved to assist her, and together they helped LeGrand away from the event line and back through the massive titanium door behind them. A moment later it closed with a sibilant hiss.