The Journal of Dr. Colwyn Rhys-Myers

Entry: 27 Apr 1919, Part IV

For a moment, I stood as if a statue of myself. It could not be her. She could not be here. But then, by all that my imagination could until so recently call conceivable, I should not be here either. Yet, here I was. And there she was.

In that instant, I bolted for her; but, before I could take even three steps, I was grabbed quickly, and forcibly, by Pao. If ever I needed a reminder of his considerable strength, this was it. He pulled me into an alley between two buildings and held me against the concrete wall.

As I struggled, quite in vain, against Pao’s grip, Li followed him, and hissed in my ear, “Just what were you thinking of doing?!?”

“Her…that girl…I must…I know her!!!” My thoughts were outpacing my tongue considerably.

“What about her?” Li asked.

“She…she was…she shouldn’t be here!”

“Well, neither should we, but that doesn’t mean we have to go after her.”

“No…we…I have to get her home.” I said.

“That building is a research lab for off-world specimens, and it’s the last place we want to get into!” Li replied.

Pao sat me down with one hand, and motioned Li to silence with the other. “Calm down, both of you. Doctor, explain. Who is she? Is she from your world?”

“Yes…she…” I took a moment to gather my wits, while Pao waited patiently, and Li kept watch on the street. “When I first came in contact with the zhu after the War, it was in my village. It appeared in a home: her home. Her parents were killed, and she…well…she was driven mad. I sent her to a friend of mine, a fellow doctor, in London. She should still be there!”

“You say her family came in contact with the zhu?”

“Yes, at least it seems that way. I’m virtually certain of it.”

“Is she sensitive like you?” Pao asked.

“I don’t know. She might be. I suspect she is.”

“Then perhaps she was brought here by a fluke similar to yours.”

“Perhaps. Look, Pao, please: I can’t leave her here.”

“I agree. Especially in there. That building’s a laboratory where the Xell perform experiments on the effects of zhu on various off-worlders to see if any other species can exhibit a similar degree of control. The effects are not pretty.”

Pao gestured to Li. “Li, we need to get her out. Can we do it?”

Li snorted, “Wonderful. Give me a moment.” He disappeared in thought. “I think we can. Pao, remember the service tunnels?” Pao nodded in the affirmative. “I think we can get from the basement of the research lab to the transport lab through them without being seen. That would save us having to walk both of them out in the open the last few blocks.”

Li turned to me. “Doctor, the original plan was for the three of us to walk peacefully another four blocks to the transport lab, sneak in a back door with the help of a friend of ours there, and send you home quickly, and fairly easily. Now, we’ll be breaking in to the research lab, prowling through the entire facility, hopefully unseen, to find this little girl, ‘rescuing’ her from their scientists and their guards, sneaking through the facility until we get lucky enough to find the entrance to the service tunnels, escaping through them to the transport lab, again hopefully unseen, and hoping when we get there we come out at a point close enough to our contacts that we can complete what was going to be a very simple covert operation.”

I couldn’t help but think that on our world, Li would’ve made an excellent Squad Leader. He certainly had the temperament for one. “I’ll do whatever needs to be done,” I said.

“Good. You’ll have to,” Li replied.

Pao looked at both of us. “It’s settled then. Let’s follow this alley around back. It should connect to one behind the lab, and maybe there we can find a way in.”

We followed the alley some short distance, and as Pao had hoped, it ended in a “T” intersection, the right arm of which ran directly behind the research lab. We took that arm, and came to a small door bracketed by what appeared to be two large, metallic storage lockers, and an industrial-size trash receptacle. Just as we approached, the door opened, and Li motioned us behind one of the lockers. We could just see a shui-ta coming out the door dragging two boxes with him.

Pao gave a low whistle, and the ‘ta looked in our direction. Pao caught his eye. The ‘ta glanced back at the door, and then walked over to us. “Yes, friend?”

“A favour, if you would, please,” Pao said.

“Surely.”

“Can you sneak us in?”

“Why would you possibly want in here? Why would anyone want in here? You must know what goes on inside,” the ‘ta said.

“Explaining would take too long. We need to rescue one of…the subjects.”

Li cut in. “It’s one of his kind.” Here he gestured to me. “A girl.”

The ‘ta looked quizzically at me, then, his eyes widened. “A girl? Your kind?” I nodded. “That girl?!? I’ll get you in. She needs to leave, and you need to make sure she never comes back.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Does she have power where you live, off-worlder?”

“I don’t know. She might,” I replied.

“Well, here she does. I’m not a scientist; but, I hear enough, and I hear she has more control than any subject has ever shown. The Xell think she might be able to open doors anywhere, anytime.”

Pao and Li both gasped. “Just what does that mean?” I asked.

Pao explained, “To the Xell, we act as if the door was a fluke. It was, at least initially; but, as time has passed, and our control has improved, the possibility of opening more doors has become much more likely. We don’t want them to gain access to every point in the universe indiscriminately, so we’ve hidden that possibility from them. In that way, the Xell aren’t very perceptive. However, if they find someone with control surpassing our own, and little or no understanding of the consequences of that control, the universe, perhaps all universes, are in grave danger.”

“Well put,” the ‘ta said. “This way.”

He led us through the door into a storage room, then through another door directly opposite. A hallway stretched in both directions, the one direction ending in a stairwell. We followed the ‘ta toward the stairs. “We’ll head two floors up, then down a hall to her quarters. She’s just been brought back from a display; so, she should be there. Running into our ‘tas won’t be a problem; running into the Xell will. Most of them should be in the labs, though.”

Heading up the stairs, we heard footsteps on the first-floor landing, and flattened ourselves against the walls. Pao cocked his fist, ready to knock out any Xell coming down toward us. The footsteps were those of a Xell; but fortunately, he was heading upstairs. We followed him at a discreet distance, and he continued past the second floor. We turned left at the second-floor landing and walked down a corridor lined with what no amount of technological progress or architectural advancement could disguise from my eyes as cell-doors.

Behind the doors, electrical screens which gave off a static charge when I brought my hand within a foot of them, was a menagerie of beings wondrous and terrifying. Every cell was outfitted seemingly comfortably with furniture and accoutrements appropriate to the beings locked within; but, no amount of artificial comfort, and no amount of unfamiliarity to me of the faces of the beings, could hide the despair I saw at their imprisonment. Suffering, it seemed, was as universal as life itself.

At the end of the corridor, behind the final screen, in a perfectly appointed Victorian sitting room and bedroom, sat Claire. “Claire!” I called out, and ran to the door. The static charge threw me to the floor. “Careful,” the ‘ta said as he helped me up, “that shock won’t kill you; but, I don’t recommend trying it more than once.”

“Can she hear me?” I asked.

“She can,” he replied.

I stood as closely to the door as I dared. “Claire!”

She looked up as if coming out of a daydream, and a slight smile crossed her face. “Doctor?”

“Claire, is that you?”

“Yes, we are Claire.”

If I had been perplexed at seeing her on the street outside the lab, I was made to feel doubly so by her remark. “Claire, do you know me?” I asked.

She studied me as would someone trying to make out the details of a distant landscape through a dense fog. “Yes, we know you. You are the Doctor. You know our family.” At the mention of her family, a pained look crossed her face. For a moment, she made a sound as if she was going to cry; but, her expression quickly regained a look of detached calm.

“Do you know where you are?” I asked.

“We are here. We are home. We are many places.”

“Dear God, what’s happened to you? What have they done?” I turned to the ‘ta. “Can you open the cell?”

“Yes, but we have only a moment before the Wardens show up. It’ll set off the alarms, and they’ve probably already seen us on the monitors.”

“Do it.”

He punched a series of symbols – numbers, perhaps – on a panel on the wall near the door, and on the third try, the electrical screens faded out. In the other cells, the prisoners watched hopefully, in anticipation that they might be freed next. At that same moment, I rushed into the cell, and a siren sounded overhead. Pao and Li drew their weapons, and stood watching either end of the hall.

“Claire, we have to go!”

“Claire cannot leave.”

“What do you mean? You can’t stay. You don’t belong here, certainly not in this cell!” I said.

“Claire cannot leave this way. She is not whole. It is not safe.”

“I can’t leave you here!”

“You won’t. You will make me whole. But not here.” She looked at me with an expression of serene confidence, a confidence I wish I felt I could return. “How?” I asked, “I don’t understand.”

I could hear footsteps coming down the hallway. Li called out, “Doctor, we’ve got unwanted guests!”

“Claire, please!”

“You,” a voice commanded, “Come out here at once!”

I turned to see Pao and Li with their weapons rose. Facing them was the Xell I had seen at the car earlier with Claire, flanked by four large compatriots of his, each holding something very metallic, and very lethal-looking, in their hands. “Who are you? And what are you doing here?” the presumed scientist demanded of me.

It was Claire who spoke first. “We summoned him, and he is serving us.”

“What?!?” the scientist replied. “You’re not supposed to be able to do that! Anyway, it’s not allowed.”

“You heard her,” Li growled, “We’re her servants. Leave us now!”

“Ridiculous! Guards, take them into custody! You’re ‘ta, and you do what you’re told.”

“Not anymore!” All of us, ‘ta, human, and Xell alike, looked over toward the source of the voice. It was the ‘ta who had let us in, and he was standing by the other cells. Racing from one cell to the next, he unlocked them all, and their occupants came rushing out, one thought on their mind: revenge. They charged the Xell scientist and his bodyguards, and for the moment, we were forgotten. Pao turned to me and said, “Now’s our chance!”

I turned to Claire. “Please, come with us. Come home.”

“We can’t,” she replied. “We will. You are the link. Our safe return is in your hands. Go now.”

Just then, a shriek louder than those of the Xell guards being mauled by their freed prisoners let out. The scientist had broken free, and was running toward me. Before he could reach me, and I was completely unprepared for his attack, his eyes went blank, and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. Behind him stood our newly-revolutionary friend, a chair in his hands.

“Thank you,” I said.

“May I join you?” the ‘ta asked. “I think my career in building maintenance is over.”

In spite of the immediacy of the situation, I took a brief moment to laugh. “Certainly. My name’s Colwyn.”

“Bi’es. Pleased to meet you. Follow me.”

We followed Bi’es through a maze of corridors, the sirens blaring in every one. On two occasions, we ran across single Xell guards, both of them dispatched in a blindingly swift fashion by Pao and Li. By the third encounter, our luck seemed to run out. While passing through a large, open equipment room, a squad of eight Xell guards blocked our way.

“Two for one,” Li yelled, and charged ahead. By sheer force of momentum, we broke through their line; but, they were trained and ready, and we soon found ourselves fighting for our lives. I could not clear my side-arm before I was knocked to the ground by one guard. He was aiming to shoot me when I swung the stick out (yes, I had the stick with me) and tripped him. Bi’es, with a broom grabbed during the fray, was making far more offensive use of it than that for which it was ever intended.

But, we were tiring. I feared we were done. One Xell had leapt on top of me, and was raising a short blade for a killing blow, when a low rumble ending in a roar shook the room. The Xell looked up, screamed, and would have run, had he not been grabbed by a huge, scaly hand, and thrown a good thirty feet against the opposite wall. I looked up into the deep, green eyes of a glistening, grey winged lizard easily twice my size. It purred one word, “Friend,” and lifted me to my feet.

Li walked over and said, “Good thing our new friend let that one out.”

Bi’es waved us over to a door on the far wall. “This way!” he called, as more footsteps echoed down the corridor.

Behind the door was a circular staircase heading down, Bi’es said, four floors to a sub-basement, and the service tunnel leading to the transport lab. We made our way to the tunnel, and began the long walk under the city.

As we navigated the dimly-lit, damp tunnel, a wide, low thoroughfare lined with sweaty pipes and cables, I had time to collect my thoughts. I had become all-too accustomed to grappling with the fantastical; but, this last encounter on a world far beyond my own, with a girl whom I knew only as a scared, little country child from a village in Wales, was truly beyond me. I muttered to myself for much of the walk a largely unintelligible, and certainly unscientific, string of hypotheses.

Pao pulled back to walk alongside me. “Did she say anything helpful to you?” he asked.

“No. I don’t think so. Riddles: nothing but riddles. She called herself ‘we’. People we call schizophrenics do that: people with more than one personality. But, she seemed to believe she’s in more than one place, that there is more than one of her.”

“That may be true.”

“But, how?” I asked.

“Remember Li mentioned I thought the zhu on your world might be part of a medical ‘bot?”

“Yes. What’s that mean?”

“Zhu is reengineered by us under orders from the Xell to perform specific functions. Zhu used in power generation does just that: generates and amplifies energy. Zhu used for repairs rebuilds machines, and inanimate objects. But zhu used for medical applications heals injuries, knits broken bones, fights – sometimes cures – diseases, rebuilds damaged tissue, aids surgical procedures: it toys with the very building blocks of life.

“If, as I fear, that piece of zhu on your world was the heart of a medical robot – a mechanical doctor, if you will – then it will have immensely amplified powers. Like all zhu, it’ll want to go home. But it’s damaged; it won’t know how to get home. It might only remember its directive: ‘to fix’. But, fix what? Fix living organisms so they match those of its home world, my world? Or fix them to match the life-forms of the Xell home-world? Or to match the working knowledge it would have had of any number of other slave-races it was trained to heal, and their worlds? Perhaps, since it can’t get home, it’ll simply rebuild your world in its image. The possibilities are frighteningly endless.

“The one thing the shui-ta never wanted to do was reengineer zhu for medical purposes. But, we did. We gave in. And now, your world might be paying the ultimate price.”

We walked in silence for a time. I could think of nothing to say, nothing to assuage his concerns, certainly nothing to ease mine.

Finally, I had to say something. “Pao, what should I do when I get home?”

“Find that piece. Isolate it. Bury it. Don’t try and destroy it. You won’t be able to, and the stars alone know what will happen if you try. But find it. Keeping it, and keeping it safe, will be your burden. I’m sorry.”

“Can I bring it back? Could…somehow…you come and get it?”

Pao thought for a moment. “I don’t want to give you false hope. However, our use of their technology combined with zhu to manipulate the door, and to transport, is getting better. Our transport method automatically ‘tags’ a passenger when first they use it. We can’t bring a being back without another transport pad in the appointed place; but, we can track them to an extent wherever they go. Your world is already marked. It was marked when the crash happened. And with your sensitivity, your ‘tag’ will shine out like a beacon.

“One thing of which I’m quite sure: you are a part of this world now. Your sensitivity has bonded you with this place, our rip in the fabric of existence. You will see and hear and sense things few, if any, others will. That will ‘tag’ you, too.”

We walked in silence again for a moment. “Claire said I would make her whole,” I said. “Do you have any idea what she might have meant?”

“I can only guess. The zhu could have split her, could have made her a being of more than one reality. She might actually be on your world, and mine. It might know that, and know she has to be put back together. Perhaps, when you find the zhu again, your sensitivity will tell you.”

“Perhaps if I knew how it got to my village in the first place…”

“When my scout ship burned up in the atmosphere, it would’ve left a trail of debris hundreds of miles long, and miles wide. I can tell you that piece in the basement in Hof isn’t a complete unit. Small fragments are missing. And you yourself saw how much its fragments resembled…amethysts, you called them? Who knows how many were found, made into jewelry, sold, without anyone knowing their true nature, or activating them in any way? And they’ve had over two-hundred years to travel.”

“About those two-hundred years: I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

“We’re almost there,” Bi’es said.

The service tunnel spread out into an underground storage area, and the floor sloped up to meet a double-door in the wall at the end. Bi’es walked over to a key-panel much like the one on the cell-doors back in the lab, and began punching in a code. He tried several combinations, and then swore loudly. I didn’t understand the words, but the tone by itself was enough to tell me the intent of what he said.

“The access codes have been locked out,” Bi’es said.

“What’s that mean?” Pao asked.

“It means the facility is on lock-down. They must’ve had a security alert and sealed off the building as a precaution. Probably a warning issued after we let all the test specimens loose in the lab.”

It was Li’s turn to swear, and he pounded on the door loudly. Unexpectedly, someone pounded in response. We all looked at each other in surprise, then a voice called out from the other side of the door, “Pao, are you there?”

“Yes,” Pao answered.

“Pao, it’s T’ai. The building’s on lock-down. Something happened at the research lab.”

“That was us. Sorry: long story.”

“It’s alright. We can’t open the door – the alarms will trigger – but we can let you in. Someone’s coming through the ventilation duct to the left of the door with a device. She’s small enough to fit, and she knows what to do. Hold on.” We heard a very slight shuffling sound in the duct, and a grate covering the duct fell to the floor. A very dirty and dusty ‘ta holding a small mechanical box peeked out of the opening, and leapt down to greet us.

It was Ichi.

Pao stood frozen and speechless, then, regaining his senses, let loose with a bellow worthy of his strength, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?”

“You were going on an adventure. It looked like fun. I couldn’t help it. Besides, it was a good way to practice my tracking. You didn’t see or hear me once, did you?”

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!!! YOU…”

“And you needed someone as small as me to rescue you from in here, didn’t you?”

“You…I…how did?...” Pao turned to me, and said, “Doctor, if ever you take a mate, never have a daughter!”

“I saw you sneak into the research lab, and figured I should go ahead to the transport place to let them know what you were doing. And now we can break through the door.” With that, she held out the box to her father. Behind her, Li was making a very poor attempt at suppressing a smirk.

Pao took it from her, stared at her a long time, and finally softened…a bit. “Thank you, Ichi,” he grumbled, “you did well. We’ll discuss this later. Now,” Pao continued, looking at the box, “what does this do?”

“It makes the door disappear. When it does, run through quickly.”

We all looked at her quizzically. “Trust me. When the counter reaches ‘zero’, run.” The counter was reading ‘nine’, and ticking down quickly. Pao called out, “Three…two…one…zero. NOW!” As surely as Ichi had said, the door in front of us faded away as if it had never been, and the five of us stepped into the hallway. The door reappeared behind us, as solid as it had been before.

The ‘ta named T’ai greeted us. “Welcome, and thank you for allowing me to test my latest device.”

“What is it?” Pao asked.

“It’s an application of the principal behind the transport pad. I’ve discovered a way to shift solid matter in a very small space temporarily by means of isolating the space between two power-units, in this case, hand-held ones.” We saw he held an identical unit in his hand. “It only works for a few seconds, and…,” suddenly, the units in Pao’s and T’ai’s hands emitted a shower of sparks, “…apparently, only once. Oh, well: more testing.”

T’ai turned to me. “You must be the Doctor.”

“I am.”

“Good. Follow me. All of you, follow me. The pad’s ready, and we’d best be moving before they start to patrol this building, too. Kids, let’s go.”

“Kids?” Pao asked. As he did so, from around the corner came a ‘ta guard and six small ‘tas, all of them armed with highly-polished sticks. Pao, once again, was stunned speechless. When he recovered, he looked at Ichi, and with a completely defeated expression on his face, said, “You didn’t. All of them?”

“Well, they asked nicely,” Ichi replied.

Pao knelt down to face her. “Do you realize the danger you’re all in here?”

“It’s okay, Dad.” Ichi’s manner turned suddenly quite serious. “We’ve traveled unnoticed. No one ever pays any attention to little ones in the stone world.”

A hint of a warm smile crossed Pao’s face. “You’re right. Sadly, you’re right.”

Ichi brightened, and replied, “Besides, we can sneak all sorts of useful places you can’t.”

“Right again. Let’s get moving. But be careful, and when we get home, YOU have to explain this to all their parents!”

As quickly as she had brightened, Ichi became subdued. “Okay.”

Our party now large enough that we required both front and rear patrols to keep safe, we followed T’ai through the lab corridors to the transport pads. As we walked, Pao handed me a small bunch of dried roots. “Eat these on the way,” he said.

“Oh, yes, these. Tayuu mentioned them. What are they for?”

“The transport is very hard on the body. Your muscles will feel as if you’ve been exerting yourself without stopping for hours. The pain can reach even into the bones. These will help you relax enough to be able to move after transport. If you eat them now, they’ll have had a minute or two to allow your body to prepare.”

I ate them – they tasted like extremely bitter licorice – and felt nothing. Several steps later, I was looking up from the hall floor into Bi’es face, with no idea how I’d wound up there. “Pao, I think you have a problem,” Bi’es said.

Pao walked back to where I was lying. “Oh, dear, I hadn’t thought of this. The root’s pretty strong, and you are smaller than us. Bi’es, Li: could you help him?” So, propped between the two of them, we made our way through the last several corridors.

The lab itself was huge, almost garishly so, and filled floor-to-ceiling with equipment I would have loved to inspect, had I been able to stand on my own; but, we walked through it to a smaller, though still quite large, ante-room. T’ai explained, “The pad itself is hidden in here. The controls are wired to various instruments in the main lab to spread the power-signature out and make it difficult to track should we ever be discovered. We have about five minutes until transport.”

As I was regaining some use of my legs, I was able to stand shakily on a rubberized circle of flooring in a cylindrical shield in the corner of the room. T’ai walked over to a panel and checked various gauges, and read-outs. He turned to Bi’es and asked, “Would you and A’Mic (his guard) keep watch outside, please?”

Bi’es nodded, and turned to me as he left. “Good luck, Doctor.”

I looked at the young ‘ta, who were watching me with rapt fascination, and then turned to T’ai. “Will they be able to make it out of here safely?”

“They will,” he replied. “Though the facility is on lock-down, the waste-disposal section never is. They can all sneak out on a garbage scow toward the river.”

“The Xell never get near one of those things,” Li said. “We’ll have olfactory diplomatic immunity all the way out of the city.”

A’Mic stuck his head through the door. “T’ai, the techs say the power curve is maxing. You can transport now.”

I turned to Pao to say my farewells, when Ichi ran up to me. “Your stick. You dropped it when you went all wobbly.”

“Thank you. I wouldn’t ever want to lose this.”

Pao took my hand and shook it warmly. “Doctor, thank you again, for what you have done, and what you will do. You will always be a part of this place.” He took Ichi by the hand, “Okay, little one, stand back. All of you, stand clear.”

As T’ai activated the pad, a blue light began to radiate around me. The last thing I heard and saw was a line of seven small ‘ta going, “Oooooooh!” I can only assume the light-show was spectacular.

And then came the pain.

I have read of the last agonies of men condemned to the electric chair. I saw the agonies of men exposed to mustard gas in the fields during the War. At that moment, I felt a horrible affinity with them. My vision was an explosion of a blinding rainbow of light, my ears were a riot of cacophonous sound, and my muscles felt as if I was being ground under the treads of a tank. I passed out; at least, I believe I passed out.

When I awoke, bathed in sweat and shaking, I was lying on the floor of my hotel room. I dragged myself to my feet, and slowly attempted to focus my eyes on the calendar on my wall. It confirmed what I asserted when I began this part of my tale: 27 Apr. 1919. I am home. But I will never view home in the same way again.

That was last night. It is now early morning. I have bathed, I have shaved, I have changed my clothes, and I have been writing all night. What I need most is sleep. But sleep will not come yet. During the War, men, all of us, learned to survive with a minimum of the necessities of life. The barest decencies became the rarest delicacies to us. Our sole focus was to move forward, to press on, to persevere.

Not ten minutes ago, I received a message from the front desk. The local authorities have a man in custody. He has the look, they say, of a vagabond. He has been injured, he has been on the run, and he insists on speaking to me. He also has a name.

Martin.