CHAPTER 8

  "I know you're out there somewhere, somewhere, somewhere..."

  — The Moody Blues

  The next couple of days involved the team moving in. They had all signed the in-facility living agreements (except Carl, of course) and were bringing moving trucks with all their stuff. The work crews continued finishing things up. They finally had a ceiling to cover the warehouse rafters, and the wooden frames that had been exposed were now covered in drywall. It was starting to look like what it was meant to be, a government facility.

  Security pads were installed on all the doors. Employees would use keycards to move around the facility at different security levels. Only the core team and Royles had actual keys and full clearance. Carl liked it. It made him feel like he was a part of something official. It was a small comfort that even if he never could make it home, at least he had found a place where he belonged in this world.

  He shook his head as he looked out the single window in his apartment. He couldn’t think like that. Remember what Penny said.

  “I have to believe.”

  He said it quietly to himself. Saying it didn’t make it true, though. There were just too many other rifts and worlds, how could he possibly…? He ran a hand down his face and put it out of his mind. Dwelling on things was helping nothing.

  There was a knock on his door.

  “It’s open.”

  Andy poked his head in.

  “Hey, Royles had Hicks drop off a couch. It’s sitting out front. He said it was for you.”

  “Yeah, the couch from my office… very comfortable. I’ll go get it.”

  “You need any help?”

  Carl laughed.

  “No, I can handle it.”

  “Well, it’s pretty heavy. If you do end up needing help, let me know.”

  Carl realized that somehow Andy had missed the fact that Carl had super strength. He must be under the impression the suit did all the heavy lifting. He could have some fun with this.

  “So, you’re pretty strong, huh?”

  “Oh yeah. I hit the gym four times a week.”

  He flexed his bicep for Carl.

  “You wanna arm wrestle?”

  Andy looked at Carl’s arms and smiled.

  “Sure, but it hardly seems fair.”

  Carl smiled back.

  “I might surprise you.”

  Andy walked over to the little table with two chairs next to Carl’s kitchen area and sat down. Carl sat across from him and put his arm up, waiting.

  “Now, be warned,” Andy said. “I don’t want to hurt you. I bench three-oh-five.”

  Carl shrugged.

  “I’ll be alright.”

  Andy took his hand.

  “You ready?”

  “Yep.”

  Andy started pushing. Carl didn’t move. Andy’s face turned red, veins popping out on his arms. Carl was like a stone statue.

  “Have we started yet?”

  Andy stared at him, wide-eyed.

  “I don’t… how?”

  “I’m actually an alien from the planet Krypton. I get my power from the sun.”

  “What?”

  Carl couldn’t keep a straight face any longer and burst out laughing. Andy looked thoroughly confused as Carl slowly put his arm down to the table.

  “I’m kidding. I took a special serum a while back that gave me super strength.”

  Andy just stared at him.

  “I’m being serious now. I swear.”

  Andy seemed to think about it for a moment. Carl watched frustration turn into curiosity.

  “How much can you bench?”

  “Don’t know. Never tested it.”

  “Well that’s… do you have any other secret powers?”

  “No. Just my strength and my buddy Nano. That’s all I need. Although, I used to carry a gun too, but I left it at home the day I got yanked out of my world.”

  “What’s a gun?”

  That question took Carl by surprise. Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen a single firearm in this world.

  “You don’t have, uh… devices? Things that fire projectiles?”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Well, yeah. Gauntlets. I’ve got one in my room, my old piece from my military days. You wanna see?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  They walked to Andy’s apartment, still unpainted. All of his belongings were piled under plastic in the middle of the room.

  “Give me a minute to find it.”

  Andy dug through his things until he pulled out a black wooden footlocker. He opened it. Inside were old black uniforms, the same type of round dog tags Carl had pulled from the soldier on the other side of the rift, and a black metal sleeve.

  Andy handed him the sleeve.

  “Standard issue. IR-7.”

  “IR-7?”

  “Impact rating. We operate on a scale of one to ten. One is someone throwing a rock at you. Ten is strong enough to put a hole in that vault door they’re installing on the rift room.”

  “Interesting. How does it work?”

  “You see that button? When it’s back, it’s on safe mode. Slide it forward so it’s on the side of your finger and hit it with your thumb.”

  “That’s cool… but how do you aim?”

  Andy reached over and clicked a small button on the side.

  “Let me see it for a second. It’s bio-encoded, it won’t work for anyone but me.”

  He slid it onto his arm. It beeped, then clicked closed. He raised his arm so Carl could look down it. A red reticle floated above the device.

  “That’s wild, man.”

  “This is nothing. I served as a medic. The infantry guys have a full sleeve, and the heavy infantry carries a backpack full of IR-9s. Those guys are elite—and if I’m being honest, a little scary.”

  Andy dropped the sleeve back into the footlocker.

  “Can civilians purchase those?”

  “Up to IR-5. But if you’re wanting one, with your government clearance you could probably get up to an IR-8. It’d cost you, though, they’re expensive as hell. Everything past that is highly regulated.”

  “Past that?”

  “Oh yeah. The military has IR-10s and 11s. There are rumors of a 12, but that’s classified territory. Clearance higher than ours.”

  Carl nodded. Something to keep in mind.

  “So I guess you won’t need my help with the couch, then?”

  Andy snickered.

  “No, I should be alright.”

  Carl was spreading smooth peanut butter on a piece of bread when there was another knock at his door.

  “It’s open!”

  Royles walked in and shut the door behind him.

  “We’ve got a team meeting in thirty minutes. I also wanted to bring you this.”

  He handed Carl a phone and a charger in a plastic bag.

  “I’ll be sending all meeting alerts and other info straight to this from now on. It’s programmed with everyone’s numbers as well. Keep it on you at all times.”

  Carl nodded.

  “There was one other thing.”

  Royles fixed him with that intense stare, the one that always made Carl slightly uncomfortable.

  “The other day you were… emotional. I understand why. But when you’re out there exploring these rifts, I need you focused on the mission, and only the mission. These worlds have the potential to be dangerous. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir. Absolutely. I’m sorry about the other day.”

  “Carl, you don’t need to apologize. Just promise me you’ll leave that here, in your apartment. Don’t bring it through the rift.”

  “I promise.”

  “Good.”

  Royles checked his watch.

  “Don’t be late for the meeting.”

  He turned and left.

  The meeting room smelled like fresh paint, like the rest of the facility. The team was already seated when Royles walked in.

  “Listen up, people. I know everyone’s still settling in, but the Protectorate expects results, and we shouldn’t keep them waiting. We’re going to take our first official excursion through the rift this evening. Hicks, you wanna pass those out, please?”

  Hicks jumped up and slid a folder in front of each team member.

  “These are the rules and regulations expected in this facility, pretty standard stuff. But because we work with an anomaly like the rift, the big one is secrecy. I feel like it goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: do not speak about our work here with anyone outside this building. Ever. Understood?”

  His eyes moved from face to face, lingering on Carl. Everyone nodded.

  “Good. Second order of business: while finding a way to get Mr. Maitland home is priority number one, our second is to catalog each of the rifts we explore. Our government is interested in tech and resources. Should we encounter alien civilizations, diplomacy comes first.”

  He stared at Carl for a long beat. Carl held up his hands defensively.

  “I know. This isn’t the first time I’ve been to different dimensions.”

  Royles nodded, then turned to Matt.

  “Matt, the floor is yours.”

  Matt stood, shuffling papers. He cleared his throat, already regretting agreeing to speak.

  “I, uh… okay. I’ve devised a numerical system. It’s simple: we number the rifts as we find them, starting with our home rift as number one. From there, we’ll add designations. I’m still working out the details, but they’ll denote planet type, whether human or alien, and level of sentience. Once I have it nailed down, I’ll distribute it.”

  He swallowed.

  “The main thing is, I need detailed reports. This will probably fall on you mostly, Carl, since you’re the one going into all these rifts. Be observant. Every detail could mean something. Uh… that’s all I’ve got.”

  Royles waited until Matt sat before speaking again.

  “One final thing: I want every jump logged, and I want a visual record.”

  He placed a black plastic square with a lens in the center on the table.

  “All excursions are to be recorded.”

  He slid it toward Carl.

  “I can get you a harness if you need one.”

  Carl turned it over in his hands.

  “Nah. I can sink it into my armor.”

  Royles nodded.

  “Any questions?”

  No one spoke.

  “Alright. Carl, get with Matt—he thinks he’s devised a way to find new rifts. Everyone else, the jump is at five-thirty. Be ready. You’re dismissed.”

  Royles left the room.

  Matt led Carl to his lab. Like everything else, it wasn’t fully set up yet. A couple of tables were already piled with random equipment. Matt stopped at one in the back covered in disassembled electronics.

  “This looks like my bedroom when I was twelve. I used to take everything apart to see how it worked.”

  Matt smiled.

  “I did the same thing.”

  “Clearly, you were better at it than me.”

  Matt laughed.

  “Maybe. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been working on.”

  He held out a device roughly the size of a brick. A probe stuck out of one end, a screen on the other. Several zip ties held bundles of wires to the body.

  Carl examined it.

  “How’s it work?”

  “Okay, so the rifts are high up. I’ve calibrated it so it works at long range, but you may need to make adjustments once we’re out there. When it’s dialed in, you just point the probe in the direction you want to scan. There’s a cluster of sensors in the probe that picks up several things the rifts give off. Let’s go to the rift room, I’ll show you.”

  Matt practically skipped out of the lab. Carl smiled and followed.

  In the rift room, Matt swept the probe toward the wall.

  “See? Screen’s dark, machine’s quiet. Now watch.”

  He slowly turned it toward the rift. The device began ticking, speeding up as the probe centered on it. The screen bloomed with color, red, then orange, then bright yellow.

  “I used thermal imaging for the visual identifier. It’s hard to see anything this close. Remember, you’ll be on the ground, scanning the sky.”

  “How did you have time to build this?”

  “I spent the last three nights working on it.”

  “Well, I’m impressed.”

  “Thanks, Carl.”

  They returned to the lab. Carl set the device down.

  “So… you nervous about going back over there?”

  “Oh, I’m not going.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “Royles wants Andy going with you. He’s ex-military and a medic. You’ll need his skills more than mine.”

  “I feel like your skills are pretty useful.”

  “Thanks. But I’m okay, they gave me a lab! Look at this place!”

  It didn’t look like much to Carl, but Matt was clearly thrilled. Carl slipped out quietly as Matt unpacked equipment and talked to himself.

  Carl stopped at Andy’s door. It was already open. Andy was doing sit-ups on the floor.

  “Hey, Carl. What’s up?”

  “Matt says it’ll be you coming with me.”

  “You bet. Royles is making me take a med kit, too. You know—just in case you get fucked up.”

  Andy grinned. Carl laughed.

  “Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.”

  Andy winked.

  “Ya never know!”

  Carl headed back to his apartment. He had a couple of hours before he went… rift jumping? Rift hopping? Royles called them excursions, but Carl didn’t care for that word.

  He dropped onto the couch and leaned his head back. Maybe a quick snooze. He and Andy had stayed up playing games on the unit he’d bought with Steve. Probably not the smartest move before a mission.

  He had energy drinks in the fridge.

  No biggie.