Catastrophic Interference: Chapter 12
The baby was ready to take off from the island minus Olinick and Johnson. Everyone was in place. The Doc, the remaining mercs, Jana, Joe, Yoli, and Bowie. Jana came up and sat in her place next to Bowie. As her rash was growing, she was becoming fidgety.
Bowie looked at his arm and now saw a rash on his left forearm. Things were spreading. He didn’t show it to anyone because he didn’t want to spread panic. Yoli hit the takeoff button and the baby started to rise. It immediately gained altitude at a high rate of speed. As it entered space approaching Janus 5 weightlessness took over. Yoli knew the pressure Bowie was under.
Yoli smiled, “We’ll dock in a few minutes Pancho. You doing alright?”
Bowie had a haggard look on his face, “Yeah, I’m good. Let’s just get this done.”
Yoli acknowledged as the baby docked with the Janus ship. Yoli unbuckled and floated down to the main part of the ship to talk to Hepwater.
“Hey, Hepwater. We ready to go?”
Hepwater was floating amongst computer banks checking things out and turned around, “Yeah, just give me the word and we’ll be there in seconds.”
Yoli said, “Give me a minute to get back to the cockpit and then hit it.”
Hepwater had a big smile and gave Yoli the thumbs up. He went back to the cockpit and strapped in. Hepwater came over the intercom, “We go to Plasma drive in one minute.”
Everyone sat there and suddenly the familiar yellow light, the sound of thunder with no vibration, and the crazy color of lights. Then, silence for a second. As Janus came out of the haze the rockets stopped the big ship and it appeared they were back at the planet just as before. Hepwater came over the intercom, “Okay, right back where we were. You need to establish orbit, then unhook the baby. Everything is good.”
Bowie looked at Yoli, “Get us in orbit and we’ll go down and get a subject to take back.”
“Yes sir skipper. It’ll be about twenty minutes and we’ll be ready to go.”
As Yoli established an orbit joe was listening to the radio, “Colonel, I hear radio transmissions but it’s not like before. It’s mostly static with some undecipherable words. Last time it was perfect English. I don’t understand. It’s all over the planet, just static and mumbled garbage.”
“Hang on Joe.” Bowie turned to Jana, “Okay, another surprise. What do you think?”
“Something catastrophic must’ve happened. From what I’ve seen here and back on Earth it’s hard to tell. We could be back at the same place but in different circumstances, the same as we encountered on Earth. We need to go down and see what’s going on. We should be ready for anything though.”
Bowie had a concerned look on his face, “Do you think we caused this?”
“I don’t know but I’m thinking it’s possible. I can’t comprehend these consequences. Just by exposing ourselves to each other this whole scenario evolved.”
Bowie looked at her and kissed her slightly. He unstrapped himself, “I’m going to check with Hepwater and make sure we’re in the same place. I mean a sneeze or something at this speed could put us millions of years off course.”
He smiled as he floated towards the lower decks. Bowie went through the baby to the main ship. He found Hepwater adjusting computers and floated up to him, “Are you sure we’re where we’re supposed to be?”
Hepwater smiled, “Yes sir. I promise this is the same planet. It’s funny though. I got some strange readings when we entered this area.”
“What kind of strange readings?”
“Well, when you come out of the plasma drive there are readings of the area as far as photons from the sun and radiation output. It’s the same as before but just a little off from the last time. Since we’ve never sent humans to this place twice, I’m not sure it’s unusual. You’ll have to go down to the planet and see.”
Bowie acknowledged as he floated back to the baby. As Bowie reached the cockpit, he told Yoli, “Get everything ready. We’re heading down to see what’s going on. The only people going down are you, me, Jana, Joe, doc, and the mercs. Let me know when you’re ready. Something’s going on so be in fighter pilot mode.”
“Yes sir skipper. We’ll be ready in about two minutes.”
The crew strapped in as Yoli prepared to disconnect from Janus. He came over the intercom, “Disconnect in thirty seconds.”
Everyone stayed in place as they felt the soft jostle of the baby pulling away from Janus. The baby was in free space heading for the atmosphere. Yoli was in complete control. They entered the atmosphere at a high rate of speed. As the baby entered the lower atmosphere it slowed and Yoli was on full alert.
Bowie told Yoli, “Go to the area we were at. We need a sample from where we were exposed.”
“Okay skipper. I’m enroute. We’ll be there in about three minutes.”
The ship was coming down to the spot with no bogeys in sight. Yoli did a masterful job of landing where the ship was before. The instant the baby touched down Joe hit the button of his preprogrammed drones and they flew out in every direction. Everyone sat there for several minutes waiting for a report. Yoli checked the console and told Bowie, “Skipper, the atmosphere is as before. It’s all green.” Bowie acknowledged.
Joe finally turned to Bowie, “Colonel, I see fifteen or so people walking down the road towards us. They don’t look like before. Here, take a look.”
He put the video up on a large screen and everyone looked. They were some kind of creatures. Their whole body was deformed. The face was swollen and had pock marks. Their bodies had swollen boils and red lesions. They seemed completely incoherent. Walking in no particular direction or with no meaning. Most of them were limping and holding their arms in pain. It was an unbelievable sight. Several of them still had what appeared to be military rifles. Some just had clubs.
Bowie looked at Jana, “We were only here hours ago, and they were people like us. What the hell is going on? Are they zombies?”
Jana was flabbergasted, “No, they’re not zombies, but from what I’m seeing they might as well be. They must’ve mutated already. The whole time delineation thing. This is the worst case scenario. We need to grab one of them now and get out of here.”
Bowie was also amazed, “How could it happen so fast? We’ve only been gone a few days.”
Jana said, “It’s like when we went back to earth after a day and things were different. We’ve completely miscalculated the time delineation equation. As we effortlessly jump through this maze of quantum particles there’s a shift in our reality, and apparently our cell structure. This is why we must understand what’s happening. We can’t keep doing this without consequences. No wonder the most brilliant mind in history, Einstein, called it the spooky element. It could become hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.”
Bowie starred out the cockpit window, “So what you’re telling me is we’re already in a maze and we might not get out of it.”
Jana hugged him, “We need to establish a place to be. We need to cure this mutation. There is a place for us but I’m not sure what the future holds. Let’s get one of those guys and go home.”
Bowie kissed her on the head and went down to the lower decks. The mercs were already gearing up. Bowie approached Micheals, “You ready to go?”
“Yes Colonel. I’m giving you an MP5. We’re short a man, and you’ll need to fill in.”
Bowie took the gun, “Yes sir. Let’s go get a sample and get the hell out of here.”
The mercs got on their four wheelers as Yoli dropped the ramp. Bowie, Micheals, Jacobson, and Karstares raced down to the road and headed towards the mutants coming at them. After about a quarter mile Bowie said into his headset, “Baby, what do you see?”
Joe came back, “King nine, you’ve got people about two hundred yards away. Be careful.”
Bowie raised his hand in a fist for everyone to stop. The patrol pulled over to the side of the road. They waited for a second and suddenly mutants came out of the woods on their right side. The patrol was caught completely off guard. The mutants approached in an uncoordinated attack. It took a second to figure out what was going on, but everyone yelled fire!
Bowie and Micheals turned their mp5’s on the group and fired. The effect didn’t seem like it mattered. The mutants continued towards the patrol. Jacobson opened up his fostech drum shotgun. It seemed to do more damage and finally Karstares swung the gatling gun around and devastated the whole area. As he shot and wiped out the initial mutants more came out of the woods. Some had guns and began firing. Karstares again pulled the trigger, and his large caliber ammo finished them off. Now, more mutants came out of the woods on the mercs left flank. The first wave had no weapons. Karstares yelled, “Low on ammo.” The mercs finished them off as Karstares was still watching the right flank. After the mutants on the left were destroyed then a massive wave came out behind the first group. They had guns and began firing. The mercs began showering them with lead. Jacobson was firing and got hit in the shoulder. He went down for a second and got back up. He continued to fire as Karstares whipped around and pulled the trigger. He was running dangerously low on ammo and was more careful with his aim. He picked targets who had rifles. He popped the trigger on and off as he aimed precisely. The other mercs finished the unarmed mutants. Now, everyone was low on ammo.
The mercs investigated. The entire group of mutants were sliced to pieces. None of them were moving.
Bowie made a command decision, “We go up a little further and try again. Joe will tell us where they are. We strike quick and get back. Understood?”
The patrol acknowledged. Bowie called Joe, “King nine to baby we need a location of people on this road.”
Joe came back, “King nine there are three people about a hundred yards ahead. They’re walking in the middle of the road.”
Bowie acknowledged. He turned to the patrol and said, “Okay, up ahead is a small group of mutants. We approach quickly and overtake one of them. When he’s secured, we haul ass back to the baby and Yoli is ready to take off. Any questions?”
The patrol nodded in acknowledgement. They continued around the curve and there were three mutants in the middle of the street as Joe informed. Micheals was in the lead and encountered the first mutant. They zoomed up to his position. They physically overwhelmed the guy and restrained him with zip ties and threw him on the back of Micheals four wheeler. As the other mutants began to move in Karstares opened up with his last few rounds of ammo. It was enough to hold them off for a few seconds and the patrol was underway to the baby.
The patrol had their prize as they raced towards the ship. Bowie transmitted to Joe, “King nine to baby, we’re enroute with objective. Get ready to open the bay doors and depart.”
Joe acknowledged, “Roger King nine. Yoli is ready.”
The patrol approached and the bay doors opened. The four wheelers went up the ramp as it closed behind them. They restrained the mutant as the Doc came down and gave him a sedative to put him to sleep. Everyone strapped in as Yoli came over the intercom, “We depart in one minute.”
Joe turned around to Yoli, “I’m recalling the drones but there are mutants coming close.”
Yoli was relaxed, “Tell me the instant the drones are home, and we’re gone.”
Everyone was getting strapped in. Bowie went up to the cockpit and Jana was waiting for him. They sat together. Joe was at his station and Yoli was ready to go.
Thirty seconds later Joe yelled at Yoli, “Drones are back and secure.”
Yoli went over the intercom again, “Here we go.” He pushed the takeoff button, and the baby smoothly began to rise from the ground gaining altitude. After twenty seconds she was at full speed, and nothing could catch her.
The baby docked with Janus five and preparation was underway to return to the island. Hepwater came over the intercom, “We go to plasma drive in thirty seconds.”
Bowie was still amazed at the sights and feelings of traveling between universes so swiftly and effortlessly. He hugged Jana as the yellow light appeared and the thunder with no vibration hit. Then the colored lights and seconds later everything stopped. They were home.