Quagmire's Gate Read online

  “His name was Securities Officer George E. Comstock. He was one of your best officers.”

  Continuing with his act of compassion was awkward for the General, not unlike a shy little boy nervously trying to remember his lines in the front of an audience.

  “Yes, I suppose he was. However, there are other dire matters at hand. First and most important, is the integrity of my security system still in place?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “What About this new person you brought in? What’s her name?”

  “Doctor Lynda Gray.”

  Whelan was determined not to let the General throw in his face that it was he who recommended the Doctor get the clearance in the first place. He wisely played on the General’s ego.

  “As I’m sure you remember General, it was your idea to bring her into the lab looking for biological contaminants. I understand she was the one who spotted the contamination from the saucer. Without her help the situation could have deteriorated beyond our ability to contain it.”

  Trying his best to remember that particular recommendation, he seemed to go into deep thought. It only lasted a second. If it was a good idea then there was no doubt it must have been his. Curtly he asked,

  “What does she know of the project?”

  “Well naturally she saw the spacecraft but was wise enough to contain any enthusiasm for it, if there was any at all. She only asked if it was ours. I gave her our cover story about the lab attempting to replicate extra-terrestrial technology. I am pretty sure she accepted it. I must say that she is an extremely difficult person to read. She keeps emotions and privacy mostly to herself.”

  “So she suspects nothing then?”

  “No sir, she seemed to be satisfied that we are only attempting to copy extra-terrestrial advanced technology.”

  The General then asked,

  “What about the Temporal Distortion experiment? Did she see that we are attempting to open a dimensional gate to wherever the ship came from?”

  “Yes. She saw it go into and return from a state of temporal flux. However, as I said, I am not too concerned about it. She is from a military background and will obey orders. I believe she will fit in with the ‘shut-mouth’ syndrome so prevalent around here. She has no background or understanding of retro engineering, Temporal Energy or anything to do with the wave particle duality of quantum physics. Hell, I’m the Security Officer here and I don’t even know half of it. No sir, she just thinks we are trying to understand alien technology.”

  It was clear by his expression that the General was accepting his Security Officer’s report. He slowly nodded and said,

  “Very well, keep her at the Apple Jack security level then. However, she cannot go back into the lab alone. You have to be with her at all times. Is that understood?”

  “Yes sir.”

  Whelan’s mind was analytical, a perfect mind for security work. If something does not fit, his mind flips a switch and a warning bell sounds. Why was the General willing to continue the investigation with the Doctor when the infection was proven to be other than a bio-contamination? He decided to put himself on alert looking for any hint or clue to what the General was really up to.

  Suddenly the General again slapped the DOG report and demanded,

  “What really happened in that laboratory?”

  All Whelan could do was shake his head. However that was not good enough for the General. With a condescending tone he leaned forward and firmly said,

  “Come now Mister Christianson. Surely you must have some idea what happened down there. I want to know how deep the hole in the floor is and what is at the bottom of it. It is expanding fast and I need to know where it stops.”

  The General’s voice then suddenly went solemn. Not for the two dead men but rather for the questions they will be asking him at the ASC incident meeting. He said,

  “Let’s get back to the death of the man in the lab. He disappeared after the dimensional interface was turned off and stabilized. Don’t you see a problem with that?”

  “Yes sir I do. Whatever caused his death had nothing to do with what we were doing or equipment failure. I had it all checked and recalibrated. One problem might be that we are tampering with an alien science that we do not understand. That hole in the floor leaves many questions to be answered.”

  It was not a staring contest but rather a pause, each lost to thought while looking passively at each other. Suddenly an evil sneer crossed the General’s lips and Whelan wondered what was prancing through his mind. The General then said something very strange.

  “Yes, well never mind about the hole, leave that mystery to me. You just concentrate on what caused the death of those two poor men.”

  At least to Whelan, the General seemed to be oddly preoccupied with the hole in the floor and where it went rather than the death of two men and a possible contamination of the whole facility. The General, recognizing that his ill thought out questions were going down a road he didn’t want travelled, he blurted out,

  “Is there anybody on this Base qualified to look into what caused the hole and the death of two men?”

  There was no way of hiding his contempt for the General. It was so clearly written in Whelan’s face that even the General noticed it. However, it did not concern the General that a subordinate was not pleased with him. The ranks above him caused him concern.

  Whelan replied,

  “No sir. All our people are Quantum or Astro physicists. Doctor Gray has already established that it is not a bio-molecular contamination. There is nobody within the quarantine bubble who understands what is happening. We need to bring in an expert who understands Theoretical Physics or is qualified in the mechanics of nuclear particle collapse.”

  Whelan thought he saw a devil’s smile flash across the General. Whelan said,

  “It looks to me like you might have somebody in mind Sir.”

  “Yes I do. There is still reason to suspect bio-molecular contamination so I still want this Doctor, whatever her name is to get involved in the investigation. This is what I want you to do.”

  As Whelan left the office his head was filled with confusion. For some reason the General was still hanging hopes of solving this mystery on a medical foundation. All though Lynda was a pleasant enough woman, she was highly under qualified for the investigation of Quantum physics and now this, a scientist he had never heard of was to be brought into the case. Whelan understood the General’s need to do something, to make it look like he cared about what happened but why this? Why was the General deliberately slowing the investigation down?

  As he closed the office door behind him, entering Miss Crammer’s reception area, his warning bell again flared up. Walking past her, he nodded and said,

  “Good afternoon Miss Crammer.”

  It was an awkward returned smile, one laced with guilt as if almost caught doing something bad. As she responded with mock pleasantness, her right hand clandestinely closed the desk drawer.

  “Have a pleasant evening Mister Christianson.”

  Chapter 12

  Senator Watson

  Sitting at his desk, General Irsthill awkwardly reached low and fumbled for something. With a great strenuous effort, he managed to get his chubby fingers around the neck of the bottle hidden under the desk. There was no time for the amenities of a glass and therefore two quick gulps managed to settle his unsteady nerves.

  He then opened a desk drawer and pulled out a cell phone. His trembling finger managed to poke a fourteen-digit number without mishap. When the person on the other end recognized the code and accepted the call the General said,

  “I need another female sacrifice. The hole is expanding and shows promise of being the Gate to the Under. I will send you information about the female I want and where she is. Abduct and hold her for further instructions.”

  The man on the other end said something and the General responded,

  “No, there is no fear of that. I am using our direct satellite phone with the
scatter codes. I do not trust my secretary. There is something defiantly non-military about that incompetent woman. Prepare to record a location I’m about to send you.”

  The person on the other end then asked a question that horrified the General, who snapped back,

  “No, do not send a team after her. Too much can go wrong. Feel free to use somebody you trust if you wish but no more than two. There are already too many people involved in this. She is just one woman for crying out loud and I’ll be telling you where she is.”

  He then placed the phone into a black cradle on his desk. After a few seconds the ‘Ready to send’ light flickered. He pressed the transmit button and coded information needed for this covert assignment was transmitted. ‘Data Received.’ Another question was asked and the General answered with a sense of accomplishment.

  “No, I’ve taken care of that for you. No, but then again you do not have to understand do you. Just know that I have given you an assignment. How simple can it be?”

  He hung up and disconnected the Satellite scatter phone.

  Looking at the clock on his desk, excitement suddenly filled him. This was his favorite time of day. Unsteady feet carried him over to the bookcase on the far wall. There, on the shelf was his favorite book, the leather-bound book of all things. In it are the writings of his Under Master telling him what must be done to become Master of the World. His heaven was not up, but rather far down in the bowels of heat and darkness.

  Aware of his slightly inebriated state, he took great care carrying it back to his desk. The chair took great exception to the hulk flopping into it. He devotedly put his hand on the open page. Written on it were the most enigmatic words of his insane passion.

  As he began to mutter the sacred words, Miss Crammer’s eyebrows lifted. ‘What on earth was he rambling on about this time?’ She made up her mind to investigate this book and perhaps with any luck add it to her collection of evidence against his sanity, proof of his inability to lead.

  There was no need for the bottle here. He did not need deceitful courage to chant the words of the Under Master. He was not reading anything at all. He closed his eyes and gently slid his hand down the page. As with most of the book, he knew it by heart. He mumbled,

  “After a great war between the Upper and Lower heavens, the Lord of the Upper, by the power of greatness created an impenetrable barrier between the worlds. It is written in the Book of the Under that a great warrior lost to the ages shall one day come forth to lead the Under army to great victory over the Lord of the Upper. He who locates a gate in the impenetrable wall shall be this great leader.”

  Miss Crammer checked her desk making sure there was another Flash Drive ready in case this one ran out of memory. Pressing her earpiece tighter, a flash of revenge shone bright. She then heard the mysterious words that sent chills through her body,

  “A sacrifice of ‘the other of man’ must lead the way.”

  The next thing she heard was the sound of the book closing and the sliding of his chair. She was surprised that it was such a short reading. Usually he rants and raves like that for the better part of the afternoon.

  Her evidence gathering chore was complete for the day. She pulled the Flash Drive out and tucked it away until the next time. This time she missed something about his reading, something the recording did not pick up. She failed to recognize the extra zeal in his voice. There was more passion exhibited for the passage.

  Finally, a lifetime of devotion was bearing fruit. He was sure the dimensional phasing that the scientists were experimenting with had created the hole in the floor. He was sure it was the elusive gate in the Great Barrier between the two worlds. When he first saw the hole in the desk and looked underneath, he was as perplexed as anybody else. However, when seeing the hole in the floor was getting bigger, suddenly he knew what it was and where it was leading. To keep it a secret, he hastily threw a sheet over the table. All he had to do now was stall the investigation until the gate got big enough for the sacrifice of the ‘other of man’ As he always knew he it should be, he was the great warrior destined to lead the army of the Under against this world. He knew that he had finally discovered the elusive gate to the Under World.

  As he put the book away, there was an aura of delight radiating through him. After all these years there were finally firm results to report. He reached into his uniform pocket and pulled out a computer chip. Holding it up to the phone, he pressed a button and a long series of dial tones burst forth. When completed the chip was returned to his inside breast pocket.

  He knew it would take a minute to decode the signal and so there was time for a few quick swallows. Just as he forced the last gulp down, he heard,

  “Yes General, what can I do for you today?”

  It was an older male voice heavily enforced with refinement and authority. General Irsthill had always respected Senator Watson’s sweet honey dripping voice. It was a tone that made an ordinary politician great. General Irsthill greatly respected the Senator for yet another reason. The man had spent his life manipulating and plotting for his office and yet through it all he still found time for marriage and a family. If there was one man on Earth that the General admired, it was the Senator.

  Yet, at times, Irsthill felt he was twice the man Senator Watson was. The only difference between them was social standing, family and wealth. The General felt that he had put in twice the effort for his position and only benefited half as much. Sometimes when his bottle allowed for reflective reminiscence, he wondered how his life might have turned out had he also married into a wealthy family. However, there was no time for what could have been. After a deep breath and a quick thought to what he was going to say, he said,

  “Senator, this is a most glorious day. I believe I have chanced upon our elusive Gate to the Under. There is a great probability that two men have already passed through the portal. I believe that we are getting ever closer to our lord of the Under. Did you hear me Senator? Two men have already entered the Under World.”

  For a second, fear bolted through him. He thought the Senator might have hung up on him. As he pressed the phone harder to his ear, he heard heavy breathing. Finally, the honey voice flowed through the telephone.

  “Very good news indeed General. We knew we could count on you. Tell me what leads you to believe this momentous event is at hand.”

  He related the story on the strange death of Jimmy Hatcher and the man on the scaffold. There was extra emphasis on how he had discovered a mysterious hole in the floor. Although it was unknown how both disappeared into thin air, he was sure they had vanished into the hole. The best news of all, as if inviting them in, the gate was expanding.

  Mulling over the facts of the events, the Senator again filled the phone with dead air. It was long enough for the General to congratulate himself with another swallow. Finally,

  “Very well General, this is how I see it. Your top Security Officer obviously not only reports to you but to his employer as well, the Astrophysical Securities Council. By now, they are aware of the deaths. Because they wallow in fear of news like this leaking out, they are probably planning contingencies as we speak. You somehow have to convince them that you are doing everything possible to fix this. Nothing, repeat nothing must happen to cause that hole to close before we get to it. Under no circumstances allow any of the scientists back into the lab until you and I are positive that indeed it is the gate. Most important of all General, be sure to convince the ASC that you have everything under control. And another thing, we will need another sacrifice of the ‘other of man’. Have you prepared for retrieval of another one?”

  Yes, he had a sacrificial victim in mind. With a gloat and a huff he proudly bellowed,

  “Without a doubt Senator, all is under control. I have arranged for a female sacrifice. I have set those wheels in motion as we speak.”

  A glow of pride rushed through the General. Did the Senator take him for a complete fool? If the hole grows large enough for the sacrificial test,
of course he will be prepared. He proudly announced,

  “Senator, please, you must learn to trust me more. Yes, until we can all get together, the lab will be sealed.”

  He was curtly cut off.

  “Tell me of those measures General.”

  The General proudly replied,

  “I have stalled the investigation by convincing my Head of Security that the problem is an unknown contagion and that Doctor Lynda Gray is the best person to investigate it. Because she is incompetent, she will be wasting her time looking for organic reasons for the contamination. She suspects nothing.”