The Search for Gram Read online

  “He whacked you good, didn’t he?” asked Master Chief.

  “Yeah,” agreed Calvin. “My vision is kinda blurry, and it’s pretty likely I’ve got a con, a conduct…, no, I mean a condominium…, no, a confab...”

  “A concussion,” said Master Chief. He looked into Calvin’s eyes. One pupil was much larger than the other.

  “Yeah, a concussion,” said Calvin, smiling.

  Damn, thought Master Chief; this day can’t get much worse.

  Chapter 14

  CO’s Conference Room, TSS Terra, In Orbit Around Keppler-22 ‘b,’ July 17, 2021

  “The Efreet have captured your men,” said Trella, who sat cross-legged on top of the table, with the Terra’s officers seated around it. “They have the ones you call Calvin and Master Chief. I don’t know how you will do it, but if you want them back, you will have to come and get them; the Efreet will never release them on their own.”

  “The Efreet captured them?” asked Captain Griffin. “What does that mean? How and why were they captured? What happened? What did they do?”

  “I will tell you what I know,” said Trella, “but I need to simplify things for time. The Efreet aren’t known for being gentle jailors; the torture of your men will probably begin soon.”

  “By all means,” replied Captain Griffin. “Go quickly then.”

  “Calvin and Master Chief wanted to know how we traveled between universes,” explained Trella. “We were not able to tell them without permission, so we took them to our universe so they could ask our father, the caliph. Before we could ask him, the Efreet found us and captured my sister and your men. They will want to know where your men came from, and the Efreet can be very persuasive when they want to find something out.”

  “How do we know you’re not leading us into a trap?” asked Night. “All we know is you and your sister appeared, took our men and now you say they were captured. For all we know, they were taken prisoners by your civilization, just like we will be if we go with you.”

  “You have to believe me!” cried Trella. “The Efreet—” she stopped suddenly. When she continued, she seemed more in control of herself. “I see what you are saying, and I can see why you might believe that. You don’t know us. You don’t know how the Efreet rule over our society, crushing all innovation and free spirit. Even though we saved those men’s lives once before, it is possible my civilization captured them, and wants to capture more of you to study. It’s not true, but I can see why you are worried it might be so. You leave me no choice.”

  Before any of the Terrans could move, she reached into the silks of her sleeve, leaned forward and placed a metal rod on the conference room table. Before the Terran’s eyes, her appearance shifted, transforming into something very foreign. The hand the Terrans could see became a four-taloned claw with two opposing talons on each side. Her arms grew longer and thinner. The most striking feature, though, was her eyes. Although purple silks covered most of her face, her eyes were visible. They glowed a light shade of blue, almost as if they emitted light. Her purple hair matched her silks; both had hints of light blue which complemented her eyes.

  She reached over and put two of her talons on the rod, which was round on both ends. Giving it a push, she sent it rolling along the table to Captain Griffin. “My life is now in your hands. Without that rod, I can never go home again.”

  Jail for Special Prisoners, Ashur, Unknown Date/Time

  The prisoners were led down the hill from the castle. It was surprising how much form followed function, thought Master Chief as he looked around the castle grounds. The castle looked very much like a renaissance castle on Earth, with high walls and large towers in the corners. The towers were manned by Efreet, and Efreet patrolled the grounds. They all wore full armor and looked alert and ready for trouble.

  As the group was led from the castle, Master Chief got his first look at the city, which spread out down the hill from the castle. He felt like he had been transported backward in time 250 years. The houses and buildings looked like something from out of the Revolutionary War paintings he had seen. They clashed on a technological level with the motorized vehicles that fought with the city’s pedestrian traffic for control of the city’s streets. It was a riot of colors…all of them wrong…under a putrid green sky.

  Calvin threw up, the vomit making a splashing sound as it hit the stone road. Whether he threw up because of the concussion or because of the wrongness of the view, Master Chief couldn’t tell. Certainly, the colors of the sky and the scenery below made him want to puke as well. The smell of Calvin’s vomit didn’t help.

  They reached their destination. It was obviously a jail, as its walls were topped with the Efreeti version of barbed wire. It actually looked closer to razor wire, with blades sticking out at all angles. He looked at it with a professional eye and hoped he wouldn’t have to go over the wall; the way the wire was coiled would make it difficult for anyone to get through in one piece.

  Efreet manned the towers that encircled the jail. They were alert and faced outward. They didn’t seem concerned about a breakout; they were arrayed to stop the Sila from breaking in. Master Chief wondered who could be valuable enough to cause the locals to assault the walls wearing nothing but silk. Two foreigners and the caliph, he thought as they passed through the gates. He looked out as the gates shut behind him. None of the locals came within 30 feet of the jail, nor did they even look toward it.

  Everything he saw reinforced the fact that he was in an occupied city.

  All too quickly, they were pushed into a building and led down a set of nearly circular stairs. A long way down. Master Chief guessed somewhere between 80 and 90 feet, but he couldn’t be certain.

  He had hoped to rush the jailors before they were put in cells, but even more Efreet met them on the prison level to lead them to their cells. Each of the cells had bars set into the floor, which extended upward into a wooden roof six feet over his head. There were only about three inches of space between the bars; he wasn’t slipping out between them. The prisoners were put into cells two by two, and then the Efreet withdrew. Calvin was in the same cell as the caliph, and Master Chief was locked up with the other Sila. Calvin immediately sat down in a corner and appeared to go to sleep.

  As the cell doors were slammed shut, two Efreet led Sella away. She struggled, but each of them had hold of one of her arms, and they dragged her off. The caliph yelled something in a foreign language, but the soldiers ignored him and took her off into the gloom. The caliph continued to yell long after the last of the Efreet disappeared around a corner.

  The single dim light further up the passageway gave off a minimal amount of illumination, but it was enough for Master Chief to see once his eyes adjusted. The light level was inconsistent, rising and falling, making shadows dance down the corridor. It looked to Master Chief like Calvin’s head had stopped bleeding. That was something, at least.

  The caliph stepped into his line of sight and said something.

  “I’m sorry,” said Master Chief, “but I don’t understand you.”

  “How about this?” the caliph asked in Nahuatl, the language of the Mayans in the Terran Universe. Master Chief’s implants were equipped to translate that language, due to his previous time on Keppler-22 ‘b.’

  “That’s better,” replied Master Chief in the same language.

  “I am Caliph Harun al-Rashid,” said the caliph. “The man in the cell with you is my Grand Vizier, Jafar al-Barmaki. I believe you have already met my daughters Sella and Trella.”

  “I have,” said Master Chief. “In fact, they were bringing us here to talk to you when we were captured by the Efreet.”

  “Sella said Trella went for help,” said the caliph. “If your friends come quickly, they may make it back before you are tortured to death. That is the only hope you have. No one ever leaves this prison. Not alive, anyway.”

  “How do you know we have friends who will come?” asked Master Chief.

  “You are not one of
the people who live on the planet across the shroud of the universe,” replied the caliph. “Unless my eyesight is failing me terribly, you are much taller and lighter-skinned than they are. I crossed the boundary many times in my youth; that is how I know the language I am speaking to you now. Although I may be growing older, I am not yet in my dotage. You must be from a planet on the other side of a stargate, am I correct?”

  Master Chief twitched in surprise, but was too stunned to say anything.

  “What, you didn’t think we knew of other stars and civilizations?” asked the caliph. “We have been going to your universe for a long time and have known of the existence of stargates for several thousand of your years. What we didn’t know was how to get our ships to your universe so we could use your stargates, or if your stargates would even work for us if we could get our ships there.”

  “It looks like you must have figured out how to get your ships to our universe,” said Master Chief. “We fought a ship that went back and forth between universes just like I have seen your daughters do.”

  “Yes,” said the caliph. “My daughters have always been fascinated with your universe and spend far too much of their time there. Unfortunately, this time it is going to be the undoing of all of us.” He seemed lost in thought for a few moments and then shook his head. “My family problems are of little interest to you, I fear. I’m sure you are more interested in our ability to cross to your universe. Yes, 25 years ago, a scientist figured out how to make the jump system work for a ship. Before we could use it to flee, the Efreet captured the researcher who discovered the process.”

  “Based on our surroundings,” said Master Chief, indicating the jail cells, “it doesn’t appear you have very good relations with the Efreet. Your daughters said the Efreet conquered your world a long time ago. How long have they been here?”

  “That is a long story,” replied the caliph. He made a gesture with his talons which was probably the Sila equivalent of a shrug. “However, as we do not appear to be going anywhere, I will tell you.”

  “The Sila civilization has been a star-faring nation for thousands of years,” the caliph said, sitting down. “It was necessary for us to go to the stars as our sun was in the process of going nova. Even though we knew we had many thousands of years remaining, the star was becoming more active, and bursts of radiation were making life difficult on our home planet. Our scientists explored a number of ways for us to escape our failing star. They developed devices to take us to other universes, ships to take us to new worlds within our own universe and machines that let us modify the new worlds for our use.”

  “The universe transfer technology never worked as well as we hoped,” the caliph continued, “but our ship technology was solid, if nothing exciting. Unfortunately for us, soon after we figured out how to travel to the stars, the Efreet arrived. Neither of our races had achieved faster-than-light star drives, but while the majority of our research had focused on modifying other planets to fit our needs, the Efreet technology was focused solely on war. We filled all the ships we had built and launched them to the stars, hoping to find and colonize planets that were unknown to the Efreet.”

  “If there’s one thing we’ve learned since leaving our planet,” said Master Chief, “it’s that there’s always going to be a race which focuses on war, and they are going to have a distinct advantage when they meet other cultures. We have a saying on our planet that we usually forget when things are going well, ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’”

  “Yes,” replied the caliph, “that is a maxim we would have been well-served to learn before the Efreet showed up. Our home planet was conquered, and, as the Efreet were able to acquire additional ships, they sent them in pursuit of our colonization vessels. They have been chasing us around our universe ever since. They thought our colonies would be unarmed and easy conquests...and unfortunately, we were.”

  “They arrived here about 155 years after the establishment of this colony,” the caliph continued. “We didn’t have any space-based defenses, and we were quickly subdued. Since then, they have ruled us as our overlords, gathering the cream of our planet’s production and sending it back to their home world. They have outlawed all research and technological advancement. Research can only be conducted in secret, as they kill everyone involved if they find out we’ve disobeyed their orders.”

  “How long has this been going on?” asked Calvin from the corner; his voice sounded steadier than before.

  “I was coming to that,” said the caliph. He looked back at Master Chief. “You asked how long they have ruled us. They have been here for 1,200 years.”

  “They’ve ruled you that long?” asked Master Chief. “Why haven’t you done something to get rid of them? There can’t be that many of them.”

  The caliph made the shrugging motion again. “As rulers, they are not overly harsh…if we do as we are told. However, harsh or not, they are rulers, and we continue to work on ways of throwing off their yoke. I’m sorry you arrived when you did. The Efreet had just caught me talking with one of our secret researchers when you showed up. They will not forgive this, nor will they ignore the fact you are from the other universe. They will want to know why you are here, and they will not take “no” for an answer. I’m afraid all you can look forward to is six days or so of torture, followed by being burned alive. Why don’t we overthrow them? Because they are experts at spying, and they kill everyone who breaks any of their rules.”

  CO’s Conference Room, TSS Terra, In Orbit Around Keppler-22 ‘b,’ July 17, 2021

  “Okay,” said Captain Griffin. “Let’s assume for a moment we believe you, and you mean us well. The Efreet have our men. What can we do about it?”

  “You only have two choices,” said Trella. “You can either go to my world and get them back, or you can consider them lost. Once the Efreet take someone to their jails, they are rarely seen again, unless it is for a public execution. I imagine that since your men are foreigners, they will be well-tortured. There may not be enough left for a public execution.”

  “We’ve got to go get them,” said Night.

  “I agree,” said Captain Griffin, looking at Night; “however, I am reluctant to send more people into the other universe if it’s just going to be a futile attempt that results in more deaths. We don’t know anything about where they went or the creatures who are holding them.” He turned to Trella. “What can you tell us about your world and where the Efreet are holding our men?”

  “Our world is very much like the planet below us. The air is breathable by you and the seasons are generally similar. We have added certain trace elements to the atmosphere which will probably not affect you; however, they make the sky appear green. Our visual acuity is slightly less than normal on the planet below; although you probably won’t notice, yours will be slightly less in my world.”

  She paused, considering, and then continued, “With regard to the Efreet, you have better weapons and technology than they do. The problem is they are very good at identifying and eliminating power sources. When your soldiers transfer to my world, the Efreet will get power readings on the suits your troops wear, and they will know you are there. Even worse, your men are being held at the jail. Trying to bring anything electrical close to that area will set off their detectors, and they will come with their devices which make electrical things stop working, like they did to your suits before.”

  “I remember,” agreed Night. The first time he had been to Keppler-22 ‘b,’ the squad that had gone to the surface had their suits short-circuited, and Night had to lead a rescue mission to get the suits off the planet before the antimatter in the suits detonated. “If the Efreet have more of those electromagnetic pulse generators, we’re better off without our suits.”

  “Yes, that is correct,” said Trella. “If you do not bring your suits, they will be less likely to know you are coming. There are tunnels that will get us close to the jail. We can sneak up on the Efreet through them.”

  “If
they can sense anything electrical, they will see your cyborgs and weapons, won’t they?” asked Captain Griffin D. “Are you going to leave them behind?”

  “I don’t think there will be a problem with the cyborgs,” replied Night. “The combat shell is built to minimize electronic emissions. If they were easy to track on a battlefield, they’d also be easy to destroy. Our weapons, though…they’re another story. The Efreet might be able to get a reading on them, depending on how sensitive their equipment is.”

  “Do you have anything low tech in the armory?” asked Captain Griffin.

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Night with a nod. “We still have a full load out of legacy weapons. In fact, our sniper uses one now because it can shoot further with effect in atmosphere than our lasers can. The lack of weapons isn’t the problem; the lack of intel is…”

  Cells, Jail for Special Prisoners, Ashur, Unknown Date/Time

  Conversation among the prisoners died as the sounds of marching feet were heard coming down the hallway, and hidden lights switched on suddenly as five Efreet came into view. Blinded by the sudden bright light, the prisoners covered their eyes and peeked out to see their captors. The first two Efreet were dressed in suits of combat armor similar to what the Terrans had seen earlier, solid black with gold trim and boots. Made from some sort of iridescent metal, the boots sparkled in the artificial light of the jail like a disco ball. They also carried flamecasters attached to tanks on their backs.

  The two Efreet who followed wore golden armor on their legs, with some sort of brown robes covering their upper halves. Without the armor, Calvin was able to get a better look at the Efreet, and he was struck again at how much they looked like salamanders from Earth, albeit ones who stood seven feet tall. They each carried some sort of double-tube apparatus, but it was hard to see as the Efreet carried it beneath their robes.