I've had quite a few encounters with the kromaggs in the past year I have been sliding. They are people who exist in some dimensions, like the world I was born in. After the kromaggs abandoned my world, they set up an empire and started conquering other versions of Earth. They hope to reconquer their homeworld one day. A slidecage blocks their return.
I would have to escape. There were mountains a few miles north of here; I could hide in the wilderness. I had a pistol and a shotgun, so hunting for food would not be a problem. Being the only white man within one hundred miles, I would stick out among the Indians like a sore thumb or something.
I walked down the path back to the village. I did not run, since it might attract the attention of authorities who definitely serve the Kromagg Dynasty. I am certainly non persona grata among the Dynasty kromaggs.
I reached the village. There were still people milling about. I walked slowly and carefully along the dirt street.
Then someone put his hand on my shoulder. I looked, and saw a big old Indian. He said something to me.
He started pulling me.
This was it. Now was the time to run.
I broke his hold and then starting running down the street, kicking up the dirt as I did so. I heard a whistle blow. I heard footsteps following. From the sounds of the footsteps, it seems the whole village was summoned to catch me!
I was a pretty fast fellow, having been chased by many people over the past year or so.
Then I saw the gates ahead of me being shut. I was just a few feet behind the gate when it shut. My exit was blocked.
I went down another street, which was clear of traffic. I kept running as fast as my two feet could carry me.
Then I stumbled. I found myself trapped in a net. The Indians must have gone on the rooftops. I was surrounded. There was no escape.
This was a situation I was all too familiar with.
I was placed in an ox-drawn wagon and then the ox pulled the wagon up the road leading to the pyramid on top of the hill. After a few minutes, the wagon reached the summit of the hill and the entrance to the pyramid.
some guards came from the pyramid and opened the wagon. The first thing I noticed was that they were kromaggs. Both of them were armed with rifles. I was chained and then led inside. My Beretta M93R and Remington M1100 were confiscarted.
The walls were made of brick, and featured the same architecture as the pyramids built by the Mayans. I figured the kromaggs mostly kept the structure the same. I did notice electric lights, although I did not know if the pyramid had an electrical grid before the arrival of the kromaggs.
I was placed in a cell at the bottom level of the pyramid. This was one cell ina cell block of twelve. One guard, a kromagg, kept watch. There wasn't much to do except wait for my next slide.
An Indian woman, whose style of dress indicated her being a priest, served me some food. It was basically an unleavened bread, like the kind Jews ate before passover. At least I won't starve here.
I just hope that the kromaggs do not decide to kill me.
It was hours later when some guards came over. They said something to me, but I did not understand their language any better than I understood the Indians' language. I was taken to an elevator, which went up. I then walked down the stone floors of the halls until I entered a small room with a table and two chairs and a lamp hanging overhead.
It was half an hour later when a kromagg in a robe entered. There was only one other person in the room, a guard.
"Hello," he said, in English. At lkeast there was someone whom I could converse with. "I'd like to ask you some questions."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Colin Mallory," I said.
"And what were you doing in Puvungna?"
That must be the name of that Indian village. "I was just passing through."
"Your dress is clearly not in style with the locals. Where did you come from?"
"Well, I came from El Segundo."
He sat silent for half a minute. "That sounds Spanish. How did you get here from Spain?"
"Maybe I flew," I said.
"With what wings?" he sneered. "No one from this planet invented airplanes. And I confiscated those weapons you have. The manufacturers of those weapons never existed on this world. So my guess is that you're from another world. So tell me where you came from now, or I shall kill you and eat your eyes for dinner."
So I told him. I told him that my brother Quinn invented a sliding generator, and I went along. I got separated from him in June. I had been sliding on my own, without the aid of external equipment, since then.
"Interesting," he said. "This session is over."
The guard then took me back to my cell.
After a long while, the guard took me from my cell and led me elesehwre inside the pyramid. I was not taken to the same room where I met the kromagg interrogator. Instead, I was taken to what appaeared to be a dining room, complete with a dining table covered in a white tablecloth. I guessed this is where the kromaggs had official banquets. Aside from the guard, the Indian woman who served me my lunch was there.
Then the kromagg whom I had spoken with a few hours ago entered, dressed in his priestly robe.
"You must wonder why I am here, human," he said. "You make good company. I want to get to know you better."
"How about just letting me go," I said.
"You have a sense of humor, human. You intruded into our domain, and we investigaste those who intrude."
"I did not intend to come here. I'll be on my way out. I'll just let you and the humans of this world alone. I have nothing against you."
"Perhaps I should introduce myself," said the kromagg. "I am Rakakot. I was once a subject of the Kingdom of Beruth, and now am a civil occupation officer for Outpost 69, as we call this world.
"Our scouts first surveyed this world fourteen years ago. It was just at the beginnings of industrialization. Our manta bombers leveled the regional powers of this world, and our armies occupied it by the end of the year. We took most of the people back to Outpost 1, our temporary home, until we reclaim our birthright!"
The Indian woman poured us wine and served some sort of cooked fowl.
"Their food is actually pretty good, rivaling the best chefs who once lived in Beruth," said Rakakot.
"Tell me about these people whom you watch over," I said.
"That village is called Puvungna. The people there lived on their agriculture for centuries. At the time our scouts first arrived here, Puvungna swore loyalty to some humans who called themselves Aztecs. They were ruled by an emperor who made his capital south of here. This pyramid was built by order of the Aztec emperor about three hundred years ago.
"The only contact the people of Puvungna had with the Aztecs were the priests and soldiers the emperor sent here. they paid tribute with food, wood, and the lives of their people. They were kept uneducated, illiterate, and with barely enough to eat. their sons and daughters were sacrificed to the Aztec gods. And it remained that way until we came along and blasted the Aztec capital to ruins. They regard us as saviors sent by the Great Spirit to deliver them from the Aztecs and their cruel gods. We demand far less from them than the Aztecs did. You notice our servant here?"
"Yes," I said, looking at the Indian lady.
"Her mother was sacrificed by Aztec priests. She knew, even as a little girl, that the sacrifices were made for the benefit of the Aztecs, and not her family or her tribe. she and the others welcomed us, and she gladly serves me.
"You know, it is a great irony that these people would think of us as our saviors. Their ancestors' counterparts on my homeworld were savages who waged war against my ancestors for centuries, waging war by indiscriminate destruction regardless of age, sex, and conditions. My ancestors kept the savages at bay for centuries. They made truces, and the savages just broke the truces. When humans from across the sea brought along a disease that wiped out almost all the savages, we were grateful-until we discovered they were as savage as the humans they nearly wiped out."
"I've seen what your people did," I said. "I've been to worlds that the Kromagg Dynasty conquered. And you are just as savage as the humans your ancestors fought."
"So tell me where you are really from."
"Your homeworld, actually. My parents were among those whom you call savages. They sent me to another Earth when I was a baby. I would have never found my true heritage if my brother had not arrived on my world. I learned the truth; your people were the aggressors."
"Ah, yes," said Rakakot. "So they say. Do you really believe them? You were too young to understand what was going on. It was a human king who ordered the use of the weapon that nearly destroyed my people, forced us to flee to a primitive overgrown jungle, and shut us out of our home!"
I was sent back to my cell after dinner was over. I wondered who was telling the truth-my parents or this kromagg. After a year of sliding, I should know that nothing is what it seems at first.
I looked towards the stone wall of the cell. I figured this cell block was where the sacrificial humans were once kept during the Aztec occupation. I wondered where Quinn and Rembrandt and Maggie were, and if they have found a way to bring me back to them. I wondered if they had an encounter with kromaggs that got them killed or captured.
I lay down on the cot in my cell, and wondered if the kromaggs would kill me before I was scheduled to leave. I prayed to God, and hoped that He would lead me out of the wilderness.
The next morning, the Indian lady served me breakfast, which was basically bread and pulpy orange juice. After finishing my breakfast, a guard came for me with chains.
I was led outside to the terrace of the p[yramid. the sky was overcast. I could see Puvungna village and the farms surrounding it, Indians hoeing the fields.
I was led upl the stairs that go to the top of the pyramid. In my mind's eye, I could see into the past, where Aztec priests led their sacrificial humans up this staricase to kill them for their gods. I wondered if that was going to happen to me; if I was to be sacrificed in front of the Indians as part of a kromagg ritual. I guess Rakakot would then eat my eyes in front of his congregation.
"The body and blood of Mallory," my mind's ear could hear Rakakot say.
As I reached the final steps, I could see what was on top of the pyramid.
It was a helicopter. The propellors were already spinning.
I was shoved into the helicopter and it flew away.
I could see the landscape below. I could see wild, untamed rivers. The ground is covered in a scrub forest. Soon I was tree-covered mountains.
There was a scrub-covered valley right below me. I coiuld see some structures.
It was an airfield.
It was a small airfield, just a runway, some quonset huts, and a tower. There was a manta ship parked next to the runway, and a tanker truck filled with jet fuel parked near the manta ship.
The airfield appeared to get bigger and bigger as the helicopter went down. Soon its struts touched the surface.
The guards put me on board the manta ship. The interior had a few seats for passengers. A guard with a club stood by.
I could feel the manta ship move. I could feel the rumbling of the ship as it taxied down the runway. I could feel the inertia as the ship pulled up.
. I looked at my watch, which read sixty-nine hours. then the readout got all jumbled up. I wondered what happened. I reset it to get a readout of how much time was left.
There were thirty-seven hours left.
This ship was landing on another version of Earth.
I would have to escape. There were mountains a few miles north of here; I could hide in the wilderness. I had a pistol and a shotgun, so hunting for food would not be a problem. Being the only white man within one hundred miles, I would stick out among the Indians like a sore thumb or something.
I walked down the path back to the village. I did not run, since it might attract the attention of authorities who definitely serve the Kromagg Dynasty. I am certainly non persona grata among the Dynasty kromaggs.
I reached the village. There were still people milling about. I walked slowly and carefully along the dirt street.
Then someone put his hand on my shoulder. I looked, and saw a big old Indian. He said something to me.
He started pulling me.
This was it. Now was the time to run.
I broke his hold and then starting running down the street, kicking up the dirt as I did so. I heard a whistle blow. I heard footsteps following. From the sounds of the footsteps, it seems the whole village was summoned to catch me!
I was a pretty fast fellow, having been chased by many people over the past year or so.
Then I saw the gates ahead of me being shut. I was just a few feet behind the gate when it shut. My exit was blocked.
I went down another street, which was clear of traffic. I kept running as fast as my two feet could carry me.
Then I stumbled. I found myself trapped in a net. The Indians must have gone on the rooftops. I was surrounded. There was no escape.
This was a situation I was all too familiar with.
I was placed in an ox-drawn wagon and then the ox pulled the wagon up the road leading to the pyramid on top of the hill. After a few minutes, the wagon reached the summit of the hill and the entrance to the pyramid.
some guards came from the pyramid and opened the wagon. The first thing I noticed was that they were kromaggs. Both of them were armed with rifles. I was chained and then led inside. My Beretta M93R and Remington M1100 were confiscarted.
The walls were made of brick, and featured the same architecture as the pyramids built by the Mayans. I figured the kromaggs mostly kept the structure the same. I did notice electric lights, although I did not know if the pyramid had an electrical grid before the arrival of the kromaggs.
I was placed in a cell at the bottom level of the pyramid. This was one cell ina cell block of twelve. One guard, a kromagg, kept watch. There wasn't much to do except wait for my next slide.
An Indian woman, whose style of dress indicated her being a priest, served me some food. It was basically an unleavened bread, like the kind Jews ate before passover. At least I won't starve here.
I just hope that the kromaggs do not decide to kill me.
It was hours later when some guards came over. They said something to me, but I did not understand their language any better than I understood the Indians' language. I was taken to an elevator, which went up. I then walked down the stone floors of the halls until I entered a small room with a table and two chairs and a lamp hanging overhead.
It was half an hour later when a kromagg in a robe entered. There was only one other person in the room, a guard.
"Hello," he said, in English. At lkeast there was someone whom I could converse with. "I'd like to ask you some questions."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Colin Mallory," I said.
"And what were you doing in Puvungna?"
That must be the name of that Indian village. "I was just passing through."
"Your dress is clearly not in style with the locals. Where did you come from?"
"Well, I came from El Segundo."
He sat silent for half a minute. "That sounds Spanish. How did you get here from Spain?"
"Maybe I flew," I said.
"With what wings?" he sneered. "No one from this planet invented airplanes. And I confiscated those weapons you have. The manufacturers of those weapons never existed on this world. So my guess is that you're from another world. So tell me where you came from now, or I shall kill you and eat your eyes for dinner."
So I told him. I told him that my brother Quinn invented a sliding generator, and I went along. I got separated from him in June. I had been sliding on my own, without the aid of external equipment, since then.
"Interesting," he said. "This session is over."
The guard then took me back to my cell.
After a long while, the guard took me from my cell and led me elesehwre inside the pyramid. I was not taken to the same room where I met the kromagg interrogator. Instead, I was taken to what appaeared to be a dining room, complete with a dining table covered in a white tablecloth. I guessed this is where the kromaggs had official banquets. Aside from the guard, the Indian woman who served me my lunch was there.
Then the kromagg whom I had spoken with a few hours ago entered, dressed in his priestly robe.
"You must wonder why I am here, human," he said. "You make good company. I want to get to know you better."
"How about just letting me go," I said.
"You have a sense of humor, human. You intruded into our domain, and we investigaste those who intrude."
"I did not intend to come here. I'll be on my way out. I'll just let you and the humans of this world alone. I have nothing against you."
"Perhaps I should introduce myself," said the kromagg. "I am Rakakot. I was once a subject of the Kingdom of Beruth, and now am a civil occupation officer for Outpost 69, as we call this world.
"Our scouts first surveyed this world fourteen years ago. It was just at the beginnings of industrialization. Our manta bombers leveled the regional powers of this world, and our armies occupied it by the end of the year. We took most of the people back to Outpost 1, our temporary home, until we reclaim our birthright!"
The Indian woman poured us wine and served some sort of cooked fowl.
"Their food is actually pretty good, rivaling the best chefs who once lived in Beruth," said Rakakot.
"Tell me about these people whom you watch over," I said.
"That village is called Puvungna. The people there lived on their agriculture for centuries. At the time our scouts first arrived here, Puvungna swore loyalty to some humans who called themselves Aztecs. They were ruled by an emperor who made his capital south of here. This pyramid was built by order of the Aztec emperor about three hundred years ago.
"The only contact the people of Puvungna had with the Aztecs were the priests and soldiers the emperor sent here. they paid tribute with food, wood, and the lives of their people. They were kept uneducated, illiterate, and with barely enough to eat. their sons and daughters were sacrificed to the Aztec gods. And it remained that way until we came along and blasted the Aztec capital to ruins. They regard us as saviors sent by the Great Spirit to deliver them from the Aztecs and their cruel gods. We demand far less from them than the Aztecs did. You notice our servant here?"
"Yes," I said, looking at the Indian lady.
"Her mother was sacrificed by Aztec priests. She knew, even as a little girl, that the sacrifices were made for the benefit of the Aztecs, and not her family or her tribe. she and the others welcomed us, and she gladly serves me.
"You know, it is a great irony that these people would think of us as our saviors. Their ancestors' counterparts on my homeworld were savages who waged war against my ancestors for centuries, waging war by indiscriminate destruction regardless of age, sex, and conditions. My ancestors kept the savages at bay for centuries. They made truces, and the savages just broke the truces. When humans from across the sea brought along a disease that wiped out almost all the savages, we were grateful-until we discovered they were as savage as the humans they nearly wiped out."
"I've seen what your people did," I said. "I've been to worlds that the Kromagg Dynasty conquered. And you are just as savage as the humans your ancestors fought."
"So tell me where you are really from."
"Your homeworld, actually. My parents were among those whom you call savages. They sent me to another Earth when I was a baby. I would have never found my true heritage if my brother had not arrived on my world. I learned the truth; your people were the aggressors."
"Ah, yes," said Rakakot. "So they say. Do you really believe them? You were too young to understand what was going on. It was a human king who ordered the use of the weapon that nearly destroyed my people, forced us to flee to a primitive overgrown jungle, and shut us out of our home!"
I was sent back to my cell after dinner was over. I wondered who was telling the truth-my parents or this kromagg. After a year of sliding, I should know that nothing is what it seems at first.
I looked towards the stone wall of the cell. I figured this cell block was where the sacrificial humans were once kept during the Aztec occupation. I wondered where Quinn and Rembrandt and Maggie were, and if they have found a way to bring me back to them. I wondered if they had an encounter with kromaggs that got them killed or captured.
I lay down on the cot in my cell, and wondered if the kromaggs would kill me before I was scheduled to leave. I prayed to God, and hoped that He would lead me out of the wilderness.
The next morning, the Indian lady served me breakfast, which was basically bread and pulpy orange juice. After finishing my breakfast, a guard came for me with chains.
I was led outside to the terrace of the p[yramid. the sky was overcast. I could see Puvungna village and the farms surrounding it, Indians hoeing the fields.
I was led upl the stairs that go to the top of the pyramid. In my mind's eye, I could see into the past, where Aztec priests led their sacrificial humans up this staricase to kill them for their gods. I wondered if that was going to happen to me; if I was to be sacrificed in front of the Indians as part of a kromagg ritual. I guess Rakakot would then eat my eyes in front of his congregation.
"The body and blood of Mallory," my mind's ear could hear Rakakot say.
As I reached the final steps, I could see what was on top of the pyramid.
It was a helicopter. The propellors were already spinning.
I was shoved into the helicopter and it flew away.
I could see the landscape below. I could see wild, untamed rivers. The ground is covered in a scrub forest. Soon I was tree-covered mountains.
There was a scrub-covered valley right below me. I coiuld see some structures.
It was an airfield.
It was a small airfield, just a runway, some quonset huts, and a tower. There was a manta ship parked next to the runway, and a tanker truck filled with jet fuel parked near the manta ship.
The airfield appeared to get bigger and bigger as the helicopter went down. Soon its struts touched the surface.
The guards put me on board the manta ship. The interior had a few seats for passengers. A guard with a club stood by.
I could feel the manta ship move. I could feel the rumbling of the ship as it taxied down the runway. I could feel the inertia as the ship pulled up.
. I looked at my watch, which read sixty-nine hours. then the readout got all jumbled up. I wondered what happened. I reset it to get a readout of how much time was left.
There were thirty-seven hours left.
This ship was landing on another version of Earth.