Sliding Into Antar

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The Final Voyage

Chapter 45

XLV

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Daniel Pierce and the six men who had gone through the vortex with him huddled together under a ledge in a mountainous region of a parallel earth in which the KroMaggs had gained a tenuous control. They watched as something that looked like a "flying saucer" flew slowly by not far away… again. It was searching for them. It hadn't taken long for the seven men to realize that this world was hostile. A few laser rays fired in their direction had been a pretty good clue. They had been forced to seek refuge almost as soon as they had tumbled out of the vortex.

"Sir, are we on another planet?" William Benson asked, looking around.

Pierce sighed with frustration and shook his head. "We're in a parallel dimension… We're still on earth. The aliens have taken over this earth. This is what happens when nobody in government has the guts to search out and eradicate the bastards and we have to put together a covert unit to do it. The aliens get a foothold and they take over."

"Sir, I think we're outnumbered."

Pierce looked at Benson with disgust. "Tell me something I don't know, Benson."

"Well, I was just thinking… maybe we ought to retreat and regroup… You know… get reinforcements."

"There are no reinforcements, Benson. It's us against them. Get used to it."

"How are we going to get back… sir?"

Pierce didn't answer.

"I mean… if we're stuck here… should we still call you… you know… Pierce?"

Pierce glared at Benson. "To you, I am Pierce."

"Yes, sir. I just thought…"

"Don't think, Benson. It gives you headaches."

"Yes, sir."

Benson sat down dejectedly and looked at Mack Carter. Carter shrugged… "It's best to keep up the front, Will. We don't want to slip up. If we do get back to our world, or if we capture or kill the aliens, it's important that everyone still believes that Fletcher is Pierce. Pierce had the connections… three senators are in his pocket. If they ever find out that Pierce isn't really Pierce… it would destroy the unit permanently. That's why Fletcher had his face changed six months after Pierce disappeared… so when he 'showed up' again and explained that he had been abducted by the aliens and that they had horribly disfigured him and he had needed plastic surgery, the guys up there would believe it. It's a perfect cover. We can't do anything that might jeopardize it."

Benson nodded. "I guess so. I had the aliens' leader, the Evans kid, you know… in my sights… fourteen years ago. I had the red dot right on his heart, but Fletcher said wait! He wanted everyone to be in place… and we lost them."

"You think that hasn't chewed up my guts for the last fourteen years, Benson? I was there, too, you know. We all were. We almost had them… except somebody didn't do their homework and didn't know that the Guerin kid wasn't graduating and would show up and save the others… on a motorbike!"

"Well, the lights going out suddenly like they did had a lot to do with it, too, Carter. I still think they did that themselves… with their alien powers."

"What do you think really happened to Pierce, Benson?"

"What do you think? They got him. That body will never be found."

"The aliens?"

"Yeah."

Carter nodded. "That's what I think, too."

"HEADS UP!" Fletcher screamed, "THEY'RE HEADING OUR WAY!"

Carter, Benson, and the others watched as the saucer headed in their direction.

"Do you think they found us," Scapparelli asked.

"We'll know in a minute," Carter replied, ducking down behind a small bluff under the ledge.

The UFO continued to come… straight toward the ledge. "I think you have your answer," Fletcher said. "We can bring that thing down… the seven of us. We have automatic weapons. We just have to hit it right." Fletcher waited until the craft was almost on top of them, then he leapt out and aimed his gun carefully, searching for a vulnerable point on the craft. He found it and started firing. The other six men followed his lead and fired, too. Moments later, the saucer tilted to one side, then it went down hard about a hundred meters from them. Fletcher and his men rushed to the craft to try to surprise the "aliens" as they came out… if the aliens survived the crash. But it was Fletcher and his men who wound up being caught in the trap. As soon as they were out from under the ledge, a group of KroMaggs rushed in behind them. Distracted by the UFO, Fletcher and his men didn't notice the KroMaggs until it was too late.

"Ar Ga! Shto na kor!"

Fletcher whirled around and fired, but he did not have time to get a good aim. The KroMagg did. Fletcher crumpled to the ground, smoke pouring from a twelve inch hole that went all the way through his chest and out his back. He would not be getting back up.

The six men with Fletcher quickly tossed their guns down and raised their hands, but the KroMaggs picked one of them off anyway…

"That is what will happen to anyone who defies us," the KroMagg who had fired said, as the body of Boris Ivanovich lay smoldering beside Fletcher's, a twelve inch hole in his stomach. Sensing that they were doomed, one of the men, Mike Harkins, dove for the gun he had thrown away. He dodged the KroMagg's ray and returned fire, hitting the KroMagg in the heart… or at least, right where the heart should have been. But the KroMagg didn't fall, so Harkins shot him again… and again. Finally, the KroMagg fell, but it was an exercise in futility. There were eleven more, and they had him in hand immediately. One of the KroMaggs took Harkins' gun from him and slowly bent it in half as Harkins watched. Then he grinned, and Harkins saw a mouth full of what could only be described as fangs. These creatures, whatever they were, were incredibly ugly. Harkins wondered if this was what Max Evans and his "gang" really looked like. He prepared himself to die. The two KroMaggs on either side of him, holding his arms, were huge, much bigger than himself… and strong as a team of oxen.

"Go ahead! Shoot me! At least I'll die fighting!"

The KroMagg on his right laughed. "We have something better in mind for you. We need you… to work… with the other humans we have captured. You're ours now." The KroMagg turned the body of his dead KroMagg companion over with his foot and laughed again.

"Well, there's no love lost between them," Scapparelli whispered to Carter.

"What did you say?" the KroMagg asked, suddenly looking at Scapparelli.

"That you're an ugly son of a…" Scapparelli started to say defiantly, but a large hand backhanded him hard enough to send him flying ten feet through the air. He landed with the breath knocked out of him and his lip bleeding.

The KroMagg stood over Scapparelli… bald headed… toothy grin… all seven feet of him, Scapparelli estimated. It was hard to believe that they were so technologically advanced and at the same time so primevally ugly and ruthless.

"The first thing you need to learn," the KroMagg said, kicking Scapparelli in the side, "Is to respect a lady… if you're going to work for us."

"Carter looked at Benson, his eyes wide. "That's a female? How do you tell?"

"You'll learn to," the KroMagg said, grabbing Carter by the feet and picking him up upside down with one hand to look him in the eyes. "I am a lady. Got that? The others here are not."

"Go- Got it," Carter choked.

Fletcher and Ivanovich were dead. There were five men left now, and every one of them knew that the rest of their lives, however long or short that might be, were going to be spent as slaves to these "aliens." It was, arguably, better than what they had themselves planned to do to Max, Michael, Isabel, Liz, and Maria. The KroMaggs, ruthless as they were, had no white room to torture people in and didn't try to slaughter kids at their graduation. They just had a need for workers… workers who would do very hard labor… as their slaves. They had a world to finish conquering and a KroMagg society to build, with all its infrastructure. Little did Fletcher's men know that the KroMaggs were not aliens at all. They were a distinct line that had split off from the Neanderthals. In most dimensions, they had died out in prehistoric times… before ever becoming what these creatures were. But in a few dimensions, KroMaggs ruled.

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"We're going to miss you guys," Liz said, hugging Wade warmly and smiling at Quinn, "We won't be here when you get back from your honeymoon."

Wade smiled sympathetically. "I know. I hope you find your planet soon. Nobody knows better than we do how much you miss home."

"I hope we meet again someday," Quinn said, offering Max and then the others his hand and hugging the girls. "It's been a great experience. I would really love to have had more time to talk with Varec. I wish we could see your planet. It must be beautiful."

Professor Arturo nodded. "Indeed! I, for one, shall count myself forever fortunate to have met all of you… and your amazing pet saber tooth cat, Jung-Jo. It has been quite the adventure!"

"Yeah, you never thought you'd meet an alien who soaked cocoa puffs in Tabasco sauce, did you, Professor," Alex said with a grin.

Professor Arturo chuckled, but Michael seemed unamused, and Alex knew that he would have to watch himself. Eventually, Michael would get him back, probably when he least expected it and in a way that would embarrass him the most. He would definitely have to be on his toes and alert. But it seemed worth the risk… at least at the moment.

"Varec has been keeping a record of where each Antar we visit is located," Max said, "And we plan to revisit some of them… after we've found our way back to our own world… and once we know how to get there and get back without getting lost again."

Quinn smiled sheepishly. "I guess that was our fault. It was our vortex that threw your ship off course. I wish we could do something to correct it."

Max smiled. "It wasn't your fault. It was just blind fate… dumb luck. Varec will figure out something. We'll get back home."

"I'll do some calculations, too," Quinn said, then he looked at Wade and grinned… "After the honeymoon."

"Don't worry about us," Max said, "You won't be able to get a message to us anyway where we'll be. Enjoy your honeymoon."

"We will," Wade said enthusiastically, and Quinn nodded and grinned.

"I wanted to thank Jung Jo," Wade added, "He was great."

Max laughed. "Jung Jo loves to help. He's a natural ham. If he could talk, he'd be thanking you for asking him to do it."

"Well, give him a kiss for me," Wade said.

Max looked at Michael. "I'm putting you in charge of that, Michael."

"Thanks," Michael said sarcastically.

"I'll do it," Liz said.

"Oh, by the way," Quinn added, "That FBI guy you told us about… I think his name was Pierce… the one that was always chasing you guys… He showed up looking for you. I forgot to tell you."

"Where is he?" Michael asked, suddenly going on full alert.

Quinn smiled. "In another dimension… on a KroMagg controlled world, I think. I opened the vortex and told him you guys went through it, and the dumb ass jumped into the vortex… All six of his men followed him."

"Six?" Michael asked. "What did they look like?"

"Your usual goons," Quinn said, trying to remember, "One of them had a long, jagged scar right here on his face and a tattoo of a dagger dripping blood on his left bicep. I remember that. He was very muscular."

Michael's eyes glazed over and he frowned… "Graduation. He was there at graduation. He's the only one I actually saw. I'll never forget him. He's burned into my memory. Did he have motorbike tread marks down his back?"

Quinn laughed. "I didn't check."

"He did," Michael said, with an air of certainty. "When I was going into the auditorium, he was standing on the steps outside. I guess he had arrived late. He had a rifle with one of those laser scopes on it, and he had the red dot on Maria's head. The son of a…" Michael stopped and looked at Wade… "Sorry."

Wade smiled. "It's alright. My ears have heard worse. They won't fall off."

"He was going to blow Maria's brains out right there at graduation, so I ran over him on my way up the stairs. When I came back out with Max on the bike with me, the guy was still lying there, so I ran over him again on the way back down. He should have a good set of tread marks on his back."

"I would've loved to have seen that," Quinn said, amused. "But where he is right now, he's probably wishing that was all the abuse he was getting… if he's still alive."

Michael smiled. "And they can't get back here, right?"

"Not a chance," Quinn said, holding up the timer, "I've got the timer. They're stuck there… with the KroMaggs."

"Good. On behalf of our doubles in this dimension, wherever they are, we all thank you. And it will make your lives easier, too. Who knows if they would have decided that you guys were aliens or something, too, having been to parallel words and all. So I say good riddance to them."

Max nodded. "I agree with Michael. With them gone, you guys… and our doubles… wherever they are… can live in peace. Have a happy honeymoon!"

"You'll remember to thank Jung Jo?" Wade asked.

"I'll give him a kiss and a hug for you," Liz said, smiling. "You guys enjoy yourselves."

And so, with a few heartfelt goodbyes, the visit to Quinn and Wade's earth came to an end.

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As the New Granolith rose into the sky, Quinn and Wade watched…

"We'll meet again, my friends," Quinn said, waving, "I feel it."

Max sighed and looked at Michael. "Well, do we head into the next dimension?"

"We should try Antar in this dimension first," Michael said, "We're already here."

"Yeah, but Pierce is still alive in this dimension. In our dimension, you killed him."

"That's true," Michael agreed… then he thought for awhile… "But, you know, Max, you never can tell about things… I mean, things aren't always what they look like. Remember… Quinn and the others were home once before and turned around and left because something looked wrong but turned out to be… you know… not what it looked like."

Max nodded. "You're right. We should visit Antar in this dimension while we're here… just to be thorough."

"Varec would approve," Michael said, smiling.

Max gave Michael a friendly shove and smiled.

It took four days to reach Antar. It would have taken a couple of more days, but Varec was always finding ways to increase the ship's speed and efficiency. As the planet came into sight, Max and Michael watched longingly, along with Liz and Maria, from the bridge.

"Every time I see Antar, I get this lump in my throat," Liz said softly, her voice catching, "Even when it's not ours. It just looks like home."

The others nodded.

"Take us closer," Max said to Michael, "We'll radio the control center for directions and make our final decision about visiting this Antar after we've made radio contact."

Michael nodded. Three minutes later, the ship approached the Antarian space controlled zone, still a few thousand miles out, and Max suddenly gasped and sat bolt upright.

"Max! What's wrong?" Michael asked, setting the ship on automatic and jumping up to check on him. Max stood there, his eyes staring at the planet below, his face white.

"Max?" Liz said, feeling Max's head and holding his hand to make sure that he was alright. As soon as she touched his hand, she let out a cry and froze, then tears started to flow down her cheeks.

"Liz? Are you okay? What's the matter, chica?" Maria asked. She hadn't used that word in years… She wasn't sure why she did now.

"We're home," Liz said, "The jah-ees are welcoming Max back. They have that mental connection."

"All the Antars we visited… I never once thought about that," Max said, shaking in spite of all attempts not to, "I never felt the connection to the jah-ees on any of them. On one Antar, I contacted them myself, but that pre-existing, sort of automatic connection I have with our jah-ees wasn't there. A moment ago, it flooded through me like a light coming on…" Max turned to the others and smiled… "We're home."

As soon as Max said it, cheers went up all over the ship, and the word spread like a wild fire. "Home." The word sounded too good to be true! Minutes later, Alex was walking around passing out party hats, noise makers, and eggnog. Isabel laughed. "Where in the world did you find these, Alex?"

"I picked them up back on Quinn and Wade's earth. I figured we'd use them, with New Years Eve coming up. But now we've got something to really celebrate! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! We'll pop the champagne when we land. I don't want Michael and Max to crash the ship. The eggnog's off the grocery store shelf. It's not spiked."

Everyone laughed and held up their glasses, as Alex poured eggnog for them, and at that moment, the jah-ees arrived, looping and spinning joyously around the New Granolith as it entered Antar's atmosphere. Max held up his glass in a toast to his old friends…

"Happy New Year, my friends… I'm glad to be home."

It was a sentiment that was echoed and reechoed all over the bridge, because by now EVERYONE was on the bridge…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The voices were almost drowned out in the noise and the cheers, but the sentiments were felt in the heart…

WE'RE HOME!

>>>>> Epilogue >>>>>

Wade turned on her computer…

"You have mail!" the mechanical voice proclaimed happily.

Scanning through the list quickly, Wade sighed. "759,521 emails… all spam, I'm guessing, from while we were gone."

Quinn smiled. "Use the spam monster I installed for you before we left."

Wade nodded and clicked the key… "That did it. Now I have one email and 759,520 spam messages. She clicked the key again, and the spams disappeared into the mouth of a ravenous spam beast that ripped them apart, chewed them up, and swallowed them with gusto… something Quinn had dreamed up.

Wade raised her eyebrows slightly, as she opened the single valid email, and a smile came over her face…

"Hi Wade! We took your advice. It was something of a challenge to find you in a different dimension, but we did it. Thanks for the idea. It's cool! We would love to hear from you." RahnWWAntar

>>>>> The End >>>>>

Travel with Max and the others to Antar to witness the emotional reunions with their children and families. Just hop on the New Granolith with them and zip over to chapter 67 of The Four Faces Of Rath, "Out Of A Nightmare." You haven't read the whole story till you've been there for the reunion!