For anyone who has played Far Cry 2 think of your favorite safe house. This is our world. Not some alternate reality or video game. Ours. The next one will be the start of the fun.
Chapter Three: Safe House
"How the hell did you take down that chopper?" Scott asked. His mind was slowly catching up with current events. After Nate's rescue the two had made a run for the trees, to where Nate had an old truck stashed. They sped away quickly as there were still two more Dragonfly choppers in the area. Scott efficiently guided them to a safe house a good thirty kilometers from the lines.
"Motherfuckers, my own design." Nate grinned at the name. He detached a magazine from his REPR and slid off a cartridge of .308 before passing it over to his brother.
Scott inspected the cartridge. The bullet was longer than normal, denoting a higher than average weight. There were three different colors on the tip, the first was orange, followed by silver and green.
"Motherfuckers?" Scott passed the cartridge back. Nate couldn't keep a chuckle from escaping his lips. He slid the round back into the mag and slammed the box into his rifle.
"My own design. Back when I was sitting around Afghanistan with my thumb up my butt. It's an explosive armor piercing incendiary. A 185 grain bullet, with the first twenty five grains a high impact explosive charge. The incendiary is the silver behind it, followed by a 155 grain bullet copper jacket covering an armor piercing tungsten core. Enough punch in a magazine to eat through the armor of a Bradley. And as you saw out there, it's just murder on bullet proof glass."
Scott leaned against the wall of the small shack. He took in his brother's appearance, really analyzing him. Despite the smile, Nate had a haggard face with drawn cheeks and dead eyes. Scott saw the look on many a merc who was on a long mission. Nate's desert camouflage ghillie suit lay bunched up on their only cot. On top of the suit was a matching camouflage assault pack, only twice as big and looking like it weighed eighty pounds on the light side.
Nate had lost some weight, and his arms were crisscrossed with various scars and bruises. The dirty battle dress uniform was soaked through with sweat, and covered in large splotches of dried blood. The stench was awful, but in Scott's line of work he had smelled much worse.
The other brother watched as Scott looked him over. He propped his REPR up against the walls of their small hut, and drained two water bottles resting on the far shelf.
"What the hell happened to you?" Scott asked after a long pause. Nate sighed and eased back down to the cot.
"It's a long unbelievable story. You heave to understand it is going to seem a bit crazy." Nate started off. Scott barked a harsh laugh at him.
"My entire team just got wiped out by three of the most advanced attack helicopters in the world. Choppers that just rolled off the assembly line and which have no purpose in the hands of anyone but Americans. My own country just tried to kill me!" Scott told him sternly.
Nate smiled slightly.
"Yes there is that. Four weeks ago, I got yanked out of my platoon in Afghanistan by a squad of DARPA agents."
"DARPA?" That scared Scott shitless. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was the US military's weapons development arm. Notorious for their ruthless pursuit of better technology, DARPA was renowned for butting their noses, and rifle barrels, into anything new with blowing things up in mind. The Dragonfly project could not have existed without DARPA and it's field agents.
"Yeah! Told me and my spotter we we're hand picked for a deep cover mission to extract some stolen intel from a Russian research post in Siberia. You know me, anytime a mission says suicidal I go with it. The place was a fucking fortress. They had tanks, Hind choppers, a company of Spetnaz paratroops, the works. These DARPA boys brought the house down with war tech I've never seen before. Anyway, we ghosted in, blew everything up and then rallied at the station. That's when the agent in charge, an asshole called Ted Barker, pulled this thing out."
Nate reached under the cot and slid out the large Samsonite container. The same one he pulled from the truck when they came to the safe house. He unlocked the case and propped the door open to let Scott look inside.
At the sight of the device Scott let out a low descending whistle.
"That's a bit alien, what is it?"
"Agents called it a world-shifter."
"And it does, what?" Scott asked, eyes never leaving the world … shifter.
"I'm getting to that. Barker punched some numbers into the pad on the front then typed out what he wanted on a folding keypad. This piece of shit lit up like the fourth of July. Then we all got hit with a tazer. Pain. Agony. That's the only way to muddle through it. About two minutes after that we were … somewhere else."
Scott waited while his brother gathered his thoughts.
"I can't explain it. We weren't on Earth anymore, brother. The sky was dark, and there were no stars. Just black. With two moons, one red and one blue. And there was no sun in the sky, but we weren't cold. It was an almost perfect temperature. And we could breathe. John, my spotter, noticed it first before everyone else; the ground was moving almost as if it was alive. There were these structures in the distance that looked organic, and they were massive, the size of mountains."
"We were just looking at everything for about fifteen minutes and then Barker and his agents started laughing and patting each other on the back. John and I went over to see what they were talking about and that's when we got a dozen guns in our faces. There were three sniper teams with John and I, and we were surrounded in a heartbeat. These were our own men! Americans pointing guns at Americans."
"Barker told us we had uncovered something big. Something that had to remain a state secret. He offered us a place on their field team and a few million dollars for out silence. I was thinking it over when that bastard had to keep rattling his mouth off. He told us we couldn't see our families again, and we had to appear dead in order to live. John's got himself a good woman and a little girl back in the states. He started cursing out the agents and ranting about his family."
"Those bastards didn't hesitate, they just blew him away. Three agents shot him in the head simultaneously. Then they turned their guns on the rest of us. By that time I was already moving, I shoved the gun in my face out of the way. Someone pushed me down from behind, I think it was one of the other sniper teams. Anyway both sides start shooting and this world-shifter gets knocked off it's crate. It lands right next to me and there's this big yellow flashing button on it. I can't read Russian so I think what the hell? I leap forward and jam my thumb down on the button. The thing brought us back to the research station."
Nate told him of the gunfight and the activation of the device for a third time. His escape from the nuke was rather straightforward. The LSV took him far past the danger zone of the radiation as well as the thermal and ground shock waves.
"I've been dodging DARPA agents and hit teams for the last four weeks, trying to reach you. Seems I arrived just in time!" Nate finished.
Scott simply stared at him, trying to wrap his brain around the fantastic story.
"Your story telling skills suck," Scott told him biding time. Nate simple shrugged and waited.
Finally after a long pause Scott said, "So this thing is in Russian. Does that mean it's Russian built?" Nate shook his head and shrugged again.
"No idea," he said, " Can you think of any piece of tech that could transport someone to a completely different world with two moons? Do the Russians have something like that?"
Scott snorted, "No way. They just barely finished their mission to the moon. Should be touching down tomorrow. If they had a way to travel there instantaneously they wouldn't spend the money for their space program."
"Maybe that's a front?" Nate speculated.
"Awfully lot of money to spend on misdirection. Besides I don't think the moon is the ultimate goal. It sounds like you were dropped off on a different world entirely."
"So you believe me?" there was a tense pause.
"You're my brother. Of course I believe you! Do you speak Russian?" Nat chuckled.
"Yeah, but I can't write or read it. To dyslexic to understand the sentences."
"No wonder you didn't read much when we were kids. Lucky enough for us, Russian was my study language in college. Let me see what we have here."
Scott put the Samsonite container on the cot and used it as a makeshift table. He put the world shifter on top and studied the device. It looked like a fat X with a bulbous head at the cross point. The edges were smooth and seamless save for the improvised keypad and digital computer screen. The main body was alien in construction and it was fairly obvious what had been added to make it user friendly to humans.
"This is definitely alien." Scott rhetorically stated.
"You think?" Came the sarcastic reply. "Can you read it?"
He punched a few curious buttons on the device and the screen lit up almost immediately.
"Must have some sleep feature on it, like a normal laptop. There are ports here for USB plug-ins. No start up screen, so there must be a military code for the translation process."
"Just shut up and read the damn thing!" Nat nearly shouted at him. A trace of a smile appeared on Scott's face. He was too absorbed in his work to answer back. It was an old joke with them. Scott prided himself on his high IQ and he was the scientist of the pair, despite the fact Nate was every bit as smart and intelligent. Nate understood every word out of Scott's mouth.
Scott scanned the display and mentally translated the words in his head. He pulled up a file labeled:
Identification World Base – Books.
The scrolling text was a confusing work up but once Scott got a feel for it he let out a low whistle.
"What?" his brother impatiently prompted.
"Nat you really found something here. This thing is listing a bunch of books that have been written in the last sixty years. It has them divided into genre and provides a summary with detailed information."
"What the fuck?" Nate breathed. He leaned over Scott's shoulder to look at the scrolling information.
"Thought you couldn't read Russian?" Scott asked him. Nate thumped his brother on the head.
"Fuck you, I can look can't I? What else does it say?"
"listing transport possibilities and locations. Holy shit!"
"What?"
Scott turned to his brother, an incredulous look all over his face.
"You ever want to visit the Harry Potter universe?" He said with a completely straight face. Nat leaned back from him. The seriousness in Scott's eyes was freaking him out. After he received no response Scott kept on, "Because that's exactly what this world-shifter does! It transports you from this world to an alternate universe. This is … this … this is huge!"
A thousand possibilities exploded in Nate's mind. He took to pacing around the hut each idea sounding more incredible than the last. If he hadn't seen the world himself, and gone through the process of transportation, then we would have put a bullet in his brain to end the insanity. This was just to crazy to properly acknowledge.
"It proves the infinite universe theory." Scott muttered.
"What theory is that?" Nate asked, grasping at a lifeline to explain the confusion.
"The idea that there are multiple universes in existence. That if our universe is infinite then the possibilities for more are also infinite. That there are parallel dimensions running in cohesion with our own. It's the multiverse. But it's all a bunch of theory and guessing. There's no real proof that the idea exists. This world-shifter proves it!"
"So technically there are worlds out there that match the stories and movies we've invented in this universe?" Nate asked. Scott shrugged.
"It fits within the theory. There are a lot of possibilities out there. And this thing allows you to travel between the worlds." Scott explained.
"Can you take anything with you? Or perhaps bring something back?"
"Well those agents had guns with them when you shifted to that world in Russia, right? I'm sure the same applies for bringing stuff back. Hell think of what you could do with that kind of power! No wonder those guys were happy."
The two brothers looked over the screen again.
"There are lists here for other things. Look here at the main screen:
Identification World Base – Movies
Identification World Base – Computer Games
Identification Wold Base – Earth Genres
Identification Wold Base – Television
Identification World Base – Art
Identification World Base – Fanfiction
Identification Earth Time – Century – Year
The list looked to be endless. Every idea, theme, or genre that had been invented seemed to have a corresponding world in the computer. Some had no possibility or chance of transport while others could teleport them to a certain location and time within a particular world. The list could be updated with new material, which could be uploaded through the USB ports. There was no internet connection which made sense as the information might overload the capabilities of the device. Neither brother wanted to think about remotely hacking into the machine and using it from a distance.
"I wonder what the range on this thing is? Like how big a radius can be transported." Scott wondered aloud. Nate answered immediately that it was at least thirty meters. He thought back to one of the Bradley Fighting Vehicles sheared in half by the edge of the transportation radius.
"Perhaps the radius can be extended to something much larger. It would be a bit useless if you could only transport yourself and a couple of buddies. That might be a feature we can configure on the computer. You said the Russians built two of these things?"
Nate nodded once. "Yeah, and those DARPA fuckers have the other model. They may have had time enough to shift back to this world and jump on some choppers before the nuke hit. I don't know."
Scott told him, "Those Dragonfly choppers tell us America wants us out of the way. If I was Barker I would make damn sure no one could mess around with another device."
Those thoughts brought them back to their current situation, sitting in the middle of the African Sahara with American attack choppers searching in the skies.
"Well where do you want to go?" Scott finally asked. He gestured towards the machine. Nat looked at him surprised.
"Oh don't look at me like that, Nate. It's obvious we can't go anywhere on this planet without getting shot. The Russians and the Americans are after us now! But this world-shifter gives us some possibilities. We could jump to an alternate version of our Earth. Somewhere that the two of us would not be hunted. Then we could fuck some people up."
After Nate got a moment to overcome his shock he grinned broadly.
"You're thinking too small, little brother. I was thinking about jumping out to kick Darth Vader's ass!" both Nate and Scott laughed at the idea. Then Scott sobered up as he really thought it over.
"Vader would probably fuck us up. Hell he'd pulverize the two of us in a second. Just cause we can move between worlds doesn't mean we're invincible." He said. Nate's smile disappeared as he too took in the implications.
"We would have to build ourselves up in strength if we had any chance. Maybe start small and get the things we'd need." Nate added.
"So what would our ultimate goal be? If the multiverse was open up to you, brother, what would you want?"
Nate and Scott were silent for several long minutes. Nate finally grunted and broke out an MRE from his large ALICE pack. Scott smiled slightly and retrieved his own rations. They set aside the world shifter and sat down to share a relaxing meal. The two had lived off of field rations for most of their lives. They understood how to tolerate the slop.
"I've missed this you know," Scott said finally. He sipped on a soft pack of concentrated juice, one of the few luxuries he allowed himself in the field. "remember when we'd have those sit down meals at the table?" Nate sighed in contentment for a moment as he relived the memory.
"Dad would tell us war stories of his time in Nam," Nate added. Scott chuckled. "You were always Charlie!" Nate laughed. Scott shot him a sour look. They lapsed into silence.
"I know what I want." Nate finally said, drawing Scott out of his musings. Nate continued, "I want a human empire. Our own Empire. I want to see Our Earth reach the stars and survive. I want to see us dominate the universe."
"I think Barker's got a handle on that already," Scott said.
"Barker!" Nat snarled low in his throat. " Barker doesn't care about anyone but Barker. Earth could burn around him, just so long as he gets what he wants. I want to see an Empire that outlasts Barker. I don't care what the government is or the politics. I just want to see us last."
"May I interrupt with one bit of selfishness?" Scott asked. "Perhaps it can be us who rules this Empire? Or perhaps after ensuring the continuity of our species, we could build our own little world? Somewhere far in the reaches of space." Scott dreamed aloud.
"Want to be a ruler then? Take it all for yourself?" Nate criticized. Scott laughed at him.
"Just thinking big here. If we're going to change our universe for the better might as well cut out a little piece of it for ourselves."
"I can't really think of the characters in those books as being real. Our universe is the real one. I just think of the rest as fakes. No real emotion or feelings for them or anything." Nate confessed. Scott agreed with him.
"Maybe that will change when we actually talk to them?" He added.
"So how are we going to do this, Nate? If we build up small we'll need to acquire money, valuable goods, and technology. Not necessarily in that order."
"Hell Scott, you were the geek of the family, you tell me?"
"Well we need to go somewhere that we can control the population without too much trouble. And while we're there we need to acquire an accepted form of currency. I'm thinking gold, since we can use it in every version of Earth we go to. So we're going to need to get a lot of it."
"Gold's heavy brother, how're we gonna carry all that?"
"Easy. The first world we shift to will be the Harry Potter universe. Say around book five just before Harry takes his stupid suicide trip to the ministry. We can buzz in there and purchase some enchantments for our backpacks, and make them bottomless."
"Bottomless?" Nate asked confused. He never read as much as his younger brother.
"Yeah, essentially a bottomless bag will carry anything you can fit into the top. You can have five hundred pounds of gear in a small day pack. I think it's proportional to how much space the bag gives you. Like that ALICE pack over there has 2400 cubic inches of space. Enchanted the bag will have 2400 cubic FEET. Then we can get some magic charms to make the bags weightless. That should give us the ability to carry lots of items. Then we can stock up on ammo and essentials."
"Anything else we want from that universe?"
"Perhaps some items from the Ministry that Harry visits. While we're there we can shoot the bad guys and raid their stores. I'm thinking we could get some time turners which are short range time machines. Perhaps some cloaks that turn you invisible. Can't think of anything else valuable to us, but more may come up as we poke around."
Nate was silent for a moment.
"I need to read those books again." He said. Scott chuckled. "This is in London, England, right?" Nate asked. After a nod from Scott Nate continued, " We're gonna have to blend in. That means no heavy weapons. I guess we take the bags we want to modify. That means we're going to be in deep cover. How much cash do you have?"
Scott rummaged around in his own assault pack. He yanked out a waterproof canvas pouch and poured the contents onto the floor of the safe house.
"five thousand in American, about a thousand in Euros. Five ounces of gold, with another ten in silver, and ten rough cut diamonds." Scott listed off the contents.
"Blood diamonds?" Nate asked, a hint of disgust behind his voice. Scott could only offer him a shrug.
"These African countries don't have much in the way or wire transfers between banks. I take what I can get. We can probably take this and get it exchanged at Gringotts." Scott said.
"Where?"
"The goblin run bank. We exchange this stuff for their gold currency and buy what we need. Then we can jump back and collect our heavy gear at the safe house. After which we return tot he HP universe and stock up on ammo, equipment, food, water, and other supplies. Then we fuck shit up for the bad guys before jumping again."
Nate grinned at him. "Where to after that?"
"We can decide that when we're done in the next universe. Right now I want to get as far away from Barker, America and this world as I possibly can. We'll come back when we're better armed."
The two brothers geared down for their adventure. They dressed in dark clothing from their packs, and concealed their handguns under the overlapping garments. Both men chose hoodies to hide their faces. The bags chosen to be modified were two large ALICE backpacks and two matching green US army surplus duffel bags. Either bag could hold a small mountain of gear and would be perfect for their needs.
Scott spent the next ten minutes filling in the shift parameters on the device. He set the shift time as a week before the ministry excursion undertaken by Harry Potter. The location was outside of the Leaky Cauldron in the very early morning. Hopefully any traffic through that area would not be awake enough to notice their arrival. Scott was surprised to find a further feature on the device that acted as a scanner.
The world shifter knew exactly who and what was located in the immediate vicinity. The radar could be stretched to a little over five hundred meters in any direction. Scott reduced the scan range to five meters. He was astounded that the machine identified two human bodies with numerous objects. The specificity of the options were incredible. Scott quickly punched in the two human bodies listed on the monitor as ready to travel.
"Are you ready?" He asked Nate. The big marine was adjusting his web belt over a black BDU jacket. Scott's keen eyes immediately picked up the butt of Nate's pistol under his jacket. Scott was similarly armed.
"Are we really doing this?"
"Why the hell not? It'll be fun! The next great adventure." Scott's enthusiasm neatly covered up his own trepidation.
Nate leaned down to punch the main flashing yellow button on the device. Scott's hand shot out and caught Nate's arm.
"Just how bad is this going to hurt?" Scott asked.
"You remember that time in Bolivia when you took that 5.56 in the upper arm? The feeling you had when the bullet turned your muscles inside out?"
Now grinning Nate mashed his thumb down on the button.
"Well fuck."