Day: Unknown. Time: Unknown. Place: Old Southwestern United States
The Holo-Screen picked up the object as the other mechanical paraphernalia in the room lit up like a Christmas tree. The man monitoring the equipment shouted and the once quiet space erupted with noise and busy activity. A sleeping Lieutenant jumped up, startled by the sudden commotion. His chair fell to one side and hit the floor with a thump. The radar operator chucked inside as he noticed the awkward event. "Officers…" he mumbled softly, shaking his head.
"Someone got something into orbit. How?" the Lieutenant asked, composing himself as best as he could. He eyed the 3D image for a moment. "Can you pinpoint its origin?"
"It's reflecting our scans, so I can't confirm it 100%. However, by calculating the velocity, distance, and angle it was launched from the other side of the continent. My guess is that it's some type of missile, Sir. It's about the right size anyway. The speed is incredible and it's heading directly towards us. Impact in approximately three minutes and twelve seconds" the radar operator stated.
"You know what to do." The chimpanzee Lieutenant replied pointing at three others sitting at an adjacent consol. "Initialize the automated Air-Defense software and ready the EH Cannons!"
"Already on it, LT" a female soldier replied. "EH Cannons initialized and at 86%".
The team pushed buttons and adjusted a small number of holo-panels. A few seconds later the EM Hyper Cannon fired and struck its target. The Oberon-3 jolted as several internal systems went offline. The ship twisted from a second pulse, rocking the craft further. The small transport tumbled towards the atmosphere and lit up the skyline with a bright orange glow as its leaking fuel ignited.
Inside the ship the jostled Jonathan Hayes frantically tried to level the toppling craft. it slammed into the upper atmosphere with a firm jolt. The vessel was highly advanced and the metallic structure shielded a majority of the heat. However, it had also taken a beating in its brief exposure to the spacial barrier. The Oberon-3 was in an accelerated descent. It was traveling too fast and the angle of approach was too flat. The ship began to buckle.
The EM pulse had neutralized a majority of the ship's operational software, but the emergency systems were protected with refractive shielding. Hayes managed to level the craft as a third pulse clipped the hull. He cussed angrily as he was thrown backwards. The equipment sparked and fire containment vents opened spraying a thick white mist. The built in fail-safe initiated as the small vehicle scarcely exited outer space in one piece. It descended back to Earth with automated thrusters firing in a calculated sequence. They slowed the ship enough to save the lives of the men inside. Minutes later it impacted with the hot sand and skipped across the desert like a stone skipping across a pond. It ground to a halt several miles outside the city boundaries.
"Bogie down, LT" a voice reported. "No explosion on impact, Sir. Radar's showing all clear. No more bandits in the air"
"Notify the containment units and open the V.V.L. I want this mess delegated off my plate" The chimp stated. "And keep the Hyper Cannons online for now. This may have been a probing shot. Stark, go wake up the Captain and Major Gull. If I know Gull he'll want to look at this thing first hand"
OOO - Later
Captain Hayes blinked as his vision faded from a vivid red blur to a smudged white haze. His ears echoed as if he was picking up the sound of distant voices. The reverberations bounced inside his brain. He closed his eyes and pressed them hard with the palms of his hands in an attempt to rub out the disorientation. The man to his side was unconscious, soaked in blood, and slumped over. His mind rushed back to the all too familiar scene he'd experienced when the Dreadnaught crash landed.
"Get 'em out of there" the voice shouted to the others. "Murphy, look them over but don't waste any of our medical supplies unless it's life threatening. And if it is, just save one, the other can die. We only need one for interrogation. Take those weapons too."
"Easy does it buddy." a voice said to Hayes. The astronaut tried to answer but couldn't seem to get any of the words out. Instead he just coughed. His head throbbed and a nauseated feeling arose as he was jerked free.
Two other bodies helped pull Hayes out of the aircraft. They placed him on a make-shift stretcher and carried him off. A third put two fingers on the neck of March, searching for a pulse. "He's alive, but just barely. This one's going to need blood, human blood" Scott Murphy shouted.
Off in the distance the two figures observed as Hayes and March were removed from the craft and carted off. Large salvage equipment picked up, what was left, of the Oberon-3. Technicians pulled circuitry, computer parts and samples of the metallic hull for analysis. Items were tagged and segregated as engineers and scientists hauled them away for study.
"What do you make of it?" the man asked.
"I have no idea, Sir" the orangutan replied. "But this is larger than us. This thing lit up every radar defense system we have. We recently discovered that we're not alone here. But if the enemy possesses equipment like this, we're in for a lot of trouble. We don't have the facilities or resources to produce aircraft. The cabinet and the Emperor are both going to be screaming for answers. And you can bet that Imperiam Intelligence is on their way here. It's already been V.V.L'd up the chain by some half scared Lieutenant."
V.V.L. stood for Video and Voice Link. It was the Imperiam's SOP for all military transmissions.
"You're right. Every bureaucrat in the Monarch is going to be crawling all over this. Half of the Empire is screaming, invasion. We may finally get the answer to a twenty year old question."
** Months Later
The small access at the bottom of the chamber door opened. A metallic tray, with something that resembled food, slid into the cell. It was accompanied by a bowl of water. The body of Tom March ached as he rolled off of the filthy cot and crawled towards the slop. His stomach welcomed the nutrition and even an act this small broke up the insane boredom. He picked up the plate and washed down the slimy paste in a couple of swallows. The taste was horrific but his stomach cried for more. He gulped down the stale water and let the last few drops drip on the end of his tongue.
The random beatings and endless questioning had stopped. He hadn't seen Hayes in who knew how long. He'd been told his comrade was dead but his instincts knew better. These people were desperate for information otherwise they'd both be dead. In some way they seemed as lost he was. Their line of questioning indicated a sort of puzzling isolation. What he couldn't understand was why the interrogations suddenly stopped. He'd been confined to this cell for …he paused and counted the tick marks he'd made… for twenty two days, he concluded. His only friends were the occasional hand or paw that dropped off or picked up his plate. He contemplated escaping, but he was too weak and there were no gaps in their security. The cell was some type of hardened steel and even a hit from a tank couldn't open it. Besides, where would he escape to? He had no idea where 'here' even was.
No sooner had he concluded that thought when the bolt on the front of the door slid back and two men accompanied by an ape stepped in. The rush of light blinded the man. He instinctively raised a forearm to shield the sudden rush of light.
"Get him cleaned up, give him a proper meal, and have him brought to C level room 17". One of the men ordered.
The ape and the other man scooped up March and dragged him off.
** C level room 17
Hayes flexed his left arm and bent his wrist downward. The action brought temporary relief to the stressed limb. His last, 'questioning', had taken a toll and almost resulted in the appendage breaking entirely.
"What are they up to?" he muttered. The man had been bathed, fed, and groomed. It didn't make sense. Just days ago he'd been caged and almost starved to death.
He rubbed his cheek with the opposite hand. It felt odd. Until today he hadn't shaved in weeks. He scratched at his bald head too. It was all part of making him presentable, he assumed.
He sat, guarded, in a large room. It reminded him a lot of home. The style and architecture carried a familiar style. It also reminded him that he had no idea where he was; another trip to an odd-ball version of his Earth, perhaps. From the questions he'd been asked and the fact that talking apes were present he knew his plan to get back to his time had failed miserably. And oddly enough here, the two species seemed to coexist peacefully.
"What happened?" he contemplated. "My calculations were so precise …One minute I'm heading home and the next…" He'd incorrectly concluded that he must have been shot down before reaching the barrier.
What happened indeed! The Oberon-3 shuttle reached the barrier. Its advanced fail-safe was decades beyond anything the Dreadnaught possessed. The ship's defensive systems shielded against the initial pressure and unstable particle bombardment. However, the level of resistance could not sustain itself and began to compromise. Gases, fuel, and vapor emitted as microscopic fractures in the ship's plating occurred. An instantaneous wave of the electrons hyper accelerated, exponentially. At the atomic level several atoms split causing a nuclear cascading reaction. The barrier's intense gravity was magnified at its core. Nuclear explosions went off one after the other and were compressed into center of the anomaly and converted into energy. The once stable barrier vibrated to and fro like a rubber band being strummed and released. Oberon-3 was sucked in and snapped back out in a millisecond. Inside, a spacial rift erupted followed by a blinding white light and a subatomic expansion of mixed radiation. Tachyon particles pierced through the array. Conflation occurred and small parts of two distinct universes overlapped. The two realities fused together. The event happened so quickly, Hayes never realized any of it ever took place. All he knew was that they lifted off, broke orbit, and something struck them, disabling their systems.
Two gorillas entered the room. They were shackled just as he was and directed to sit to his left. Moments later March was escorted in. Pain shot though the shoulder of the Air Force Captain as the guard yanked him back to his chair. He'd involuntarily jerked up when he'd noticed his friend. Shortly after that a human officer walked in accompanied by a gorilla. They wore the crest of the Imperiam Intelligence. The stomach of everyone at the table dropped as they expected mistreatment to begin once more.
The gorilla tapped his electronic pad "Sound off when I call your name." It was odd Hayes thought. Something was different. The ape went through the list, called off all of the names, and then introduced himself and the officer next to him.
Maybe it was the fact that he was no longer feeling the stabs of hunger or maybe it was because he'd was clean and comfortable, but against his better instincts, March spoke up. These people were harsh and brutal. He'd learned early that playing the smartass only brought pain.
He carefully composed his thoughts and asked his question. "Colonel, with all due respect, what in the hell is going on here? No interrogator has ever introduced himself. And what's with the five-star treatment? An hour ago I was sitting in my own filth, eating that slop you call food. Now I'm here, all cleaned up like I'm going to church, and playing guest of honor. What gives?"
The ape paused and stared at the man. For a split second March wished he'd stayed quiet. The Colonel leaned to the other and whispered a question. The man paused again and nodded to the gorilla before turning back to March.
"You've been cleared Major. Your story checks out. As does yours," he stated pointing at the two shackled simians next to Hayes.
Hayes, who possessed a much thicker skull than March, wasn't as careful with his vocabulary. His nearly broken arm was proof of that fact. He scoffing stated, "Cleared? Our story 'checks out'? …Oh so you just zipped over to USAF Command and verified everything with General Tykes, huh?"
"If you'd like, I can have your scrawny hide tossed back into that box we pulled you from." The ape holding the clipboard barked. He paused for a reply that never came… "No? …. I didn't think you'd like that idea, so listen up. Here's how it's going to work. You're being released. You'll remain under a casual house arrest. You'll be provided shelter and assigned work. Do a good job, you'll be compensated …left alone. You're free to move about the Monarch, but stay clear of all restricted areas. Other than that you may interact as you please. However, if ANY of you so much as sneeze the wrong way, you'll wish you were back in those cells eating that slop and sleeping on those cold steel floors. Major Dentre and Lieutenant Russ will be in shortly with more specific information and instructions. It's rare that we release anyone, alive, anyway. So thank whatever god you worship and don't get any stupid ideas."
"I have a family… Children." one of the ape prisoners stated. "I can't just …"
"That's of no significance. You're all property of the Empire now." The man replied ending the conversation before it even started.
The gorilla concluded by unshackling all four of the former prisoners. Major Dentre entered and instructed the two apes to follow him. Lieutenant Russ followed and pointed at March and Hayes, He curtly said. "You two … come with me."
As the two men were escorted out Hayes whispered, "It's good to see you, alive, Tom. I was told you were dead. What's your take on all of this? It doesn't make any sense?"
"Good to see you too" March whispered back. "I don't know Jonny. It doesn't add up for me either but for now we have no choice but to do as we're told".
- Minutes later -
"Sit down there" Russ ordered. The space looked similar to a conference room. There were several people seated at a table. All of which were human. That had been intentional. They thought it would make the men more at ease and in a small way, it did. The astronauts took a seat as instructed.
"Thank you Lieutenant. That's all." The senior officer at the table stated. "You may resume your duties."
He then picked up an electronic tablet and began to read. "On Tuesday, April 29th, 1980, old calendar dating, a spacecraft of unknown origin landed in the northern Atlantic ocean off the coast of what was once the United States. Aboard were three highly intelligent simians, suspected of being an advanced scouting party. Their mission was to recon and gather intelligence. Their ultimate purpose: to conquer and colonize the planet. In response to this threat, the United States developed and built the USS Dreadnaught. The craft contained a state-of-the-art combat intelligence system, high-tech refractive shielding, and a contemporary compliment of tactical armaments. The ship and its crew were to travel to the ape planet, gather intelligence and return home. It launched on; Friday, September 20, 1985, old calendar dating. In command; Lt Colonel Mark Johnson. His first officer was Major Thomas J. March. A seasoned weapons specialist and top five MIT graduate, Captain Jonathan Hayes, was the third member of the expedition. Communications with the vessel were lost approximately one hour after launch. The ship and crew never returned home. They were presumed destroyed or lost."
March began to speak. "You have me at a disadvantage. Where did you get information that detailed and how did you …"
"Know?" the man said, finishing the sentence. "Because you happen to be a footnote in our history, Major. Our military achieves go back hundreds of years. Your fingerprints, holoimages, photographs in your terms, are stored on e-file. But more importantly, because it marks the beginning of genetic enhancements. If it weren't for that, you might have never been mentioned at all."
He tapped a button and their old worn images appeared on the imager. It was them, their ship, their world.
"I don't …get this." Hayes stated. "You're saying we made it home? We got the address right but ended up on the wrong street?"
"We're all on the wrong street" a technician at the table interjected. "Sir if I may." The man requested. The commander nodded and the scientist continued. "Almost twenty years ago, via an unexplained event, a major portion of our world was wiped clear off the planet. At least that's what we believed, until shortly after your ship crashed."
"You mean; was shot out of the sky" Hayes snapped back.
"Believe me Captain; your ship was on a crash course before we ever fired a single shot." The man said casually. "Once we analyzed the ship's automated flight and sensor recordings we learned a great deal. Our world didn't disappear from us gentlemen, we vanished from it. We are still studying 'the why', but your trip into whatever that was up there seems to have caused all of this."
"How could we have?" Hayes stated firmly. "I barely broke orbit before your ADA engaged our craft. I never reached the barrier. Besides, according to you, you've been here twenty years. I don't have a watch, but I do know that we just popped-in."
The technician didn't reply. Instead he handed Hayes an electronic tablet with several data dumps, calculations, formulas, etc. The man scrolled up and down as his brain processed what his eyes witnessed. He asked the occasional question and added the sporadic statement.
After close to ten minutes Hayes handed the pad back. The man had a puzzled look on his face. "Somehow as we were crossing back, something caused a … a rip. Parts of your dimension spilled, so to speak, into this one and the two merged together." He concluded.
"That's the theory Captain. But it seems pretty solid" The technician replied. "Best as we can tell anyway. There are parts of the Empire that were fused to rock and debris when the event occurred. Other parts were simply gone. There are pieces of this mystery that defy the laws of physics and as you noted, several elements cataloged in the ship's scan aren't even listed on the periodic table. This will never be fully explained"
"So fill me in," March interrupted. "What the hell happened? There was no Empire on the western portion of North America. Animals where we come from don't talk. 'When' exactly did arrive …relatively speaking"
"You're approximately four hundred and ten years in your future, Major. …relatively speaking. However, neither of you left wherever it was you were trying to escape from and neither of you made it back to the wherever it was you were heading" The man stated. "We arrived twenty years ago, but to you two, everything took place in a matter of minutes. Seventeen minutes and twelve seconds to be precise. At least that's what the flight chronometer logged".
"Are you Soviet or some kind of a communistic spin-off?" March asked in bewilderment. "I mean were we…"
"Ok," a brisk, stern voice bellowed. "I have business here. However, if you want a history lesson, I'll oblige. But as soon as I'm done we're going to discuss the real reason I brought you here. I meet with the Cabinet tomorrow morning and plan to attend with answers. Major Quint, you're a historian, fill them in …quickly"
"Yes Sir" Quint replied. He turned to the two men and went on. "America went the way of every other nation. Slowly, through war, civil unrest, genetic experimentation, complacency, the world fell into chaos. Freedom eroded in the name of safety and security. And rightly so; only a strong central Government can control the untamed masses. America, Canada, the Chinese, Soviets, Germans …the French …all of them eventually toppled. After a bloody world war and then another after that, your country finally died. As did every other you're familiar with. Hell, there wasn't much left of anyone or anything by then. Believe me; you wouldn't have even recognized it if that ship of yours had dropped right in the middle of it. It took a century or two but a remnant of civilization survived and slowly bounced back. Both man and ape were forced to put their differences aside. A fragile democracy was initially formed but the Monarch had the might and the power to command. After one final conflict, you can guess who won out. You can read about it more in detail in the archives."
"So what is it you want from us; a way to get ….home?" Hayes asked.
"No, Captain, no." The elderly soldier said with a laugh. "Doctor Aptos here has already confirmed that going back is impossible. That thing out there collapsed in on itself. We're stuck here now. What I do want to know is; have you ever heard of something called; The ODN?"
An electronic board, similar to the other, was placed in front of Hayes.
"Well Captain?" The man asked.
Argos – Sigma-Twelve
It had been very easy for Major Polk to orchestrate. With the help of General Grazot and the captured spy he'd managed to confirm that a new, lethal threat had surfaced. The full scale show of aggression against Sigma-Twelve and the attempted sabotage of the ODN mainframe in New Washington reinforced his arguments further. Even Polk, who wanted to see the humans pay for what they'd done to Ceasera, understood this threat. But now was not the time for the revenge he'd been planning for over eight months. "Perspective" he kept repeating in his mind. This Imperiam Monarch was like nothing he'd seen. They didn't simply hold a few piecemealed relics. They had military units entwined with them. Their basic equipment, their gear …all of it was …highly advanced. Even the combined might of the three nations was pathetic compared to their level of mechanical expertise. Only the ODN held them back and that was as long as it was available.
This enemy was smart. They were patient. More seriously, they were not afraid to kill their own to gain intelligence. The Sigma-Twelve attack was simply a probing assault to assess the response and level of destruction the defense net possessed. It was a win-win for them. They gained first hand knowledge of its capabilities and every missile it fired drained its tactical supremacy …literally. Not only that, but the probe allowed them to observe tactics, leadership and military tactics.
It all kept spinning back to the ODN. It was the only thing stopping a full fledge assault. The humans were desperately working on a way to re-supply the orbital platforms. However, according to the moles Polk had inserted in the new trading-posts, that was just, pie in the sky, at the moment. It would be decades before they developed anything that would give them the capability to reach orbit and manipulate those platforms.
General Grazot was glad to be home but the ape felt like a fly caught in a web. Almost every one his country-apes looked at him as a traitor and held him solely responsible for the nations decline. More than once he'd been addressed as; "The traitor, Grazot". Sullen had done all he could to spin his lies but the death and destruction Grazot indirectly caused, by allying with the human fugitives, was all too fresh in everyone's mind. And having a nest of talking, reasoning, armed humans around didn't boost morale much either. They'd been indoctrinated for decades with falsehoods about these savage animals. Now they were being fed a new set of stories as the savages were welcomed as equals. Stories that contradicted two centuries of deliberate deception. Grazot began thinking more and more that his assignment to the south wasn't really that bad, after all.
The conglomeration present was certainly a motley crew. A fragile alliance to say the least. All sides were dealing with varying degrees of bitterness, hatred and fear. Both Major Polk and General St James were oddly in agreement as they gazed at what they could only regard as a briefing room. "How primitive" they both silently concluded, looking around the structure. And it wasn't just the architecture either; the thick leather and burlap uniforms of the apes, the muskets most of them carried, their horses, wooden wagons, all of it seemed prehistoric.
Of course they'd been equally amazed at the vast change in climate and environmental conditions. On more than one occasion, it rained like heaven itself had split open. There were thick grassy fields and huge trees; green plush trees. Not the dried out husks they were used to. And strangely enough, ponds and lakes were common place. This prehistoric land was a paradise compared to home or anywhere else for that matter. St James struggled with guilty feelings of wanting to roll in and take it all.
One basic principle kept the whole thing together. And that was; the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Most of Sigma-twelve lie in ruin and Sullen was more than scared. It was under reconstruction but parts were being completely rebuilt. On the outskirts of the military post huge craters, mounds of scorched dirt, and the remnants of melted bodies and debris sat scattered everywhere.
Colonel Plateaus, the post commander stood. He welcomed the vast hodgepodge of the diverse alliance. He made an attempt at dumb joke to set the stage and lighten the obvious tense mood. There was some superficial laughter from his subordinated but most of the audience rolled their eyes.
"Who is this moron? And get a load that costume he calls a uniform. Are they an army or the entertainment?" one of the human soldiers half-whispered to a peer. That wisecrack got twice the laugh Plateaus' remarks received.
That was all it took. St James didn't have much of a sense of humor and he wasn't as blind to the jittery reaction his combatants caused. A majority of Sullen's apes were terrified of him. Other's looked at them all like they were the spawns of Satan. A comment like that could bring down this whole alliance …and right on his head. The seasoned veteran shot to his feet and shouted "At Ease." Every ape and human soldier in the room sobered up instantly, as his voice echoed through the chamber.
"We're all guests here. This isn't R&R at some brothel" St James went on to say. He called the soldier out, made the man stand and instructed him to formally apologize.
"Uh, I'm uh sorry." The soldier stated inelegantly. His pale white flesh was now a flush reddish-pink from the embarrassment.
"SIR!" The human General blurted out "I'm sorry, SIR. He's a Colonel. You'll show him the same military courtesy as you'd show any superior. Now sit down …moron."
"Listen to me. You're the best of the best. Or you're supposed to be anyway." St. James added. "There's a real danger out there and they're coming for us; all of us. Now I plan for us to work together so that I can personally put a boot up the keister of as many of those fools from that want to be empire as possible…". St. James went on for another twenty five minutes with his lecture. When he was done, even Polk found himself thinking they might have a chance.
They were a mix of special units. They'd forged northwest with the few mechanized vehicles the humans had built. Their objective was to link up and collect machinery. Special relics Sullen had uncovered during his recent excavations into the banned territories. In reality, these were not recently discovered relics. They were remnants his forefathers had hidden for just such an occasion.
It had been planned back in New Washington. A company sized unit of the combined forces was to link up at Sigma-Twelve. They'd meet up, collect the equipment and get further instructions at that point. No one, either ape or human, could be trusted. The Imperiam could still have spies in their ranks and most likely did.
** 12 Hours later
"We're loaded and ready to go, Sir" Captain Berger said as he saluted St. James.
The General shook his hand wished him luck, and casually pulled the man aside. He made some comment about wanting to 'go over the details one last time'. The two walked down a long hall and rounded a corner as Berger was going over the final steps of his mission.
"Forget that crap." St, James said interrupting Berger in mid sentence. His worn old face bore the look of man who just realized he'd stepped on a mine. "I want you watch your back out there. Don't forget who these simians are. A year ago we were at each other's throats. We've killed their wives, children, family and toppled their capital. You don't just forget that over night." Berger began to respond but St. James waved him off.
"Let me finish Captain." He tightly stated. "They've killed our family and burned our cities as well. Both sides are on edge. If you see any signs of a double-cross, you kill as many of those four footed bastards as you can. You then salvage any relics available and contact me via the wireless communications equipment. It's a long way home but we're still in control of the ODN and I'll use on whoever tries to screw with us." Except 'screw' wasn't the word he used.
The mission was simple, even if accomplishing it was going to be difficult. The combined forces were to travel through the banned territories to the ancient human city of Chicago. It housed an underground global sensor array. In theory, it could link into any communications satellite still in orbit. The group was to find the array and use it to pinpoint the location of the Imperiam Monarch. Once identified, the information would be sent to New Washington and the ODN would do the rest. With any luck this Monarchy would be dust and molten rock by the end of the month.