Tristan Picare took a last look at the Mountain's physics lab where damage had been limited to a single TR experiment before heading to the situation room to meet with Brigadier General Hal West.
The Mountain was still cleaning up after the attack that caused a major disruption, but little material damage. Casualties count stood at four dead, thirty-one wounded. His wife, Jenny, and Captain Mackinac were still MIA.
It could have been much worse if the drones had held fire and coordinated better with the limited ground assault. Even so, it took almost twenty minutes to eliminate the threat with three Viper attack helicopters dispatched from Peterson. Curiously, many of the enemy's dead had no visible wounds.
Tristan entered the situation room full of military and NGA personnel and saw his old friend, Dutch, across the room talking to General West.
"Master Guns," Tristan said shaking the sergeant's hand, "good to see you in one piece." He then turned to West. "I need a couple of minutes with the master gunnery sergeant."
"Of course Mr. Secretary," West replied and turned to a nearby map of the terrain outside the mountain annotated with the locations of all the enemy causalities.
"Good to see you again Mr. Secretary," Dutch said, "but I wish it was under better circumstances."
Tristan saw deep concern on his friend's face. "Let's grab a seat in the briefing room," he said pointing at a doorway across the situation room.
"I'm betting the attackers made transit to a location outside the CMAFS parameter," Tristan said closing the glass door behind them,
"possibly in Cheyenne National Park. There is no way homegrown terrorists could orchestrate this attack without a blip on our radar. There has been no chatter, nothing."
"We're backtracking the nearly twenty dead enemy ground troops to find the transit location. They had several ATVs so it could be difficult.
I'm afraid calling this a serious development would be an understatement," Dutch said.
"However, this second incursion into Prime from Plus appears to have been poorly planned," Tristan said thoughtfully.
"The second?" Dutch asked.
"The TIA," Tristan replied.
"Of course," Dutch conceded.
"Any ideas as to the identity of the people you observed on Piquet in Minus?" Tristan asked.
"They were well supplied, professional and definitely not a bunch of college kids on a dig. I didn't see any weapons but just before reaching the objective location, we saw a quad with two riders; they seemed out-of-place, probably military. The driver definitely gave us a once over."
"Probably not just a coincidence they also were using ATVs."
Tristan said. "What's your gut tell you Gunny?" he asked.
"Tango's all the way, sir," Dutch replied.
"I agree." Tristan gazed out into the situation room. "You were right to abort the mission when you did. How's Cherkin?"
"He should be fine after a week or so depending how he responds to forced healing," Dutch said.
Tristan sat in silence for a moment. "The CO's report says you were in a briefing with Jenny and Mackinac when the attack occurred."
"It had just ended. I was heading for my quarters when the lab went up. By the time the evacuation alarm sounded and the big voice said we
were under attack, I was halfway to daylight, heading to support the main gate defense."
"You had left your mission pack with Jenny?"
"Actually, Captain Mackinac was to return both mission packs to the lab's lockup."
"Tell me what you know regarding Jenny and Captain Mackinac's escape."
"A military truck, heavily damaged from rocket fire, was found on the south road heading for the mountains. There was a large, new landslide close to the vehicle; it took over six hours to clear. We recovered missile fragments, a damaged TR, and my mission pack from Martinique. We are still sifting through the debris."
The SecDef ran his fingers over his head; he had not slept in two days.
Dutch added solemnly, "As you know, there were no bodies."
Tristan sighed. "They must have made an emergency transit. How is that possible with the TRs, or pieces of them still in Prime?"
"Although improbable," Dutch said, "the wiz kids say it is possible if the timing was right. Or they might have used the other TRs, but that doesn't explain the damaged one left behind very well. It's also possible they were captured along with the other mission pack."
"She's resourceful."
"Very." Dutch agreed. "Let's hope their other TRs are in working order."
"Dutch, I want you to be a part of the rescue team on this one. West is setting up the recovery strategy; you'll report directly to him."
"Aye, sir. We'll find them."
The snake looked down on John and Jenny as both dirt and rocks seemingly from nowhere fell on top of them in a bitter chill.
Seeing John's lower lip was bleeding, Jenny asked, "You okay?"
"Think so," John said brushing the rocks and dust off and looking around under the ledge. "Where are the TRs?"
"Damn, they didn't make it," Jenny said inspecting the area around them.
"How's that supposed to work and what made you think this was a safe transit area?" John asked wiping dust off his face.
Pointing to the snake, she said, "Our friend there has been here for thousands of—"
"Kids draw these things all over out west," John injected and taking a closer look at the petroglyph; he guessed it looked authentic enough.
"We didn't have much choice, did we?" Jenny asked. "Damn, it is cold. We have to find a safe transit spot, and I think the sooner the better."
"What's the sat time?" John asked rubbing his hands together.
"Fourth January 2046, 1548," she reported while rubbing a bruise on her left arm. "Shit," she said slowly, "all we needed was a new transit record."
"2046," John said, thankful they did not transit into the middle of World War III and then he slumped back to the ground realizing Helen and Steph were probably alive here in Minus.
Seeing John falter, she asked, "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm okay," he lied. "Just shaken up a bit, I guess."
Digging into Mikael's pack Jenny pulled out the spare TR case to inspect their only hope of returning to help their friends and colleagues.
"There are pre-determined safe spots in Minus to wait until help arrives,"
she said, "but we're too far back. We've landed beyond the temporal range for a recovery mission."
Satisfied the TRs were undamaged, Jenny said, "We'll have to find better shelter before we find a safe transit location back to the Mountain.
I've seen a cabin in prime about five kilometers from here, not too far from where I usually set up the telescope."
They set off to the southwest along the same valley road they used in their escape attempt in Prime.
Walking in the right-hand track on the snowy road, John said, "You know, I can't figure out why they pursued us out of the Mountain even if it was only for a couple of kilometers. They expended an aircraft not mentioning the snipers above the ledge."
"Who knows? Advanced facial recognition can determine an identity at an amazing distance. And, that lab explosion was certainly espionage given the coordinated attack." With a worried look, she added, "We've got a major security breach."
"Do you have any idea why they would come after us, specifically?"
John asked.
"I supposed you could be a target because you were critical to the TIA discovery that led to the discovery of transit technology in Prime,"
she replied. "Somewhat coincidental the attack happened as soon as the mission returned from the Minus TIA location. Don't you think?"
She stomped her feet to loosen snow covering her boots and pointed to a right fork in the track that would take them to the cabin. "To be honest John, one of the reasons we wanted you at the Mountain is because you were part of the TIA discovery."
"That's obvious," he said looking back at their tracks in the snow.
"Look—"
"Don't worry about it," he cut her off, "I understand completely."
Given they had been strafed by an RPA and shot at by people possibly from another universe; he was glad to be part of the team.
They entered a large clearing; the small cabin was on the far side. Its chimney was smokeless, and the approach to the cabin was completely snow-covered.
"Looks like no one's home," Jenny said. "But let's stick to the edge of this clearing."
When they reached the cabin, John walked up to the door and tried the latch. "It's open," he said.
"Some people leave their cabins unlocked for emergency shelter during the winter," Jenny said entering the cabin just as large flakes of snow started swirling around them on the small porch.
Tiredly looking around the tiny cabin, John said, "You won't find anything unlocked in Michigan these days I'm afraid."
"We'd better get a fire started. We'll just have to risk the smoke," she said looking through a rear window. "There are at least a couple of cords out back."
"The wood box in here is full, too," John added. "And there're canned beans, spaghetti, and ground coffee!" he said examining the contents of a cupboard.
"At least we won't go hungry," Jenny said seeing big flakes now coming down fast out the window. "We might be here for a while with this snow. I'll find a safe transit spot with a pad. I didn't have mine when we evacuated, but there should be one in the pack."
Digging in Mikael's pack, John found one and handed it to Jenny.
"The head's out back; I won't be long," she said opening the door to a whirl of snow.
"I'll get a fire started," John said.
Jenny returned to find a small, crackling fire in the wood stove. John was sitting on the couch fast asleep. She put a cushion at one end and pulled John's feet up, so he could lie down. He did not wake as she covered him with the multi-colored afghan she found draped over a
rocking chair next to the stove. She put a couple more logs on the fire and sat browsing the pad in the rocker. Looking over at John sleeping, she recalled an afghan her grandmother had crocheted in same pattern.
After Jenny ran a Minus similarity test against Prime from her pad, she put another small log in the stove. She then checked the meager meal pulled together from the contents of the cabins pantry. The cabin had become cozy and snow was still coming down in the late evening.
She entered their approximate location and queried the database. All mission pads had a database of contingency safe transit spots as well as other programs and evaluation tools they might need in an emergency.
The closest location was in Colorado Springs and, luckily, it was a secondary site- one of a few purposely prepared for covert egress from Minus. They should be able to catch a ride there once back on the main road.
"That smells fantastic," John said through a yawn in mid stretch.
"I'm starving."
"Me too," Jenny agreed.
"Biscuits!" he said examining the contents of the woodstove's oven.
"I found some flour and shortening," Jenny said. "Help yourself to beans and some coffee. The pots are on the stove, but there's only powdered milk, no sugar."
"Black will be perfect. Thanks."
Jenny smiled in the wooden rocker by the stove as she took a sip of the bitter coffee. "I agree, perfect." She brushed over her pad. "I've located a transit spot in Colorado Springs," she said.
"What are you thinking?" John asked.
"There is no way to know if that safe spot is still clear," she replied,
"as the attack could have extended beyond the Mountain."
Reaching for another biscuit, John said, "We're at war, aren't we?"
Jenny knew he was not referring to Minus. "We've been at war for almost seventy years."
"Why has that been so hard to realize? After Pakistan, I thought the world was safer."
"This is a major escalation," she said, "especially if the attack originated from Plus." Checking the pad, she said, "Met service says the snow should move out soon, so we should be able to head for Colorado Springs in the morning."
They ate the rest of Jenny's meal in silence; it was getting late, but the coffee was counteracting the tiredness, they were both feeling.
"What is Dr. Watkins like?" Jenny asked.
"He's a hard worker, a good scientist and very meticulous. He's also a real outdoorsman. It's no wonder he's steered clear of the terrorists this long," John said.
Jenny saw worry in his face. "He's fine," she said reassuringly.
"How long have you been working for the NGA?" John said opening the wood stove to poke at the glowing coals and add another small log.
"About seven years. After the first transit in '60, the NGA doubled in size, and I transferred from Homeland. Before that, I was with counterterrorism in the State Department. That's where I met Tristan."
"The SecDef?"
Jenny nodded. "He was an analyst then, working on Middle Eastern arm's sanctions. We haven't seen much of each other in the last couple of months, but we cope." She looked out the window at the falling snow and said, "I know he'll be focused on the attack on the Mountain."
"Not to mention your disappearance," John added, putting her thoughts to words.
"It's been hard," she said watching the fire dance behind the glass door of the stove. "I've been a Marine brat all my life. I watched what my mom and dad went through. We moved every couple of years, and Mom had too many long deployments. I hate the sacrifice Tristan and I go through. I hate that almost as much as I hate the enemy, whoever the fuck they are."
"Without a major attack in the US for decades," John said, "the war was something I never gave much thought. But I lost a cousin in Russia ten years ago. He was a marine, killed in a helicopter crash."
Shifting his gaze from the flames to Jenny, he said, "We were born during the war. It's all we've known. I have been incredibly complacent about it all my life, feeling safe behind my research, but you made a difference."
"I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done in the same situation,"
she said staring at the fire. "I envy the life you've had away from all this insanity."
"To be honest, it's more terrifying to think terrorists have transit tech than another world war looming here," John said trying unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn. "It would make sense that's how they managed to attack the Mountain," he added as a log loudly popped in the fire.
The cabin creaked in the blizzard as Jenny stared into the fire in silence.
She handed John the last biscuit. "Too bad you've not finished the briefing schedule yet," she said.
John chuckled. "Well, I guess I've been busy. And I have been meaning to ask you a question," he said.
"Shoot," she said after finishing the last of her coffee.
"During the first part of the entanglement presentation, several people giggled at the mention of some type of unconventional experiments."
"Well, Higgs tries to stimulate an environment of creativity in the Chronos team, but the mix of physicists, engineers and military couldn't be more diverse. Sometimes we get ideas that seem out there to some."
"Ideas like…"
"Schrödinger's two cats, variations of Everett's many-world's theory, quantum consciousness. The list goes on. Some believe the difference
between Prime and Minus is so subtle that leaks between them can explain premonitions, ghosts, demons and past-life experiences."
"What do you think?"
"The NGA has stayed pragmatic, but there's a minority still attached to many of the out-there ideas because of the nil energy state for transits.
Me? I'm not sure anything makes sense."
The wind blew hard enough to make the little cabin creak.
"After the last few days, I can believe in anything," John said solemnly.
"That's a mixed blessing," she replied with a subtle sigh.
They returned to watch the fire in silence when Jenny said, "I know it's difficult." She guessed what John was thinking. It was a common issue for transit teams; deceased loved ones still alive in Minus. Just thinking about it was difficult for some.
"What?" John said not looking away from the stove.
"My mom and dad are still alive here."
"Like my wife and daughter," John admitted.
A pine log spewed a pitch flame for a few seconds and then cracked loudly causing soot from the old stovepipe to rattle down on the fire.
Looking past the flames, John said, "I never imaged the internal conflict that being in Minus now would cause. The possibility of seeing them—"
"It can't happen," Jenny cautioned him. "It's against regulations for good reasons."
"I understand completely. But…"
"It will be easier to deal with in time, and I'm a good listener."
"Their EV crash…," he said. "Steph begged me to go with them, to get ice cream, but I had papers to grade. Everything could have been different."
"It might have been worse. All of you could have been killed."
John nodded. "I thought I had come to terms with all that. I guess time had other ideas."
"Funny that," she whispered staring into the flames.
"So, how many transits have you made?" he asked.
"This is my second; the other one was not nearly as far back," Jenny said shaking her head at their twenty-two year transit record.
"I expected you'd have made more."
"Missions are manned by specialists not administrators, and we keep transit teams to a minimum. We get in, collect data and get out. It is basic science and not that glamorous."
"What do we know of the war here and the FTL discovery?" John asked.
"Our hands-on experience is limited to our farthest Minus transit of nineteen years and eight months that takes us to late 2048. But we have studied Minus historical accounts and, to make a long story short, widespread socio-economic unrest appears to be the main factor with a large contribution from eugenic idealism. How this morphed into only our eastern conflicts is still unclear. As far as Cochrane's post-war, manned FLT missile is concerned, there is a bit of mystery over the actual details.
In less than two years after his first FTL flight, Minus' USS Bonaventure leaves for Alpha Centauri."
"Hard to believe." John said solemnly.
"That's a bit understated." Jenny laughed and then leaned back in the rocker to look out the window. "Let's hope the snow lets up soon so we can get out of here in the morning."
John fed the stove with the largest log that would fit through its door and turned the air intake down all the way. They stared into the dwindling flames for a while longer. John fell asleep again on the couch, and Jenny eventually fell into a deep sleep in the rocker while listening to the wind outside and an occasional pop from the new log.
Jenny woke to subtle warmth from the sun streaming through the cabin's window as John was stoking the stove. An old teapot was steaming on its top.
"Coffee, tea?" he asked.
"Coffee, thanks. Good morning," she said through a yawn.
"It is," John said as the pot began to whistle.
"It looks like the Met Service was right," Jenny said studying the pad, "and we've caught a break in the weather. It's too bad we don't have snowshoes," she said pulling a window's curtain aside to look outside at the newly fallen snow. "And we'll take the opened bean cans with us," she said. "We don't want to attract bears."
They had walked through a foot or more of snow until they finally reached the spot next to the ledge where they had appeared yesterday.
Their old tracks were lost to fresh snow.
Jenny looked up at the mountainside and wondered just how much of the hillside came down in Prime and shivered.
"How far to town?" John asked.
"Too far," she replied. "We'll have to catch a ride."
They walked down the road that would take them past the CMAFS.
A few cars and pickups had passed them before a double-cab camper pulled over for them.
"Thanks," John said to the elderly couple as he pushed the mission pack into the rear cab before taking a seat.
Jenny was already climbing in the other side. "You guys are lifesavers," she said.
"Don't mind at all since you don't look like one of those brain dead, mind-control freaks from back East. Where are you heading?" the woman asked.
"North side of Colorado Springs," Jenny replied.
"You're in luck. We're going right by there on our way to Wyoming," the man told them as he shifted into forward and spinning the camper's wheels in the slush on the road.
"Edwin, be careful," the woman reprimanded him.
"Damn torque of these new e-motors," he muttered.
The couple was nice enough to drop them at the self-storage facility indicated on the pad as a safe transit location.
"We need to find number 1138," Jenny said checking her pad.
"It's around back on the left," John said looking over the site map next to the office.
They reached the space and fortunately found it unlocked.
Jenny shoved the roller door up revealing empty space. "Let's do this," she said knowing the danger the blind transit presented. There was no sense thinking about it any longer than necessary. "Got a light?"
John handed her a LED flashlight from the pack then closed the door behind them.
Jenny set up the TRs and started the pre-transit procedure. She told John, "You're first. Transit in 3, 2, 1, go!" And then her stomach tightened as she followed him through the TRs.