The dark haired man stood at the large window gazing out over the immaculately manicured lawn. His face did nothing to betray the worry he held in check. He turned from the window as a knock came to the door. “Come in,” he called. He wasn’t surprised to see his personal secretary standing before him. “Any word?” he asked.
“I’m sorry Mr. President. There’s been no word from Seaview since she disappeared into the Bermuda triangle two days ago. The Secretary of Defence is waiting outside to speak with you.”
“Send him in, Donna,” he told her and turned back to the window. ‘Where are you Nelson? I should never have let Stark take those two men with him when he left here.’ These same thoughts had been running through his mind since Seaview had gone to radio silence. In his heart he felt as if the loss of the Sub and her crew was his fault and he vowed to find out what had happened. He turned from the window again has a quiet knock sounded and the door was opened by a tall, muscular, grey haired man.
“Mr. President, I have some new information on the disturbance in the so called Bermuda Triangle,” he said.
“You still don’t believe in the triangle, do you Tom?”
“No, Sir,” General Thomas Burke told him. “There has to be some logical explanation.”
“What if there isn’t?”
“Then we’re in a lot more trouble than just a few ships and planes disappearing. If the Triangle is real and there is something more to it than magnetic influence then there’s not much we can do about it. For now I’d rather go on the assumption that it’s a naturally occurring thing and we’ll find a solution.”
President Clarke walked away from the window and sat at his desk. He placed his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “Ok, Tom, show me what you have,” he said.
“Yes, Sir,” Burke said as he spread a sheet of aerial photographs over the large desk.
“What am I looking at, Tom?” Clark asked.
“These were taken an hour ago by a Russian satellite, Sir.”
“So Mikhail decided to trust us.”
“It seems that way, Sir,” Burke said and turned back to the photographs. “If you look at these pictures closely and compare them with the ones taken by our own satellite you’ll see that the area of disturbance is quickly spreading. Our scientists, in conjunction with Russia’s scientists have determined that if a solution isn’t found within twenty-four hours it’ll be too late to do anything about it. The world will be swallowed up by the vortex.”
“Have they come up with any suggestions on how to stop it or at least slow it down?”
“No, Sir. That’s why I’m here. I’d like your permission to send in a probe. Maybe we’ll be able to get some insight into the nature of the vortex.”
“Won’t the probe just disappear the same way Seaview and the others have?”
“That’s why I need your permission to use Francine Mercer’s discovery.”
Clark stared open-mouthed at Burke. He knew Francine Mercer had discovered a component that would soon revolutionize the use of probes. The component had been deemed classified and was known only as CP14. It had been tested successfully on Mars and mercury where temperatures and storm were extreme and violent. The Probe had returned from both missions with only minor damage and it was hoped with a few more years of experiments CP14 would allow manned expeditions to both planets. It was also being tested aboard Seaview in the hopes that it would allow the sub to go to deeper depths. Unfortunately the Barnes and Raines project had delayed the tests.
“Have you talked to Francine?”
“Yes, Sir,” Burke said quietly.
“She wasn’t receptive I take it.”
“No, Sir. She said CP14 wasn’t ready to be used. She still had more tests to run.”
“I hate to order her to relinquish control of CP14. One of the reasons she agreed to stay on and work on it was if she retained control.”
“I know that, Mr. President but think of the lives involved. If the vortex continues to grow as fast as it is we’re all doomed.”
“I’ll speak with Francine. You make arrangements to send in the probe.”
“Thank you, Sir. I know you don’t want to hurt Miss Mercer but it can’t be helped.”
“She’ll think I betrayed her,” he said softly. “Go, Tom, do what you have to,” Clark turned away and returned to the window.
Colours! Bright, vivid yellows, scarlet reds and vibrant oranges swirled in a sickening pattern behind his eyes. Forcing himself to open them experimentally he was shocked to see that the colours were not his imagination but reality. The Chemelion within him could do nothing to stop the dizzying effects of the scenery.
‘Does this stop?’
‘I’m afraid not, Captain Crane. We are now in the world of the Other. They will be here shortly.’
‘Seaview?”
‘Seaview is here as well.’
‘The crew?’
‘They are fine at the moment.’
‘What do you mean at the moment? What’s going on?’
‘The Other cannot get into your sub. There is something in the design that is keeping them out.’
Crane rubbed his eyes and fought the vertigo caused by the swirling masses. ‘That’s great,’ he said excitedly.
‘Do you know what the design is, Captain?” the Chemelion asked.
‘Wouldn’t you know if I did or not?’
‘There are certain areas of the human brain that we are unable to reach.’
‘So you don’t have total control. I can fight you.’
‘Don’t try it, Captain. I am able to control you, read most of your thoughts and cause considerable pain. Would you like a demonstration?’
‘No! That’s ok. I’ll take your word for it.’
‘Then tell me what the design is.’
‘Never!’ he said adamantly and felt a pinpoint of pain explode in his head. A silent scream escaped his lips as he fought the alien’s control.
‘Tell me the design and the pain will stop.’
‘I can’t! Don’t you understand the design may be the only thing that keeps the Other from ruining my planet? I have to give the Admiral that chance.’
‘That’s what we thought when the Other came to us. We fought them with everything we had. We still lost.’
‘You didn’t have Admiral Harriman Nelson. If there is a way to fight the Other he’ll find it and once he realizes that they can’t penetrate the Seaview then he’ll figure out why and stop them completely.’
‘I wish I had your confidence in your Admiral.’
‘Where are the beings you call the Other?”
‘They are here.’
‘Where?
‘Here, all around you. Each colour represents a faction of the Other. They are capable of taking on any form they wish because of their molecular structure.’
‘Are you saying that this Yellow coloured substance is one of them?’
‘It is.’
‘Can I talk with it?’
‘It hears everything you say.’
“I want to talk!” Crane yelled at the Scarlet red colour before him.
“You are talking,” a trilling voice told him.
“Why are you doing this?”
“We have need of your world.”
Lee Crane felt the Chemelion relax its control on him. He could feel its fear of these creatures but he also felt hope. The Chemelion was giving him a chance to talk without any interference. “What do you need from my world?”
“We have need of its natural resources. The elements in your water, air and fossilized materials are of use to us.”
“What about the people who live there?”
“They are of little importance.”
“They are living, breathing people. How can you say they are not important?”
“They have flesh. Flesh is of little use to us. We will let you and your friends live as long as you convince them to become hosts for the Chemelions.”
“What about the people living on my world?”
“They will perish when the vortex encompasses your world.”
“But you said you would use them to become hosts for others of my species,” the Chemelion said through Crane’s mouth.
“We lied. There are enough of your species around now. We do not wish for others to be created. I have ordered the reproductive Chemelions be removed from their hosts and destroyed,” there was a quicksilver burst of laughter from the coloured masses.
“NO!” screamed the Chemelion inside Crane.
‘Can you hide my thoughts from them?’ Crane asked the Chemelion quickly.
‘Done,’ the Chemelion told him.
‘Do they have any weaknesses that you know of?’
‘I’m not sure. There have been rumours of another race that are natural enemies of the Other.’
‘Can we contact them?’
‘I do not know,’ the Chemelion sounded forlorn even to Crane’s ears.
‘Will you help me?”
‘I will try.’
“Captain Crane, you will now tell me what makes the Seaview design so impenetrable,” the Scarlet mass ordered.
“I can’t do that.”
“You can and you will,” the scarlet mass swirled in a violent pattern and immediately the Yellow Mass dispersed to reveal the being underneath.
The humanoid figure before Crane was at least two inches taller than he was. It had protruding eyes and an elongated snout. The eyes were a luminescent green and bulging from their sockets. Lee involuntarily stepped back from the being.
“You will follow me,” it said in its trilling voice.
“Do I have a choice?”
“This way,” the alien told him and lapsed into silence. Crane fell in behind the being and followed it through the other swirling masses. He felt the malevolent evil emanating from them and shivered uncontrollably.
‘I will help you in any way I can,’ the Chemelion told him.
‘Thank you, is there any way to contact Admiral Stark or has he been given a Chemelion?’
‘Not yet. I will try to contact him. We have not revealed to the Other everything we can do.’
‘You haven’t.’
‘We have learned many things in our lifetimes. One is that you never reveal all your secrets.’
‘That’s a good policy,’ Crane laughed. ‘Where are Barnes and Raines?”
‘They returned to their families when we arrived.’
‘Try to contact them as well.’
‘I’m not sure they would help. They have their own families and lives away from your world.’
‘We have to try.’
‘We will, Captain, we will.’
Nelson felt totally helpless as his Submarine was pulled into the vortex. Faster and faster the boat spun as it was pulled further into the maelstrom. Strapped in the confines of his bunk in sickbay he was unable to move until adrenaline kicked in and neutralized the lingering effects of the drug Stark had used on him.
Suddenly without warning the spinning stopped and the sub righted itself. Nelson lifted his head and glanced around. Anything that hadn’t been nailed down had been thrown to the floor. Broken glass containers lay all around him, their liquid spilled on the floor. The medicine cabinet’s glass doors had been shattered and the tiny vials had fallen to the floor except for one solitary bottle.
Nelson fought against the restraints that had stopped him from being thrown around. “Help! Somebody help me,” he yelled helplessly. He heard something move to his right in the direction of the Doctor’s office and turned his head in time to see the doctor shake his head as he gained his feet. “Get me out of these, Doc!” he cried in frustration.
Seaview’s doctor hurried towards the bunk and began undoing the straps. As soon as he was released Nelson tried to sit.
“Take it easy, Admiral.”
“What’s happened? Where’s Stark?”
“I don’t know what happened to the boat but just before this happened Captain Crane and Admiral Stark left in the flying sub with Barnes and Raines.”
“They did what?” Nelson shouted as he unconsciously listened to each compartment report minimal or no damage.
“They left in the Flying sub. Where do you think you’re going?” Doc asked as Nelson stood and made his way unsteadily to the door.
“Where do you think? I’m going to the control room.”
“But Admiral you’ve been paralysed by some unknown drug. I need to run some more tests to make sure there are no residual effects.”
“There’s no time for that now. The boats in trouble and her Captain’s missing,” Nelson said firmly and left the sickbay to a sputtering doctor.
Nelson hurried through the corridors, brushing past crewmembers that were both surprised and relieved to see him up and about. He raced into the control room just as the last damage reports came in. “Status, Mr. Morton,” he said with authority.
“Seaview’s secure and dry, Sir. Minimal damage to the forward compartments.” Morton said, relieved to see the older man up and around.
“Anyone injured?”
“A few minor injuries and one serious injury, Sir.” Morton said sadly.
“Who?” Nelson asked worriedly.
“Seaman Masters was injured when he was thrown from his bunk in the brig. Doc’s on his way there now.”
“Masters. Isn’t he the one who was vocal about not entering the triangle?”
“Aye, Sir.”
“Did Captain Crane tell you why he was leaving the sub?”
“Only that he wanted to check the vortex. But he was acting kind of strange.”
“In what way?”
“Well, Sir,” Morton said sheepishly. “Just after he subdued Masters he told me not to follow him and then wouldn’t tell me why.”
“That’s not like Lee. Something’s definitely wrong here. First Jiggs Stark hits me with some kind of paralysing drug, then he and Captain Crane take off with Barnes and Raines,” Nelson said running his hand through his hair in frustration. “Have you taken any samples from outside the sub?”
“Yes, Sir. I’ve had them sent to your lab.”
Nelson smiled half-heartedly at the reference to his lab. Leave it to Chip Morton to have enough confidence in his recovery that he’d automatically send testing samples to his lab. “Have you looked outside?”
“Yes, Sir. There are just these weird colours bouncing around. They don’t seem to be doing anything to Seaview.”
“Any contact with FS1?”
“Not since entering the vortex. I’m worried, Admiral.”
“Keep trying, Chip,” Nelson said as he headed for the nose and stared out at the nauseating colours outside the sub. He was amazed at how each one was able to sustain itself and not dissolve into the ones around it.
“Makes you kind of queasy just looking at it,” Morton said from his right.
“There’s something strange about the colours. It’s almost as if they have a life of their own,” he turned abruptly from the window. “I’m going to my lab. Let me know if you hear from Lee.”
“Aye, Sir,” Morton answered.
“Where are we going?” Crane asked the alien.
“I will show you what will happen to the human prisoners we have here if you do not cooperate,” the alien told him as it stopped in front of the largest view screen Lee Crane had ever seen. “Watch closely, Captain.”
Lee watched as the black screen came to life and three people, two men and one woman, became visible. “What is this?” he asked.
“This, Captain is our disruptor chamber. Watch what happens as the pressure becomes intolerable for their puny bodies to handle,” the alien said and Crane detected a touch of excitement in it’s voice.
There was no sound to go along with the picture but Crane could tell they were being tortured. Their bodies gyrated as they fell to the floor and a look of total horror came to their faces. They clasped their hands over their ears in a feeble attempt to stop the offending racket. He could do nothing as their faces clouded in pain. “Stop this!” he shouted angrily.
“Only you can stop this. Tell us the design.”
“I can’t.”
“Don’t you have any regard for your fellow humans?” the alien asked.
“Of course I do. That’s why I can’t tell you the design.”
“So you are willing to sacrifice every human that we’ve taken from your planet in order to keep the design a secret.”
“I have no choice.” Crane said sadly.
“Maybe if you tasted the agony they are living, you would change your mind,” the alien said and abruptly the people in the Chamber disappeared.
“What did you do to them?”
“Their death is on your conscience. Now follow me,” the alien said and moved towards the giant screen.
Lee felt his control sliding. Once before he’d had to watch as a man was put to death because he refused to give in and sign a paper. Now he had to deal with the loss of three more lives because of his beliefs.
‘They are not dead, Captain,’ the Chemelion told him.
‘How do you know?’ Crane asked a hint of relief in his voice.
‘I told you there are things the Other doesn’t know about us. One of those is that we can read their thoughts when they are not shielding. I am reading this ones thoughts and I’m afraid you are in trouble. They want you to give them the design and they will stop at nothing to get it from you.’
‘Will my crew be safe if they don’t leave Seaview?”
‘As long as they stay within the confines of your sub they are safe.’
‘Is there any way for you to let them know that?’
‘I will try. I am going to become dormant for awhile.’
‘What will that do?’
‘It allows me to travel outside of your mind. I will try to get into your Sub and contact Admiral Nelson. You seem to have a lot of confidence in this man. I hope he is worthy of it.’
‘He is.’ Crane said simply. ‘Good luck,’ he thought as the presence in his mind relaxed it’s hold.
“You will enter and sit in the chair.” The alien said interrupting Crane’s thoughts.
“If I don’t?”
“You have no choice. It is a simple matter to have your Chemelion provide you with an incentive.”
Lee knew he had little choice. He could not chance the alien finding out his Chemelion had become dormant in order to contact Nelson. Slowly he walked to the chair and sat down.
“Very good, Captain.” The alien said and quickly snapped the restraints in place. “You will now experience first hand what those people suffered,” it said as it left the room. “One last chance, Captain Crane. Will you tell us of the design?”
“NO!” Crane shouted at the empty room. Immediately his mind was assaulted with a screeching noise that sent painful vibrations through his eardrums. His screams fell on deaf ears.
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