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Jenny peered through the darkness. Once again, she found herself tied to a chair, helpless and furious.
It had all started out so well. The assigned Troopers had infiltrated the edges of the Groga camp and found and liberated three of the portal devices and had brought back three sleeping Groga, adding them to the sentries they had captured, restrained and put under guard in one of the hovercars. Two of the devices had been stored in a bot and were sent flying back to the mainland where a pilot waited to fly it to Puerto Rico and from there it would be sent back through the gate to Alliance headquarters. The other device had been examined by Burt and Bob.
The extractor had been used on the Groga captains and they were able to decipher the use of the various knobs and buttons. The location of the intended assault had also been extracted and sent to Lova. They were exultant to have this first part of the plan go so well.
When they had gotten word that the Alliance did indeed have a gate on that world and that the Troopers were deploying, it seemed they couldn't help but win.
As soon as the Groga force was seen deploying through the gate and the last one stepped through, Gariel had sent their 200 Troopers to the camp. There only seemed to be about 150 left behind to guard the camp.
It had been a wonder to Jenny that all was working so well, especially after Gariel's grim statement that even the best plans had their unseen flaws.
Bob's nanobots went to work, buzzing and biting and making the Groga nearly dance with frustration and irritation.
Then Burt's drones invaded the sky with an angry buzz. They could be as silent as a gentle breeze when programmed to do so, but in this case, they sounded like gigantic angry wasps as they flew at the Groga, dropping something that looked a lot like maple syrup on their heads.
The Groga fired at the buzzing nuisances, occasionally hitting one, but the drones were so quick and nimble that the hits were few and far between.
As soon as the enemy was fully sticky, the syrup coating heads, hands and even their weapons, the Troopers poured in, their weapons trained point blank at the Groga who had been herded by the buzzing drones into a bunch, facing out.
Almost in unison most of them put their weapons on the ground in front of them in obvious surrender, but a few fired at the Troopers who corrected that mistake with quick shots that put those who had fired down. The first casualties were on the Groga.
Jenny quietly sent up a thank you to "The Creator of All Things" and was turning to comment to Bob and Burt, who were conferring on next steps, when she realized they were standing there with their hands raised in surrender. That was when the lights went out.
Now, as she tried to peer through the darkness around her, she noticed the sound of breathing around her. From her earlier experience, she knew better than to call out vocally. "Burt? Bob? Tarafau?" she sent cautiously. Someone exhaled loudly behind her and Tarafau responded, "We're here, Jenny. I'm sorry. We have failed you."
Bob's mind chimed in. "Tarafau, there was nothing you could do. Everything pointed to a win and we never saw anything in the surveillance cams until they were right on top of you. Blow darts, really? Of all the primitive, low-down, sneaky..."
If Jenny hadn't been so frightened, she would have laughed. It was definitely ironic that their enemies had used a variation of their own tactics on them.
"They weren't even Groga," Burt added suddenly just beyond Bob. "Evidently, the Groga aren't as concerned about polluting the culture of the natives as we are. The glimpse I got of our attackers tells me they were probably Amazonians. We were just lucky that they didn't coat those darts with curare. Obviously the Groga want us alive, at least for now."
Jenny was pretty sure she knew who their orders had come from.
Lyra piped up, "Does anyone have any idea where we are?"
"We could be pretty much anywhere. We may still be on earth or they may have taken us to one of their conquered worlds or even one of the home dimensions." Burt replied. "Were any of us awake when they transferred us?"
The lack of a reply said all it needed to say.
Jenny suddenly realized that it wouldn't be like last time, with Burt and Bob busting down the door to rescue her. She had never felt more helpless and alone. And then she remembered the counsel her father had once given her, before she had joined the hiking club.
"It's easy to panic when you find yourself in a difficult situation. You need to remember, OODA," he told her as he drove her to her first hiking club meeting. She had been in junior high school at the time and she rolled her eyes at the funny word, assuming her dad was poking fun at her.
"OODA is a term," he went on, ignoring her teen age reaction, "used by the military to make decisions when things aren't going well. Every commander knows that strategy and battle plans tend to go out the window after the first shot is fired. And people in combat often find themselves in unexpected situations.
But this happens a lot in life. Panic usually brings the very worst consequences, because it is based on fight or flight reactions that completely by-pass your brain.
OODA stands for: Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. Let's say somehow you got separated from your hiking group in unknown territory. Instead of running around in circles or plunging off onto the first path that looks inviting, you follow the steps.
First, observe. Take a deep breath and take inventory of your surroundings and your resources. If you know you have enough rations and supplies to last for awhile and you observe that there appears to be nothing dangerous in your vicinity, the best plan might be to stay where you are.
Then orient yourself. After taking stock of what you have, you may realize that you have the ability to make some kind of signal, preferably one that won't attract the beasties around you who might be looking for a snack.
That puts you in a position to decide. After taking stock, line up your choices and choose one that makes sense.
Finally, act. Once you have decided, get moving. Thoughtfully act on your decision immediately and with confidence. By going through these steps, you know you have made the best decision you can. Don't second guess yourself. Got it?"
Jenny nodded to herself as she had on that day. Her dad's advice had come in handy many times in her life.
"OK, everyone, let's take stock. Do all of you still have your MDPs?" Jenny wiggled her wrist as much as she could. Amazingly enough, the MDP was still there.
Burt said, "MDPs can only be willingly removed, kinda like the ruby slippers. If someone tries to remove them, for instance by cutting off your hand or killing you, they will explode into bits of confetti. Which is why I can guarantee all of us still have them."
All of a sudden something occurred to Jenny.
"Mynn, Nona, are you here?" No reply. "OK, either they are still unconscious or somehow they escaped, or..." she trailed off realizing she didn't want to think about the "or".
"They can take care of themselves," Lyra said, cutting her off from going any further into that thought. "If they escaped, they have already fallen back to the contingency plan and are heading out to the rendezvous place. We won't know until we can count heads, if that is a possibility. We must assume the worst and work from there."
Jenny knew that Gariel had led his Troopers to the Groga camp following Burt and Bob's distractions and wouldn't find them missing until they had secured that area.
"So, we have our MDPs, probably none of the weapons we were carrying outside of them, we're all tied up and there is a possibility no one knows where we are. We do, however, have our little bug friends and we have one another. Everyone keep your eyes open and your mouths shut. We don't want them to have anything more to go on than they were able to see in the command tent, which was way more than I ever wanted to give them."
Bob spoke up. His mental touch was so much him that Jenny could almost hear his matter of fact baritone. "Well, one more bit of good news. All of the bots are waiting the next command signal, and no one can give it without the 64 bit hexadecimal password code. If they try even once to access any of it without that code, the whole thing will blow up in their face."
Burt said, "I just remembered something. As soon as we saw that the Groga were nearly drowned in syrup and our people had cornered them, I automatically triggered phase 2 of my distractions. And the drones are on search and destroy for a 2 mile radius from the Groga encampment to track down any strays. The first little distractions were humorous, but those drones mean business now. I'm guessing whoever grabbed us, if they went through the portal had to do it under fire. They won't stop searching for Groga until I give the code to Stage 3, so maybe..."
He never finished his sentence. The place they were in was suddenly flooded with brilliant light as, what looked like a heavy curtain was drawn across a small door, spilling in sunlight. The bright light was somewhat painful.
She knew before a word was uttered who stood silhouetted against the bright light.
"Looks like we have all the ingredients for a party. And you know how much I love parties, don't you?"
Sam gestured, and two short native women came in to light torches that stood in all four corners of the little house. The walls of the hut, for that was what Jenny assumed it was, looked like it had been woven from palm fronds or some such. The little native women hurried quickly out of the hut, their heads bowed, looking at the ground. Their posture bespoke fear and subservience. At least now Jenny knew they were still on earth.
The curtain fell as the women hurried out. Sam/Engoza, stood with her arms outstretched as if greeting hoped-for guests. "So good to see you all. Even the kitty cat. Only, what brought you out of your disguise, big man? What? No purrs for your good friend Sam?"
Sam was fully in her Engoza persona. Her long robe hung open, a short tunic and sheer leggings peeking out, all of it in black and silver. Her long black hair was plaited into dread locks and her claw-like nails were painted (unless it was her natural color in this guise) the color of blood.
She grinned, walking a full circle around Jenny. "Look at you! Playing soldier, I see. Unfortunately, you lost your blaster somewhere along the way. And last I checked, R2D2 is in a galaxy far, far away. Your cavalry is in the room, so I doubt a rescue is on the way. A pity about your girlfriends..." and she trailed off, wrinkling her nose.
Jenny refused to engage her. She just sat there, glaring back at her, willing herself to be brave.
"Do we have to go through THAT again?" she demanded, hands on her hips. "Really, Jenny, this is just so very tiresome. You already have one beautiful art treasure ala moi. Certainly, that's enough for anyone. You should know the time will come when I will drink your blood. I got a little taste and I like it. But for now, I have orders to the contrary." She licked her lips as if in ecstasy.
Jenny thought of the butterfly on her arm and took courage from it. She noticed the others weren't saying a word and she was grateful for the solidarity. She knew what was coming next and winced at the thought, but she knew her companions would not thank her for giving in, if they were tortured. Even knowing this was true, she also knew that Sam didn't think of Jenny as brave. She knew she would try torturing at least one of her team, even potentially killing one of them, if she thought that might get her what she wanted.
Suddenly, there was an outcry from outside the little hut. Sam growled, an almost bestial sound. "You'll keep until I return. I think we understand each other." She whirled around and sped out the curtained door.
There was a clamor of voices and shouts not far from the hut and the smell of smoke. It seemed that one or more of the buildings were on fire. Sam's voice could be heard above the rest shouting orders.
Once again, the curtain drew back and a very old little native man peeked in. Looking from side to side he entered and drew a knife from his sash above his loin cloth. Jenny tensed. "Oh well," she sent to the group. "We did our best..."
The little man bobbed his head and grinned. "You speak the mind," he sent. He pointed to his chest. "I too." With his knife he hurriedly cut Jenny's bonds, mind-speaking as he worked. "I shaman. You shaman too?" Jenny shook her head.
"Ah well," he sent as he freed her ankles. "You good. You kind. Your mind says so."
He moved from one of them to the other, each of them standing in turn, rubbing their wrists and ankles. "You come. You follow."
He moved what appeared to be a set of shelves to reveal an opening smaller than the door, but simple enough for all of them to get through. Tarafau had to struggle, but he made it. The little shaman pulled the shelves back in front of the hole and beckoned to them grinning. The hut backed up against the rainforest. He slipped between two banana trees and they followed him.
The forest canopy in this area was so dense that it felt almost like nighttime with the exception of the tiny pinholes of light that glimmered here and there on the jungle floor. It was as if the constellations had been plucked from the sky and placed beneath their feet.
"I light fire," the little shaman continued. "Old building. We make it again. Water is not close by. They must stamp it out with blankets and things until they get water. Keep them busy. We hurry, yes?"
Jenny nodded at him, wondering where they were and where they could possibly hide quickly enough to avoid being found. She didn't know if Sam had Groga soldiers with her or if she was relying entirely on her native "friends".
The sounds of the panicked cries fell quickly behind them as they walked so fast as to nearly be at a run, barely avoiding tripping on vines, stones and the detritus of the jungle floor. Finally, the little man, who had managed to stay well ahead of them, despite their level of fitness, stopped in front of what looked like a large rock. "You stay here. I go back. I be mad at the strange woman. I tell her to not make fires my village. I yell very loud. She not know to check on you for a time. You disappear. Poof! I go now." And he sped off back along the way they had come.
Without saying a word, Tarafau moved beyond the rock and disappeared. He sent, "Come around the rock. It's a cave."
They all moved quickly around the rock where the path rose a few feet and then, sure enough, there was a path downward behind the rock into a fairly spacious, dry cave.
Tarafau had already removed a camp lantern from his MDP. It was considerably cooler in here and Jenny could see that, since there was that little rise on the path before it moved down into the cave that, even when it rained, the little cave would stay dry.
"Is everyone ok?" Burt asked. "Besides some sore wrists and ankles, that is," he said, rubbing at his wrists reflexively.
Jenny looked around at the weary little group standing there. Her team. "What about tracks? Can they find us? I don't think we are out of the woods yet," she sent, pursing her lips at the weak play on words. "And I think, based on what I know about caves and echoes, we should probably continue to use mindspeech." They all nodded, waiting to hear what she had to say, which flummoxed her. Why weren't the more experienced ones taking control of this situation?
Burt spoke up. "I did what I could to cover our trail. Thank heaven for boy scouts, right?"
"OK, what are our resources? How do we find out where we are? How do we contact the cavalry, if they're still in the vicinity? How much time has elapsed? And what are our next steps?"
Bob scratched his head. "Well, it all depends what each of us have in our MDPs, I guess. But I can tell you where we are. We are about four and a half miles from our command center, based on intel from our still operational bots. Evidently no one has given them any new commands, which may come in pretty useful. As far as the cavalry is concerned, we're currently on radio silence, since the attack on the Groga. I assume our troops found our abandoned hover cars near our command tent and have scattered, per instructions. It may be some time before they break that silence, if at all. I'm guessing we've been out for about 24 hours, which means it will be dark in about two hours. As far as next steps are concerned, that isn't my call."
"Well said," agreed Burt. "Most of the plan worked. Our sticky little wicket isn't quite so bad as it could have been. I say let's think this through while we have that luxury. Step one is eat food and hydrate, as we haven't done that in over 24 hours. Then we need to set a watch schedule and get some sleep. Let's get out the gear we'll need to stay comfortable tonight and go from there."
"That sounds like a good plan, Burt. Even though we slept for about 24 hours, drugged sleep isn't the same as natural sleep. Once all systems are go again, we should be able to come up with a plan to get ourselves out of here, find out where the others are and how to proceed from there," said Tarafau.
The entrance to this cave is pretty defendable with weapons from our MDPs and the Lizziebot and Fidget, who were not captured, based on the fact they are now in two way communication with us, which should help. They will wait for orders. We also need to put something across the cave opening to insure we aren't leaking light. That would be like setting up a big sign that says, 'Idiots in a cave. Come and get us.'"
They all set to their tasks and in a short time they were all wolfing down rations, not caring that they weren't heated. After cleaning up any stray crumbs so as not to entice the crawlies in the area, they set up cots, Lyra took first watch at the cave mouth along with the two bots outside the cave and Tarafau turned off the light. Lyra would do her watch in the dark so as not to compromise her night vision. It would be lonely, but short. They decided to split the watch into five two hour shifts. Which meant everyone would get a good amount of natural sleep. Jenny volunteered for the last watch and, even though she didn't expect to sleep a wink, the next thing she knew Tarafau was gently shaking her awake.
"Your turn," he sent to her. She rubbed her eyes. The interior of the cave was no longer pitch black as the sun had already risen. Only the sleeping bag they had used to block the entrance kept the cave as dark as it was. Tarafau laid back down on his bed and Jenny sat on the boulder by the entrance, pondering what could possibly be done for their situation.
Breakfast was rations again, but Jenny didn't even consider complaining. She found herself incredibly grateful for the preparations they had made for this trip. She could easily survive a few weeks on the amount that was stored in her MDP. And, if she needed to survive for longer than that, she could fall back on the survival training her hiking club had sponsored every year, and she would stretch the rations much farther than that by supplementing with the fruits so abundantly available in the jungle.
She knew that she couldn't be complacent, but she felt a lot more optimistic, being out of Sam's clutches once again. When would she ever be rid of her? It was becoming clearer every day that there was only one way to do that. She must defeat Sam once and for all.
When they had cleared up and packed everything but the lamp and the sleeping bag over the door into their MDPs, they sat cross-legged in a circle on the floor of the cave.
"Have you heard anything new from Gariel or anyone from Sanglarka?" Jenny asked Bob.
"Not yet, but the bots are still gathering data and my drones await our command once they have located us. Based on the last images they sent us, the Groga are not showing up on any of my tech. Their camp is a ghost town. Our command center is also deserted, and I only see one of the hover cars, which hopefully bodes well. I believe radio silence will probably be lifted in the next 24 hours, as long as the drones and bots don’t detect any further movement.
And before you ask," he said, holding up a forestalling hand, "No. Neither our drones nor the bots have found us yet. There is some interference that is keeping them from being able to find our bugs. I think it has something to do with the frequency of the Groga portal. They will have to come closer before they locate us. The GPS seems to be working, however. They appear to be running a search pattern at the moment."
"OK," said Jenny. "That at least gives us something to work with and information to plan from. Burt, what do you recommend, based on this intel?"
"We stay put for the next 24 hours. I don't recommend we even put our heads out, at this point. The door of the cave is defendable. One person could hold off an army from here. The only concern would be if they tried just blowing us up. But, if they don't know we're here, that's unlikely. So, we wait.
Once we get in touch with the drones and bots, we can also get in touch with Sanglarka, so they know where we are. They will know that Jenny is still alive since the Gatekeeper key is still active and hasn't passed to another."
Jenny took it all in and sighed. She really did hate waiting, but she didn't see an alternative based on the facts in their possession.
"OK," said Bob, "who's up for a game of Spades?"
They all laughed and, in good humor, actually took him up on it.
She quickly discovered that Lyra was highly competitive and evidently, she had picked up the game while they had been in Sanglarka from Burt and Bob. Tarafau confessed to have played with Lizzie during downtime in their suites at Alliance headquarters. Jenny hadn't played in a long time, but it was a game they often played as a family when she was growing up.
After a bit, the game and the socializing had calmed Jenny down considerably and it gave time for her mind to wander. What now? She hoped the Troopers had been successful in defeating the Groga on the other side of the portal. Obviously, the portal would have to be put under guard, to prevent access to earth and hopefully the portal control device had made it successfully to the Alliance.
They had two options, as Jenny saw it, to create a permanent base by the portal, although it was unlikely that it would go unspotted, or they would have to disable the portal. That, of course, assumed the scientists at the Alliance could figure out a way to do that.
In the meantime, Sam was presumably still out there.
She threw the question that occurred to her out to the group.
"Do you think the Groga portal is a natural portal, like the gateways, or do you think they have a technology to create portals?"
She could see the wheels in Bob's brain turning at light speed, and the rest looked both thoughtful and somewhat startled at the question.
"I suppose, it is theoretically possible to create a gateway like those that occur naturally. There has been a lot of study by physicists into wormholes, for instance, by introducing exotic matter into a wormhole in an attempt to stabilize it. Wormholes are still a mystery, but some have theorized that wormholes may give entrance to other universes or dimensions. We just don't know enough about how all of it works. And from what I understand from my discussions with Alliance techs, they don't really completely understand how it works either," Bob said.
"It is still very much of a mystery," Tarafau agreed. "All of the scientists of the dimensions who are aware of their gateways study the phenomenon of gate travel constantly. They concur that it has to do with certain vibrational and magnetic forces, but although, at some point eons ago the gateway network was developed by beings far advanced from us, those origins are lost in the mists of time as we know it. The network only connects known gateways. It doesn't create them.
We operate a machine that we do not completely understand. The gates have their own laws, which the gateways follow, but we don't know enough. We follow the protocols for their use carefully, mostly by tradition. We know, if somehow we violated one of those laws, the entire system might collapse and the access to the gateways would become random again and allow forces, such as the Groga, to reign in blood and terror across the multiverse."
The card game had come to a screeching halt with this discussion. All looked thoughtful. There was a long silence.
"We should eat and rest," Lyra said, breaking the moment. "I, for one, want to be ready to get out of here." All of a sudden Jenny realized that Lyra had not been her usually buoyant self, as she had always been, even when things had been difficult. It occurred to her that Lyra didn't know the fate of her companions.
Jenny covered Lyra's hand with her own. "I'm sure they're all right. They probably left with the rest of the team. I'll bet they're in the library with Lova right this minute trying to figure out how to rescue us."
"They'd better be," Lyra growled with a very non-Lyra-like scowl. "I don't want to have to break in a new team."
Jenny reached across and hugged her. Lyra looked up in surprise. Her face softened. "Thank you, Jenny." Jenny surprised herself. She realized that she had become a hugger, something she had never really been before. So much about her was changing so rapidly, but she supposed that if changes were happening, the hugging thing was a pretty good one.
Jenny laid down on her cot after another meal of cold rations. She hadn't intended to sleep, but she drifted off almost immediately in the quiet.
She was walking along a long path among towering sequoias. The usual peace she was always able to find among the ancient trees seeped into her bones. The path beyond her was dimly lighted except at the end, which seemed to lead to a meadow and glowed brightly ahead.
As she strolled, her mind tried to remember why she had felt so tense, but the thought drifted away into the green serenity that surrounded her. When she finally stepped into the meadow, she saw she was not alone. Dressed in a flowing white gown, with wildflowers in her hair, was Miriha. As was her wont, she held out both hands to Jenny with a warm smile.
Jenny reached for her and Miriha pulled her into a fierce hug. Drawing back, she looked intensely into Jenny's eyes. "Once again you are up to your ears in alligators, it seems," she said with a smile. "I wish I could bring you comfort and tell you that you are over the worst, but I come to you with a message: When you awake, you and Tarafau must leave the cave without your companions. This will send you into deeper danger than you have yet experienced, but, if you do not choose to do this, all of you will perish and the consequences will reach into every dimension across the multiverse."
"A message? From who?"
"This comes to me as part of my calling. I am what some would call your guardian angel. The Higher Power would have you know this. One of my responsibilities is to communicate these things to you."
"What? And what are Tarafau and I supposed to do when we leave the cave? Sam is out there and whatever minions she may have recruited. What can just the two of us do?"
"You are to return to the Groga camp and to the portal."
"But I don't have a device to access it and, even if I did, I don't know how to use one."
"A way will be provided. I cannot tell you more. This mission must proceed due to choice and not by direction. This is no dream. When you awake, Tarafau will also be awake. The exigency that allowed him to be Tarafau on earth is past. He will now be Tidbit, as before and may not return to his true form until your mission is complete. Your key will be warm and will continue so until you leave the cave. By this you will know that this message is a true one. Your companions have all drifted into sleep and will not wake until you leave, unless you make the choice to stay."
Jenny peered up into Miriha's sparkling green eyes. "So, it is my choice? And this will help us eliminate the threat to earth and save the gateway network?"
"It will. Your road is yet long and neither you nor Tarafau will emerge unscathed. Will you do this?"
Jenny straightened her shoulders. It was her choice. And somehow, she knew that Miriha spoke the simple truth.
"I will."
Miriha nodded and placed one hand on Jenny's head. "May the blessings of the Creator of All Things go with you. You will find a new item in your MDP. You will not need it just yet, but when you find yourself on the brink of destruction, it will be a shield to you. You can only use it once, so choose wisely." At that, there was a flash of brilliant light and Miriha was gone.
Jenny started awake, sitting bolt upright on her cot. All was completely still around her, with the exception of Bob's gentle snore and the purr of the black cat sitting on the floor of the cave next to her.
"Are you ready?" Tidbit sent to her.
"I am." She rose quietly, donned her boots and walked past her sleeping companions, including Burt, who was asleep at his guard post by the door. Jenny knew he would feel guilty about that.
"Should we leave them a note?" she sent to Tidbit.
"Miriha will have taken care of it. She has quite a different mission for these three."
