THE SLIDE, Part 4
Chapter 42: Tem Again
Fantasy: Mayhem, Chaos Rising & An Engine
Summation/Location/Recap
Tem had been pulled into a vortex (Chapter 35) to a paradise zone by Kuzma and then to Egypt (in Chapter 36). He was transported to the land of light fountains — introduced to Mustafah, the storyteller and an old woman, then back to Egypt. He was brought back, albeit to an alternate dimension, to the cottage outside Fort Normandy.
Tem last appeared in Chapter 39. He was giving testimony about the Slide and floated theories about the tropical south pole beneath a vortex/wormhole and whose theories needed to be tested on the newly arrived supercomputer.
After the report, he was escorted by SS Guards to the room beneath the dungeon where we lay our scene:
“No One Knows How the Machine Works or…
“Where it came from, either,” Q answered.
“I suspect it came with Zed,” A answered. Q flexed his bushy eyebrows in question. “You know, from his ‘vacation’.” A concluded.
Side by side, Q and A strolled down the passage towards the dark chamber beneath the dungeon, followed by the two guards that had taken Tem there. As they drew farther away from the SS secret offices and closer to the dark chamber, their stroll stumbled into a trot. The trot into a saunter and the saunter into a gallop.
The four arrived at the heavy metal door. One guard stepped up and slid open the viewing slot.
“He’s still there, pacing in and out of the light.”
Q stepped up. “Yup he’s there.”
“And yet he doesn’t register on the machine,” A was adamant. He looked through the slot and saw Tem pacing through a narrow bandwidth of light.
“Guards, open this up,” A ordered.
One guard inserted a large key while the second turned the tumbler-latch. Together, the two slid the door aside and turned on their head and shoulder lamps.
They all stepped through the door into the space. One guard bumped Q, who stumbled forward through Tem.
“Shit,” A exclaimed. “He’s escaped. Tem has escaped,” A was in shock.
“We need to sound the alarm,” Q shouted.
“Right, follow protocol,” A acquiesced.
“What?” Q wondered, demanding the answer.
“The machine indicates Tem has vanished from the face of the earth. It is as if he never existed. But yes, send everyone out to search for him. In the meantime, let’s get our people, the scientists, down here to find out if the room played any part in Tem’s vanishing act.” A was disheartened.
“Who died and left you boss,” Q asked sarcastically.
“Zed made me boss.”
“Oh yeah, right. I forgot about that,” Q admitted.
“I do acknowledge we are a team,” A said.
Q smiled with covert brevity.
24 Hours Ago
The others had gone, (Kuzma, Sofie and Hrez) leaving Tem wanting for human contact. Just when Tem’s longing reached a peak, Kuzma appeared.
Tem collapsed into Kuzma with a hug.
“Whoa,” Kuzma was surprised and stepped back.
“I am so glad to see you,” Tem said.
“I ask for your continued patience. It won’t be long. I will return with Farha soon. Then your restlessness will be over.”
“That’s great, but. Why will my restlessness end? What’s next?” Tem let his pent-up frustrations slip.
“I’m not supposed to say, but given these circumstances… Do you remember me taking the both of us from the orchard and meadow to the tropical paradise?”
“Yes. Will we be returning there?” Tem was eager.
“No. I will take you and Farha — maybe some others too, to the tropical south pole where the vortex lives. There is much work to do there.” Kuzma awaited Tem’s response.
“Do not worry, my friend. Farha will be here soon and you are key to the upcoming plan.”
“Okay, I guess,” Tem said in a child-like manner.
“Have you been outside the cottage?”
“Only in my dreams.”
“Tell me more of these dreams,” Kuzma firmly suggested, without making an order of it.
The Space Above Ra’s Prison of No-Escape
Kuzma awaited Farha’s arrival in the beam of golden-yellow light. Hrez popped in.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” Kuzma’s alarm dissipated almost immediately. “Any problems?”
“Yes, two –“
Farha rocketed in — inside the beam. Kuzma jumped in to block her from the prison’s entrance and was thrown backwards into Hrez. His ribs were bruised. The three of them drifted outside the influence of the prison’s walls.
Hrez used a netting grid from his hands to pull Farha and Kuzma away from the walls and then transported them to the cottage.
Three Days Later in the Cottage
Hrez and Kuzma expanded the interdimensional pocket within the cottage, while Farha continued to sleep. Hrez talked with Tem about where he had been in the Midearthian world.
“What is that? What you just said and thought — ‘Midearthian’ that word?” Tem asked.
“Do you remember the orchard where you went with the singing grasses and singing trees?” Hrez asked.
“Um, yes. It was so peaceful there.”
“That was one tier called by my people — the Upoearth. The lower dark world is referred as a tarchanjan world. Each of these three Earth worlds has many layers. The Midearthian Earth is in the middle of the ones I have already mentioned. We are slightly apart in a pocket reality. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” Tem answered. “But why are you telling me this?”
“For two reasons. One — it will help you stay in this pocket dimension,” Hrez said.
“You’re speaking of my wandering dreams,” Tem said.
“They are more than just dreams. You bilocated there.”
Inside the Engine
Q lifted the top lid of the device while A looked on over Q’s shoulder. Under a scramble of thin black wires and a gelatinous substance was a row of black, tiny undulating creatures.
Both Q and A were aghast with wonder and horror.
“You know what they look like, right?” Q wondered aloud.
“Yes, yes, I do. Put it back together.” A hesitated. “Now, Q, now!”
I appreciate your continuing readership and applaud you that you take the time to read this longer work in an era of shorter stories. Bravo!
Rebecca Romanelli | Blaine Coleman | Spyder | DL Nemeril | May More | David Price | Dr Mehmet Yildiz | Melanie J. | Joseph Lieungh | Camille Grady | madmess’s thoughts | Orla K. | Ravyne Hawke | Winston | Margie Willis | Noorain Ali | Lee David Tyrrell | Libby Shively McAvoy | Lady Dr. Gabriella Korosi | Ilis Trudie Palmer
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