Chapter 3: The Phantom Menace

Around them, the static dissolved into world.

Archie surveyed his current location with detached curiosity. He appeared to be standing in a small alcove which had an ornate metalwork cage across the opening. Beyond the cage was a larger room. Archie’s perspective was limited, but the outer room appeared to be round, with a series of columns encircling it, holding up the high ceiling. On the far wall was a pair of tall, thin, arched doors that almost reached the ceiling. Both the alcove and the outer chamber seemed to have been carved out of stone, as if the room were not built but rather excavated. There looked to be some sort of stone table in the center of the large room under a central chandelier, but it was too far away for Archie to get a good look from where he was. A glow emanated from a wall sconce above Archie’s head. He imagined other alcoves spaced around the chamber had similar light sources.

Archie pressed his hand against the nearest wall, only a few inches from where he stood crowded by his granddaughter and the odd man who had triggered this strange event. It was cool to the touch, and only slightly rough. Idly, Archie supposed that whoever had constructed the place must have started smoothing the surfaces, but got bored or distracted partway through.

“So,” Archie said to no one in particular. “This is what senile dementia feels like. I didn’t expect it to come on so suddenly. Nice, though. Calmer than I imagined.”

“What the hell is going on here?” Haley asked.

“It’s all right. I’ve just suddenly gone around the bend,” Archie assured her. “That’s all. Nothing to worry about. Do your old granddad a favor and run fetch the doctor. He’s next door to the admin office, by the parking lot.”

“What the hell is going on here?” Haley repeated, more emphatically. The old stranger touched a bit of the scrollwork and opened the cage closing off the alcove. He stepped out and headed toward the stone table.

“Honestly, I’ll be fine. But hurry before I hurt myself wandering around like this. I have gone quite mad, I’m afraid. Your mother will be happy to hear it. State hospitals are even cheaper than this mummy factory, if you can believe it.” At the stone table, the other man turned some dials and flipped some switches.

Haley screamed, “What the hell is going on here?!” Her voice echoed through the room, acquiring an excellent reverb. Archie, standing a foot away, winced at the outburst.

“Haley!” he shouted. She turned to give him her attention. “I don’t know whether I’m speaking English or gibberish right now, but if you can understand me, pull yourself together.” He over-enunciated what he said next. “I am suffering a major mental breakdown. I am hallucinating. The gazebo has turned into a large stone chamber. I think I may have had a seizure. Go get help before I swallow my tongue.”

Haley glanced over her shoulder, then back at Archie. “Grandpa, we are in a large stone chamber.”

“We are.” He said it like a declaration, but intended it as an interrogative.

“Yes. If you’ve gone mad, then so have I.”

“Are we in an alcove?”

“Yes.”

“Is there a man over there swearing at a block of stone?”

Haley looked back into the large room, and nodded. “There certainly appears to be.”

Archie said cautiously, “I see.”

“You do?”

“Well, no,” Archie admitted. “But you seemed tense. I thought you might relax if you thought I knew what was happening.”

The other man rushed back from the stone table to the alcove. “My friends, I apologize. I am called Docian. I promise to explain everything as soon as we have time, but right now we don’t. A patrol of the emperor’s men is on the way. They must have detected the power output of the trans-dimensional translocator. I have an aethership hidden nearby, but we must hurry! Everything depends on it!” Docian hurried back over to the stone table. Out of curiosity, Archie wandered over to have a look at it. Haley hung back in the alcove briefly, but then thought better of it and rushed to join him.

The top of the table was inclined away from the niche in which the group had, for want of a less insane term, materialized. Banks of knobs, switches, buttons, gauges, lights, and small display screens covered most of the surface, which was bordered by a rim of stone a couple of inches high. One of the displays was blinking red. In the bottom center was a circular dial, larger than the others. Docian took hold of this, twisted it one quarter turn clockwise, and pulled.

The dial came away from the control panel. Attached to it was a green crystal roughly three inches long and one inch wide. It glowed until it separated completely from the table, and then went dim. At the same time, the table started moving. The top lowered itself to horizontal, and a façade of stone slid from recesses along the edges to conceal the controls below. Two candelabras rose up from hidden compartments on either side of the table, complete with half-melted candles.

Archie heard chains clanking above him. He looked up, and saw that what he had originally thought was a chandelier was in fact a cylinder four feet long with an ornate crystal on each end, hanging horizontally, oriented toward the alcove. As he watched, the large cylinder rotated from horizontal to vertical and six smaller cylinders descended from far above, coming to rest arrayed around the large one. Each had a crystal of its own on the lower end, so that the final result gave the appearance of a decorative lighting arrangement, reflecting the light from the wall sconces.

By the time the various machinations were complete, there was no trace of anything more technologically advanced than a torch, and the room resembled a stodgy, little-used chamber of indeterminate function.

Docian revealed an etched metal tube he wore around his neck by a golden chain. He slid the crystal that he had removed from the control panel into this tube and gave it a twist. He tucked the resultant assembly back under his shirt.

“Control crystal,” he explained, as if it did. “The translocator won’t work without it.”

“Oh, good,” Haley replied. “Then put it back in the machine and take us home.”

“No, please! You have to come with me. I’ll explain everything as soon as we’re safe.”

“Like hell,” Haley said.

“I’m inclined to agree with my granddaughter,” Archie added. “I don’t know what is going on, exactly. I’m not even convinced that this isn’t all some dream or hallucination I’m having. However, assuming for the moment that I am still, despite the evidence of my senses, somehow grounded in reality, then the fact of the matter is that you brought us here against our will. That’s not the sort of thing that tends to predispose me toward blindly trusting you and doing what you ask.”

Docian’s hands shook with frustration. He nervously ran one of them through his white hair. “Listen,” he began, exasperated. “In about three minutes, a large group of angry, well-armed men will be coming down the hall and through that door.” He pointed toward the arched double doors. “It is quite likely that they will kill anyone they find in this room just on general principle.”

“So you say,” Archie retorted.

Docian took a few steps away from the others. “So I do. I also say that the trans-dimensional translocator is the only way the two of you have to get home.” He grabbed the tube he was wearing around his neck through the fabric of his shirt. “And I have the only control crystal that will make it work. Without this, you aren’t going anywhere. I, and it, are leaving right now. If you want any chance at all of returning to your own world, you need to come with me.”

Docian rushed over to the arched doorway. He listened at it for a moment, and then heaved on the door’s handle to open it a crack. He stuck his head out the opening and quickly glanced left and right. He shouldered the door open wider with a shove and a groan. He turned his attention back toward Archie and Haley. “Are you coming or not?” A faint rhythmic pounding could be heard from beyond the doorway, quickly becoming louder and more distinct. Docian stepped into the hallway, turned to his left, and disappeared.

Archie and Haley looked at each other. Haley said, “Well, when he puts it that way….”

Archie nodded. “He does have a point, doesn’t he?”

(POV changes here)

Haley ran for the door. Archie followed behind. Haley stepped out into the corridor. Looking both ways, she saw that the wide hallway curved back in each direction, encircling the room she had just left. The walls and floor were all rough-cut stone, the same as inside. Halfway up the opposite wall hung a mezzanine, suspended halfway into the open space and dividing it into upper and lower levels. Along the lower level, the outer wall had a series of simple wooden doors, broken up by statuary in a niche every fourth door. Haley could not see what was at floor level on the upper level, but near the ceiling were cut open triangular windows, alternating between point up and point down. Diffuse light shone in through these openings. To her right, Haley spotted a staircase or ramp angling down from the upper level, its lower end hidden by the curve of the hallway.

From her right, Haley could clearly make out the tromping of several sets of feet. She looked left, but initially saw no sign of Docian. Then she noticed one eye peeking at her from around the bend. He began waving her to come toward him.

(POV changes back here)

Archie caught up with her just as she started moving down the hallway toward Docian. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he followed after her. He tried his best to keep up with her, but she was jogging away from him.

“That’s all right,” he muttered. “You go on ahead. I’ll be fine.”

Haley reached Docian, and looked back, dismayed to discover that her grandfather had only covered half the distance. “Grandpa, come on!” she hissed.

“I am coming on. This is me, coming on. I’m not one of those spry old farts who run marathons, you know.”

“You have to hurry!” Docian added.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Archie accused Docian as he approached. “You and your matching track suits and sneakers and your original hips. What’s the point, I ask you? Why waste time with all that sweating and tiring yourself out? Get in the best shape in your life if you want to, you’re still going to die soon. You won’t outrun the Reaper, that’s for sure.”

“Grandpa, no one’s asking you to outrun Death. But if you could maybe outrun the people coming to kill us?”

“Same damn thing,” Archie grumbled as he came to a stop next to the others. “Now what?”

“This way. We have to get to the kitchens.”

“Kitchen? That’s your big escape plan? We take the servant’s exit?”

“You’ll see.” Docian led them to the outer wall, under the stairs, where they were hidden from direct observation by the mezzanine and in the gloomiest, most shadowed part of the hall. They moved slowly counterclockwise, at Archie’s top walking speed. Above them, they heard the patrol, which would move a short distance, stop, and then move again. They were still moving faster than the group below.

Docian whispered, “We’re in luck. It sounds like they’re searching room to room. If we can get into the kitchens before they finish sweeping the lower cells, we should be able to get into the secret passage and away before they know we’re here.”

“Secret passage?” Archie asked.

“Cells?” Haley asked.

“This used to be a monastery, before Emperor Lao had the monks killed for aiding the resistance.”

Archie asked, “Why didn’t they use the secret passage? I’m loving this plan more every minute.”

Docian pointed to a large door in the inner wall. “There it is. We have to wait for the soldiers to get out of sight.” They stood and waited, listening to the activity above as it migrated away.

Then it stopped. Then, it started moving again, coming closer this time, and lowering to their level.

“Oh, no,” Docian cursed, softly. “I’m an idiot! They had to come in from the south. We started at the north, and have come almost halfway around the circle.”

“Geometry was never my strong suit,” Archie said. “What are you trying to say?”

“They’re coming down the stairs. Right now!”

“What stairs? There’s stairs all over this place.”

“Those stairs!” Docian cried, pointing toward a staircase whose lower end was thirty feet away. “They’ll see us if we don’t move.”

Archie offered a solution. “Let’s move.”

Docian nodded. “Right. Come on.” He scurried across the hallway to the kitchen door, pushed it open, and slipped inside.

“I meant back the way we came, actually, but whatever.” Archie started across the hall with Haley at his side.

“Here, let me help you, Grandpa,” Haley said, draping one of his arms across her shoulders. He pulled it away.

“I don’t need any help from you,” Archie insisted. Haley drew back. “I’ve been walking since before I could walk. I’ll manage.”

“But, they’re coming,” Haley reminded him. “We need to hurry.”

“Who’s coming? Evil soldiers who are going to kill us? Says who? I’ll tell you who: the guy who just kidnapped us. I still don’t see why I should believe a word he’s said. Besides, we’re victims in all this. We didn’t choose to be here. I’m sure if we just explain everything to the proper authorities, we’ll be fine.”

Haley stared incredulously. “We’re standing in an abandoned monastery in an alternate universe whose rules we don’t understand.” She stared off to the side. “I can’t believe I just said that. Anyway, the only person we’ve met so far has been helpful, and he tells us the people we’re about to meet won’t be. Why can’t you just trust that?”

“Why can you?”

Archie and Haley heard sounds of alarm from the staircase. A moment later, the floor near Archie’s feet exploded with a flash. They turned, and saw several people in black and gold uniforms aiming weapons at them.

Haley looked at Archie. “Told you.”

“Open fire!” one of them called out. Haley grabbed her grandfather’s arm and started running toward the door to the kitchens. He was too surprised, both at her actions and the impending death that had inspired them, to resist. The floor and walls where they had been standing a moment earlier shattered and boiled with the energy of the incoming weapon fire.

The soldiers adjusted their aim at the now-moving targets. Archie’s feet got tangled up in each other. He fell, dragging Haley down with him. The next barrage whizzed over their heads. Haley scrambled to find her footing, stayed in a crouch, clung to Archie’s hand, and dragged him bodily the rest of the way across the stone floor into the kitchen door. Once they were both inside, she slammed it shut behind them.

“Are you hurt?” she called out, leaning against the door, breathing heavily.

“Only my pride and any understanding I had of how the universe works.”

“Are you shot?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Am I shot?”

“You look fine from here. On the floor. Where you threw me like so many potatoes.”

“We need to block this door,” Haley said.

Docian reappeared from behind a large brick fireplace. “What happened?”

“They found us,” Archie understated.

Docian rushed over to the door. He located a lever affixed next to the doorjamb and pulled it. He fought the long-unused mechanism, and lost at the halfway mark. Haley pitched in, and together they were able to wrestle it the rest of the way down.

Docian explained. “This place was once subject to raids by barbarians living on the outer edges, so the monks built this. All the big doors have something like it. As I understand it, we just moved several thick metal rods into the door from each side, above, and below. It’s enough to stop your average barbarian, but it won’t hold up long against raygun fire.”

“Well,” Archie pointed out, “that didn’t do us a whole lot of good, then, did it?”

“Maybe not. But maybe it will last long enough for us to make our escape.”

“Right,” Haley decided. “So let’s do that.”