Cover by TechnoStargazer
The Room
"Aye, wait up," a deep voice echoed through the steel passageway, harmonizing with his reverberating footfalls as he jogged to catch up with her.
"Eyal," Kara greeted and turned, her blond ponytail whipping around her shoulders.
"You ran out like a bat out of hell, you alright," Eyal asked and dropped his gait to a fast walk.
The windowless, dank hall was brightly lit by fluorescent lights, made him blink rapidly to adjust his eyes from being in a dark room for three hours. He straightened his drab green uniform curtly and looked down at Kara as they stood toe to toe.
"I'm fine," she mumbled and turned away from him, continuing to the next left passage that led to the outside. She opened the heavy door, the fresh air had her closing her eyes in pleasure as a soft wind picked up and rustled the green leaves on the trees- the acoustics of the birds and sounds of nature were enough to relieve some of her stress. Her shoulders slumped slightly, and her jaw slackened from its previous clenched position.
"Hey, hey, Kara, what's wrong," Eyal put a gentle hand on her shoulder, and pursed his pouted lips.
She sighed and pulled her hair out of the tight ponytail. "Eyal, I don't like this. I don't like it one bit. I have a bad feeling," as she spoke, her insides tightened and she suddenly felt sick.
"Okay, hey, Kara, it's just a relocation," he tried to assure her, turning her shoulders so she would face him. He could feel her tension in her muscles and it made his heart clench tighter than he thought was physically possible. "Hey, really, it's going to be okay," he brushed her hair behind her ear, "it's 2020 and we have time travel, what could possibly go wrong?"
When he brushed her hair behind her ear, Kara leaned into his touch, "it's not just a relocation, though. Is it? We are going to another time."
Eyal brought his lips into thin line and nodded, "you saw the video, though, right? It's going to be fine. It's easy to come back. This will be better for everyone, politically, financially... even for security purposes. Where we are standing right now, will be knocked down and replaced with new homes and parks- whole towns. This is the future and we've been chosen to be part of it."
"But why us? We're military, not..." she pursed her lips and crinkled her nose, "prison guards."
"It's a government ordinance. We're asked to make sure it goes off without a hitch. We won't be there forever- just long enough to settle the area. When we're done securing the location and working out security kinks, we're out of there. Didn't you pay attention to the video," he asked and tossed a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the Warden's Office behind them.
She shook her head, her hand rubbing the back of her neck, "no, I was too busy thinking of all the ways I could die in the future." When Eyal clenched his jaw, making it look stronger than it already was, she rolled her eyes and stepped away from him- closer to the edge of the cement stairs leading to the courtyard. "I just don't like it. We'll be completely isolated. I hate feeling trapped," she added.
Eyal ran his fingers through his thick, black hair then stepped up to stand beside her. They stood facing the treeline a few miles out from the edge of the facility, staring at the nature through a ten foot high, chain-link fence. He draped his arm around her shoulders and leaned into her, a smile flicking across his features.
"You know," he started with a deep tone, "there's a lot you and I could get into when we're isolated... together." Eyal looked down at her and, when she looked up, he winked.
Kara laughed briefly, "you're such an animal."
"Only when I'm around you," he nudged her in the ribs.
***
The next day, 0800 hours...
A man with snow white hair and a large mustache to match stood on a raised stage, behind a tall podium. An ocean of drab army uniforms and the officers inside of them, sat in neat rows in front of him. The auditorium reverberated with murmurs as they looked up to the large screen presented with images of a large, empty room.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present; your 'Nikola Tesla Transportation Room'. It can transfer fifty people at one time and absolutely not a single person more," The white haired man, the General, addressed.
Eyal leaned to his left to bring his face closer to Kara's ear, "They can't just say Time Machine?"
"Sssh," she whispered in return but despite her disapproval of his interruption, a smirk spread across her lips.
He grinned with tightly clamped lips before straightening in his seat haughtily.
"Each one of you here today will be escorting forty-eight prisoners. You will be paired with another officer and as soon as you arrive at Future Earth Security Prison, evacuate the Nikola Tesla Transportation Room-"
"Time Machine Room," Eyal corrected, his hand covering his mouth, and received a elbow in the side.
"--and take your designated prisoners away to their specific cells. Each block will have six guards, so three transports per block. Those of you who will have max security prisoners will have nine guards per block. However, I do not want you to be afraid of these men and women. They will be under sedation. Doctor Wu will explain the sedation process."
"But first," Ruth continued, "we have yet to determine the causation for Earth to be in such a state in the next century--"
A large burst of murmurs erupted and several soldiers stood and started to question the last statement.
"Sit down, we don't have the answer but I assure you--"
"When is this? Do you even have a real date?"
"Soldier, sit your ass down, all your questions will be addressed," Ruth shouted with a booming, authoritative voice. "Now, we aren't sure on the cause but we have scientists working on that now. However, that is not why you're here. Your job is to run the prison."
"Shouldn't we be trying to save the world, keeping the end from happening," another soldier shouted without standing in order to remain anonymous. "The prisons we have are fine, we need to get our priorities straight here."
General Ruth continued as though the interruption did not occur, "The air is toxic, there is no oxygen outside of the prison. There are safety measures in place that will prevent any real breaches and in the event there is one, loss of life will be minimal- that much I can assure. Now, as we're running short on time, due to outbursts, Doctor Wu will not take the stand and explain the serum we're using on the prisoners."
Ruth stepped back to stand to the right of Doctor Wu as he crossed the stage and took the podium. "Thank you General Ruth. We call the serum 'Zed'. What we have created--"
As Doctor Wu continued on, Eyal leaned over to Kara. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I'm going to throw up, again." she admitted, her lip curling slightly preemptively.
"That bad this morning, huh?"
"Worse than you can imagine."
"Oh, honey, trust me. I can imagine. I was there the night you broke up with Alec, remember," he smirked, his eyes dancing with orneriness.
She covered her forehead with her hand and frowned deeply enough to cause new creases he'd never seen appear, "don't remind me." The night of the break-up began with her running to the nearest bottle of alcohol and ended with alcohol poisoning.
While her mind became cluttered with images of puke and abundance in alcohol, Eyal grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. "I'm with you, Kara. Okay? It's only a few weeks."
"'Only a few weeks'," she mocked in a harsh whisper. "Three weeks of being alone on a rock uninhabited by other life in a facility that's literally in an air pocket. One wrong move and we'll be vacuumed into oblivion. Sure, 'only a few weeks' of terrified anxiety."
He smirked and squeezed her hand reassuringly, "Yeah, all of that but with your bestest friend in the whole world."
Kara looked back at him and smiled, one that made her eyes narrow, "What would I do without you."
"Throw up, probably." he said quickly before straightening in his chair to 'pay attention' to Wu about Zed.
"What about butterfly effect," she said, covering her mouth with her hand as she leaned closer to him.
"What?"
Kara sighed, "butterfly effect, if they work to change the result of the future while we occupy the space, if they succeed, we'll be- we could end up phased inside a nuclear plant... or a middle school."
"That's a little extreme, don't you think," he whispered back, his eyes still looking at Wu but his head tilted to meet her halfway.
"The earth is dying, it has been for decades and we're the cause."
"What, global warming," Eyal chuckled slightly.
"Yes, amongst other things- we can still reverse things but we shouldn't be one foot in the past and one in the future- it'll be catastrophic."
"I think the scientists would have already figured that."
Kara released a short breath out of her nose, "If they did they've already decided to let Earth die, they aren't going to do anything about it."
He diverted his gaze to look into her blue eyes, "do you think the President knows?"
"Who knows..."
Wu looked around the auditorium mid sentence and sighed, realizing he'd lost most of the crowd with the scientific specifics. Eyal and Kara looked back to the stage when they heard the absence of lecture just as Wu changed his approach, "essentially, it makes the prisoner a zombie. He or she will hardly react to anything. They will follow where they are pushed or pulled to, that is all. It lasts about two hours. Plenty of time to get processed, go through the Nikola Tesla Transportation Room and be emptied into their awaiting cells."
"End of the world, Time Machines, and Zombies. What's next, Aliens," Eyal said loud enough for the row ahead and behind them to hear, which lead to inappropriate laughter from them and an uncomfortable glare from Ruth and Wu.
General Ruth came back up to the podium and cleared his throat, "that's enough. Go home, kiss your loved ones and report here at 1200 hours. Dismissed."
***
Same day at 1200 hours...
"I found someone to watch Scout," Kara whispered to Eyal as they both looked into the NTTR with wide eyes.
"Oh, good."
"Yeah, he knew I was leaving. He kept trying to dash out of the house to get to the car," her gaze flicked up to meet his dark, brown eyes momentarily.
He looked down at her and offered a sympathetic grin, "I still think they retired him too quickly, he could still be in the field."
"Something you want to share with the class?" A tall man interjected loudly enough to gain the attention of everyone in the room.
Kara narrowed her eyes and pushed her brows together as she glared at the man, "We're talking about my dog, is that a problem?"
"Little bit, yeah," the man responded.
"Who the hell are you," she bit out, her shoulders back and head held high.
He smirked and held out his hand, "Major Dimitri Belikov, and you are?"
"Colonel O'Neil," Kara said and took his hand as he shifted uncomfortably- having not realized she outranked him.
"Ma'am," he greeted then looked to Eyal, "and you?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Oliveria," his tone dispassionate as he took the Major's hand in turn.
"Ah, Sir," Dimitri raised his chin in order to better meet Eyal's height, "seems that we'll be spending a lot of time together."
"Yeah, so maybe don't be such a prick about your superior's dog," Eyal said gruffly.
Dimitri rose a single eyebrow and a smirk played at his thin lips, "Mhm, maybe."
"Major Belikov and Captain Jackson, your transport is ready," an officer reported, beckoning them to enter the prepared NTTR with forty-eight, sedated prisoners already inside. The Major indicated to the Captain to get his attention and offered a flippant salute to Kara and Eyal, "see you on the other side."
Kara feigned a pleasant smile as a huff escaped her parted lips, "Uh-huh."
The Nikola Tesla Transportation Room was a room within a room. The Transportation Room was large enough to fit fifty people comfortably. Wu stood in the larger room, a hub, where a panel of mainframes sat in neat rows that reminded Kara of NASA. The row closest to the NTTR stretched five computers long.
"There is a time delay on the doors. They cannot be opened or closed manually," Wu explained with a deadened tone, his eyes downcast to the computers in front of him. "After the last person is in, the operator will be alerted and will start the countdown, you'll have thirty seconds. You can see capacity level and countdown on the heads-up-display."
The HUD above the door reflected 00.00 but as each person got on the first two numbers increased, until it reached 50.00.
Dimitri stood beside Captain Jackson at the front of The Room, waiting patiently. The display switched to 50.30 and started the countdown.
"I don't like him," Eyal said as he watched the display.
Kara raised her eyebrows and smirked by turning her lips downward before she replied; "and we get to spend three weeks with him."
They chuckled between themselves as they listened to the automated female voice that came over the speakers in the hub; Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds.
When the clock hit 50.00 the sliding door slammed shut with a small hiss. A bright light emanated from the space around the door jam and after another three seconds, the door re-opened and all its occupants were gone. The display above the door read; 00.00
"Oh, Jesus Christ," Kara breathed, her chest heaving with each painful pound of her heart.
"It's alright," Eyal attempted to calm her, grabbing her hand and squeezing tightly.
She shook her head and gripped his hand, feeling her palms start to get sweaty, "I'd rather be stationed on the LSS."
"The Lunar Space Station, please. You said you'd rather die than be on the moon."
"Well, it's better than in a different time - the end of time to be exact -with only one machine standing between me and coming home."
A door opened to their left opened and flaccid, ZED prisoners were filed into the NTTR like sheep herded by dogs. "Colonel O'Neil, Lieutenant Colonel Oliveria - please join your transport."
Kara dropped Eyal's hand quickly before they stepped in, standing where Dimitri and Jackson had moments before, their toes just inside the line that separated them from the hub. On the inside of the room was a digital clock identical to the one in the control room. When the numbers on the HUD shifted from 50.00 to 50.30, Kara's breath hitched. She glanced at Eyal who winked subtly at her, "Ready to travel through time?"
"No," she replied.
Transportation in T-minus ten seconds, the automation announced.
The doors slid closed and Kara blinked. When she opened her eyes the door was also open again with three men standing in front of them, their arms crossed against their chests and smirks on their faces.
"Welcome to the future kids," Dimitri stated arrogantly. The other two guards beside him smirked and chuckled.
"Shouldn't there be another one of you? Jackson or whatever," Eyal asked pointing a finger between the other three.
"He's closing up the last few Zeds," one of the other guards informed as he moved to grab one of the prisoner's arms. "Let's get these schmucks into holding, yeah?" He looked into the eyes of the affected prisoner and shuddered visibly, "don't you hate how they look at you?"
Dimitri frowned and shook his head, "they aren't looking at anything, Killian. They're zombies, they don't even know where they are!"
Kara rubbed her fingers into her closed eyes, "Can we get this over with, please?"
Dimitri smirked, "Got jet lag there, O'Neil?"
"That's Colonel O'Neil, to you, Major," Eyal barked.
The Major raised his hands in mock surrender, "alright, damn, no disrespect. We're all gonna have to get real cozy these next few weeks."
"How about instead, we keep this professional and you do as I say," Kara snapped as she grabbed two prisoners by the shoulders.
Dimitri and Killian shared a look before the third man, Malik, responded; "Yes, ma'am."
***
Week One, Friday - 2100 hours...
"So, what do ya'll think happened to wipe out all life on Earth?" Malik stated, addressing the other five, sitting guards in the room.
"Mal, it's less than a couple thousand years in the future. Take your pick," Eyal started to count off fingers on his right hand, "global warming, nuclear warfare, mutated whatevers, etcetera."
"You'd think we could use the NTTR to figure it out and keep it from happening," Killian mused and tossed a ball of paper into a garbage pail like a basketball.
"No way," Kara spoke up, her legs crossed and stretched out in front of her, propped up on an empty chair. "Butterfly Effect, guys, c'mon."
"Oh, look at our nerdy Colonel," Dimitri laughed.
Eyal pushed his lip out, "She's not wrong."
Kara, though she was still listening to the conversation, kept her eyes on the screens to the right. The black and white security camera feed flicked throughout C Block: the cell halls, common area, mess hall, and door leading the the security nest they were tucked in currently.
"I thought Butterfly Effect was only relevant if you went back in time," Captain Jackson interjected, barely looking up from the paper he was scribbling on.
"Well, if we use knowledge from now and go back to 'our time', it's still Butterfly Effect, isn't it, Captain," Kara replied.
Eyal tilted his head to one side, "what's your first name, Jackson?"
Dimitri started to laugh while Malik chuckled.
"Jackson," Jackson replied.
Eyal's eyes lit up and a smirk turned one side of his mouth, "You're Jackson Jackson?"
Amused, Kara looked to Jackson and smiled.
Jackson rolled his eyes, "yep, my parents hated me. But, seriously, alright? Butterfly Effect aside," he leaned forward in his chair, "if we find out what made humans extinct wouldn't that be a benefit to- oh, holy shit!" He pointed at the security camera screens.
On one of the TV screens, was a single prisoner pressing himself against the wall of the Mess Hall.
Killian stood quickly, his rolling chair flying out from under him. "How the hell did he get out of his cell," he shouted as he ran for the door.
"Whoa, blondie, hold on!" Malik ran after him.
The door slid open and shut behind them while Kara got out of her seat to stand directly in front of the screens, her hands on her hips. "What is he doing? He should know that there's nothing out there- nothing but radiation and a vacuum of air..."
"A perk of time travel," Jackson stated absentmindedly.
"These people are unstable, that's why we're here instead of in our time," Dimitri stated plainly, leaning back in his chair.
"It's not like he's getting out, Kara. This is solid steel and there aren't any doors," Eyal re-assured, coming to stand beside her, his hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I suppose," Kara concurred hesitantly as she watched Malik and Killian's pursuit, from screen to screen, down the halls to get to the Mess. They burst into the room and immediately ran to body slam the prisoner into the wall.
"We should go check his cell, see how he got out," Eyal digressed.
"Good idea," Kara said absentmindedly, watching the screen closely, her eyes wide, "-oh my god, he has something!" She grabbed the radio attached to her left breast pocket, "Malik, he has something in his han-"
As the words left her mouth a bright, white light emanated from the screen and the feed went static.
Her mouth fell open, Dimitri and Jackson were on their feet and joined Eyal by Kara's side, the four of them staring in shock.
An automated voice came over the speaker system: Facility Reconstruction in Progress. Breach in Wall number one-nine-seven. Facility Reconstruction in Progress. Radiation detected, Quarantine measures activated.
"I'm going down there," Kara stated, her mouth closing audibly.
"Kara wait, that section will be in lockdown," Eyal reached for her arm and managed to grasp her elbow. "You can't get in- even if you wanted. The Radiation and, you know, lack of oxygen is a huge factor right now."
She wrenched her arm free and moved away, "They could still be alive!"
"He's right, you know," Dimitri mumbled as he ran his hands down the sides of his face, his eyes closed. "They're gone. We just have to wait for the facility to Reconstruct."
"You've got to be kidding-" Kara started but froze when the feed came back online and showed the building reconstructing itself. Two bodies lay in the center of the block, Malik and Killian.
"They're there," she pointed at the screen then looked back at the two men who stood perfectly still, their gazes downcast, Jackson couldn't seem to look away from the feed.
"At least we can send them back to their families." Eyal stated.
"No, the radiation, we won't be able to." Dimitri reminded.
Kara shook her head and looked back at the screen, leaning close to see the bodies better, "where's the prisoner? We-" A blur moved across the screen, directly in front of the camera feed. It was transparent and moved like a flare across the television or refracted light, "-what was that?"
"What was what," Eyal asked.
"There- there was a thing..." Kara waved a finger at the screen as she stumbled over her words.
Dimitri nodded in mock understanding, "Oh, a thing?"
"What 'thing'," Eyal ignored Dimitri's comment and encouraged Kara's findings.
"It was like a- like a ghost. It moved across the screen," Kara pointed where she'd seen the transparent blur she was calling a 'ghost'.
"I didn't see anything," Dimitri crossed his arms.
"We'll run the footage, we have to send it back to 'the other side' anyway. Evidence in the accident report," Jackson attempted to placate all parties.
Dimitri scoffed, "Accident!?"
Jackson threw up his arms and huffed, "well, wha-"
"Block C, this is Block A, what the hell just happened?!" a voice boomed through the intercom in the room and made all four of them jump.
Eyal looked to Kara who took a deep breath and took up the radio off the desk, "This is Colonel O'Neil, we have a breach. Reconstruction in progress but we lost two men and one prisoner. We're sending a report to TOS now." She dropped the radio like it was on fire and stormed out of the room, leaving the three men to stare at the screens in silence.
***
Week Two, Wednesday - 1400 Hours...
Kara walked to the right of Eyal down the narrow hallway. The smell of chemical, urine and sweat made her lip curl. It was a good thing there were no windows in the facility or, despite the radiation outside, she would be tempted to open it.
She pulled her lips into a tight line, "I can't get into contact with the TOS ever since we sent that footage through the Tesla."
Eyal looked through the clear cell walls as they walked down the hall, each prisoner was lying on a cot. "Kara, what did you expect? That they'd evacuate everyone when they saw the psycho blow the wall?"
"Three men were killed, two of them were our own people. And I saw something on the feed. Something got in."
"Do you hear yourself right now," he laughed, his face contorting with bitter amusement, "'something got in.' You sound like the crazy old person in a horror movie."
Kara frowned and rolled her eyes, "Stop making a joke, I'm serious."
He frowned, "isn't it more likely just a flare-"
A scream emanated from the end of the block. It echoed in the narrow hall and made Kara's skin crawl and Eyal's heart rate to fluctuate rapidly. Without so much as exchanging a glance at one another, they both broke into a run simultaneously. Despite their heavy footfalls, their steps were drowned by pained screams that harmonized with the scared shouts from the other inmates, who now stood pressed against their cell doors trying to see the source of the disturbance.
They stopped at the cell just as the screams stopped. They stood outside the plexiglass walls with wide eyes, Kara's mouth agape. Both prisoners in the cell were dead; their exposed skin, from their faces to their arms and hands, red and chapped. Their faces, discolored and contorted in permanent fear, were charred around the mouth- their lips all but burned away. One of the prisoners started to move and Kara reached for her keycard to unlock the door.
"No," Eyal shouted and pulled her away.
"He's still alive," she resisted and shook his grasp. Kara swiped her card and the door opened just as the prisoner reached the sliding door. He fell through the threshold head first and landed at her feet, lying on his stomach, his arms reaching out above his head.
The smell was rancid, burnt flesh and stale, de-oxygenated air rushed out into the hallway. Both Kara and Eyal stumbled back instinctively, burying their faces in the crook of their arms. When she recovered from the initial shock, Kara knelt beside the prisoner - now completely still - and rolled him onto his back. The signs of petechiae in his eyes made her frown as she put her fingers to his chapped neck.
When she couldn't find what she was looking for, she looked up from her kneeling position to meet Eyal's wide eyes and announced; "he's dead."
***
Week Two, Wednesday - 1800 Hours...
"There wasn't a breach, I already told you," Kara shouted at Dimitri who threw up his arms and walked away from her.
The four of them stood in the Security Nest, a live feed of all the other block representatives streamed light in the otherwise darkened room.
"Excuse me, how did these men die, exactly," a Block A representative questioned.
"Radiation and Asphyxiation, like the two from the Mess Hall," Dimitri snapped at him. "That just means we had a breach in a cell block, not a 'ghost'," he continued to shout but his fiery gaze was directed at Kara who returned it in kind.
"I'm not saying it's a ghost," Kara addressed Dimitri first and then the rest of the panel on the screen, "I'm saying that some-thing is doing this."
"Is there any chance the prisoner who caused the Mess Hall Breach is responsible? As I understand you never recovered his body, correct?"
"Sir, the man was vacuumed out of the walls- he's likely nothing but dust in the wind by now," Dimitri informed dispassionately.
"Then, I'm sorry, Colonel, there's not enough evidence to support your theory. Unless there is another incident, we treat this as another breach. Thankfully, it was reconstructed before it killed anyone else. Consider yourselves lucky."
"Sir-" Kara tried to interject.
"If you have other concerns, send a request for the autopsy report from hub."
"Sir-"
The feed cut, leaving the four of them in almost complete darkness- illuminated only by a red, blinking light. Eyal watched the security screens, his arms crossed against his chest.
Kara turned to glare at Dimitri, her shoulders back and hands on her hips, "We should be evacuating. We know nothing of this time, there could be something out there- in here - that's killing people. This is becoming a serious threat, the count is up to five-"
"Two people," Dimitri insisted.
She scrunched her face in disgust, "You are such a-"
An alarm blared and they joined Eyal and Jackson at the screens. Eyal pointed to one in particular where a blur of refracted light moved from one tv to the other. Dimitri stared with bulging eyes and jaw dropped but Kara spun on her heel and grabbed a rifle out of the locker. She was out of the room before Eyal could say anything.
He ran after her, Dimitri close behind. As they ran full speed down the stairs to the halls, Kara started to shout into her radio, "we have an emergency, contact the General. We're evacuating, now!"
She arrived at the door and it slid open in front of her. "Hit the release!" she ordered offhandedly with one foot in the cell block and the other still in the main hall.
Dimitri refused, "These pyschos will take any excuse to attack or escape, I'm not just letting them out of their cells without Zed or restraints!"
"That's an order!"
Before Dimitri could react, Eyal shoved him aside to insert his keycard and hit the red button on the panel outside of the cell block. A secondary alarm, much shriller than the first, sounded along with the initial blaring one.
The cell doors opened but only a few prisoners, closest to the door they'd come through, stepped out and made a break for the exit. Kara looked into one of the cells that had no evacuee's and her shoulders slumped. The inmates were charred and discolored, dead.
"Kara," Eyal shouted as the fleeing inmates pushed by him, his shoulders jerked back with each collision with other bodies.
"I'm coming..."
"No, look out!"
She looked to her left to look at him then followed his pointed finger to look to her right. A transparent blur with a rust orange aura was floating across the hall- a few yards away from her. It had no defined shape like a transient ball of gas as it started to move towards her.
"Run," she said to no one in particular. There was still a prisoner down the hall, running her way and she waved him on, "c'mon! Run!"
The blur, a wraith, began to charge after the last prisoner. Kara pivoted, aimed her rifle, and began to shoot at it. The bullets rushed through it with no effect. It swooped down and blanketed the prisoner who began to shriek as blisters formed on his skin. His skin began to burn away, his blond hair fizzled to nothingness, and his shirek turned into desperate gasps as he reached for her.
She dropped her rifle and outstretched an arm to the prisoner. There was a foot between them but just as she thought he would reach her fingertips, an arm wrapped around her waist while another hand pushed her arm down as she was wrenched over the threshold. The door slid closed.
Kara pulled away from the arms surrounding her. She didn't need to look to know it was Eyal who had pulled her out of there. A single gunshot from behind caused Kara to jump, her shoulders jolting violently. She turned to see the control panel for the door shot to pieces, a flick of her eyes revealed the gun that had done it- held by Dimitri.
"We're leaving," he said.
She ran a hand down the side of her face and began to pant slightly, "Were you able to get a hold of the other Blocks?"
Eyal shook his head and glanced over his shoulders to the shocked prison mates, "No, it's just static."
"What the hell was that thing!?" A chorus of shouts and questions followed immediately after the first question posed by one of the other prisoners.
"We don't know, but we're evacuating," Kara assured and pointed back down the hall, towards the NTTR.
"Uh-uh, I ain't goin' back," one of them shouted. Another round of concurrence followed but was stopped just as quickly as it began by a gunshot fired into the air by Dimitri.
Despite Dimitri's interjection it was Jackson who addressed the crowd of survivors, "Look, you ungrateful sonsofbitches, if you want to stay here with a killer ball of radiation, be my guest. Otherwise, shuddup!"
The prisoners began to push and shove, shouting and pumping indignant fists in the air. "This is your fault!"
"It's not safe here!"
"This is a violation of my rights!"
"Aye!" Kara shouted, her voice cracking with force, "we didn't have to come back for you assholes but we did. Now we're in a state of emergency. If you want to stay trapped in this tin can with a killer wraith, be my guest! Those of you who want to live; shut up and behave like the good bitches that you are and follow me."
Eyal smirked as he looked down at her and nodded curtly. When no one moved to head towards the NTTR, he growled, "you heard her... now!"
***
Week Two, Wednesday - 1832 hours...
"What's taking so long," one of the inmates whined.
Jackson rolled his eyes and huffed, "will you shuddup, already?"
"Why bother talking to the ingrates," Dimitri mumbled from his perch on one of the computer consoles.
"Do you even know what that word means," Eyal asked absentmindedly, refusing to make eye contact with Dimitri and instead checked his rifle chamber. He turned his attention to the control center, on the other side of the soundproof glass behind the consoles, where Kara was on radio with 'the other side' ordering a transport. His lower lip twitched involuntarily and he put his rifle down on the console before walking away, towards the bulletproof glass that separated the hub from the hallway.
Kara came out from the control center on their side of the hub, "Okay, I got a hold of Ruth. He's opening the passageway now."
"Good," Dimitri said as he fidgeted. He jumped down from the console and shifted his weight from leg to leg, drumming his fingers on the side of his rifle.
Kara indicated to the gun lazily, "That won't do you any good. The bullets went right through it."
"Maybe it's not for them," he replied darkly, his eyes shifting around the room at the dozens of prisoners that moved around the small hub like a lost herd- the smell of sweat mixed with cleaning chemicals could make anyone gag.
"What is wrong with you," Jackson asked, his lips curled in disgust.
"What?" Dimitri shrugged then made a harsh sound in the back of his throat, "It makes me feel better, 'kay?"
Jackson frowned and ignored Dimitri by conversing with Kara, "How long until TOS starts the transport?"
"Don't know, maybe half an hour," she diverted her gaze and looked around the room.
The tension in the hub was palpable, the inmates quiet and tense. Kara was genuinely surprised and relieved that the prisoners weren't trying to make a move but she figured the impending doom of death by radioactive wraith was enough to keep them in line.
It didn't help the mood that Dimitri insisted on holding the rifle and twitching like a drug addict coming down from a high. She turned away from the jumpy man to her left in order to look for one specific man in a crowd of testosterone. Eyal was standing in the corner, his nose nearly touching the glass to the hall.
"Eyal," Kara greeted as she came up behind him and placed a gentle hand at the small of his back, "you okay?"
"Don't do that again," he said harshly without looking away from the hall he studied, watching for signs of the wraith.
She blinked rapidly and pulled her hand away as if burned, "do what again?"
He pivoted so quickly, to face her, that Kara didn't have time to step back. He took her arms in his hands, holding her in front of him, "risk yourself like that. I don't want you sacrificing yourself for anyone, you hear me?" Eyal's voice was low but forceful, "I won't lose you."
Kara smiled even as she felt her hands start to tremble, "Eyal, you-"
"The door's open!" Dimitri announced and was the first one in the room despite procedure. The prisoners piled in like scared animals.
"Wait, only fifty people at one time! It won't work if there's any more than that," Kara shouted and shoved her way through the shifting bodies to the front of the hub to look at the status panel above the door; 57.00. "No, it won't work, there's too many in The Room right now. I need seven of you to get off!"
Eyal got on top of the console and counted heads, "Kara, we'll have to do at least four trips."
"Okay, seven of you, off now!"
The prisoners in the NTTR began to push and shove others to the front of the room, attempting to shove them over the threshold. Clothes started to rip and fists began to fly. Dimitri threw himself into the back corner and planted his feet, his gun held down in front of him.
"That's enough! Seven volunteers, please, or I'll start picking people," Kara shouted, her voice cracking. "We will all make it out of here, I promise."
Three men at the front of The Room stepped out and Kara patted them on the shoulder or arm as they passed by in thanks. "I need four more," she petitioned.
One of the women stepped off. When no one else moved and continued to step back further into the the Tesla, Kara started to grab at two other men.
"Whoa, hey, why do you get to decide," one shouted, ripping his arm from her grasp.
"Because I'm in charge, asshole. Get out," she demanded.
The inmates behind the resistant one shoved him out, into Jackson who restrained him with handcuffs. One more volunteered and the countdown began immediately after.
She glanced up at the HUD; 50.28
With the proper amount of people inside and the others waiting anxiously, Kara turned to look at Eyal who still stood, balancing on the console. He winked and it brought a fleeting smile to her lips.
Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds the female, automated voice chimed.
She turned back to the Tesla and caught Dimitri's gaze. He held it despite the fear in his eyes. The door started to close and he looked away, down at the polished white floor. A bright light filled the NTTR and shone under the cracks, like a flash of lightning. The door opened again and the room was empty.
Kara filed in the prisoners, counting them off until the capacity was at forty-nine. "Alright, that's it, we just need a guard," she announced to the two remaining military men in the room.
Jackson, still holding the churlish prisoner, nodded at Kara, "after you."
She took the inmate by his elbow and restrained him herself, "No, you go." The countdown had started; 49.21. Twenty-one seconds and the door would close, one more person or the spot would go wasted.
"Whoa, wait, you can't be serious! You're punishing me," the prisoner questioned when she refused to let him on. He tried to wriggle free but Kara maneuvered herself behind him and kicked behind his legs, bringing him to to his knees.
"Jackson, get on. We don't have much time," she ordered. Jackson glanced at the clock and saw the remaining time, he immediately stepped into the Tesla.
Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds.
He nodded once at Kara then to Eyal before diverting his gaze to watch the clock on his side of the door. The door slid closed.
A terrifying, bloodcurdling screech echoed in the halls that shook the glass between the hub and the main hall to the rest of the block. Eyal jumped down from the console and ran up to Kara and began to push her towards the NTTR.
"Time to go," he said.
"Wait," she said and ushered the rest of prisoners in first, still holding onto the restrained one, who began to protest both verbally and physically.
Another deafening shriek.
"They're coming," one of the prisoners shouted from inside The Room. The remaining inmates were stacked as far back from the door as they could be, packed in like sardines in a tin.
Kara looked up at the display above the door, 48.00.
"Only room for two," she said, looking into Eyal's eyes. Between the two of them and the restrained prisoner, they were all that was left standing in the hub.
"You're not leaving me- it's your job to protect me," the prisoner shouted, pulling on his restraints and attempting to throw himself into the NTTR.
Eyal looked over his shoulder then to the clock and finally Kara, "Then I'll stay." he said, swallowing thickly.
"No! That's not happening," Kara reached for Eyal, grabbing him around the wrist. She glanced down at the struggling prisoner when another shriek sounded right outside the glass. Everyone looked to the hallway and froze. Two wraiths floated just outside the bulletproof glass. "Okay, we leave the prisoner," she finally said, her voice mumbled as she started to back away from the glass and towards the Tesla.
"No, you can't! Don't leave me here!!"
Kara kept the prisoner at arms length as she stepped beyond the threshold with Eyal. She locked her arms to be certain he couldn't get in. The countdown began, 50.27
The prisoner shouted and begged the other inmates to help him but everyone's eyes were locked on the wraiths, too terrified to do anything else. One or both of the wraiths shrieked again, the glass vibrated violently like waves on a frozen lake.
One of the prisoners pointed and shouted, "it's going to come through the glass!"
"No, it can't it-"
It came through the glass.
It floated through and the second one phased through directly after the first. They floated just inside the control room, unmoving. They didn't have eyes so she couldn't be certain they were staring at the occupants but she could feel it like one feels the heat of the sun without seeing the rays.
"Nobody move, just stay calm," she managed an even voice despite the terrified screeches from the restrained prisoner that shook her to her core.
Panicked screams cut through the air as the group of prisoners shifted to push others in front in order to get to the back.
"Close the door! Close the fucking door!!"
"It's going to kill us all!"
"Why aren't they attacking?"
"Close the door!"
The hud read; 50.12
One of the wraiths started to float closer. Kara's arms shook with strain as she pushed back on the prisoner still trying to get in, her eyes locked on the movement of the wraith. She could feel the warmth of Eyal's body heat even as her blood ran cold. Her plan was set, she knew what she had to do but knowing how close Eyal was to her was made her ache even more- made her want to change her mind.
Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds
"No, please! Don't leave me here," the man blubbered at the end of her reach.
Kara swallowed thickly, her eyes flicking to the clock; .04. She glanced at Eyal, who missed her last desperate look at his face. The words she planned on saying were lost in her final movement. She bent her elbows, relenting to the force of the prisoner's body and in one swift motion, switched places with him.
He landed with a thud on the floor of Nikola Tesla Transportation Room and she stood with her back to the wraiths that were inching closer.
Eyal shouted, his eyes wide with terror as he reached for her but the door slid closed. She heard him throw his weight against the door, heard him scream her name with a raw voice. But when the light shone through the cracks his protests were cut short.
Before the light had faded or the door could open again, she felt her arm begin to burn as the wraith flew past her and through the door.
It was inside the The Room.
She threw herself against the door and slammed her fists on the heated metal, "No!!" The light faded and the display over the door read; 00.00. Kara stepped away as the door slid open, she was alone in the hub. The wraith, like the people, were gone.
Despite the radiation burn that marred her skin and seared pain through every nerve in her arm, it was the fear gripping her heart that hurt the most. The wraith was in a box filled with people- on its way to TOS, to the past, where unsuspecting victims stand waiting just outside the door.
She felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck and she turned slowly, her shoulders leading the rest of her body until finally her head snapped to look towards the glass. The second wraith, the one she'd forgotten about, floated a foot from her face.
Kara slowly began to step backwards, her breathing shaky and chest shuddering. She could feel the heat and it singed her arm hairs. Guns did nothing to the wraiths but she wanted hers in this moment, perhaps not to shoot the wraith with. As she backed herself to the back wall of the NTTR, the wraith followed.
There was no face to look at, no eyes to look into as she stared down the radiation cloud in front of her. As it got closer and closer to her she could feel the heat start to burn her face and neck. She whimpered as she pressed herself against the wall, turning her head from it. There was nowhere to go.
Transportation in T-Minus ten seconds
She gasped. She'd started the countdown by getting on. With her peripheral vision, she looked at the HUD; 01.06.
"No," she screamed but choked on her own voice as it came closer and started to burn her. She threw up her arms to protect her face.
The door hissed and a bright light emanated from within The Room.
***
Eyal stood in the hub, holding a blood soaked rag to the right side of his face, useless as Medical tended to the others burned worse than he. Men and women shrieked and cried as they rolled on the tiled floor of the hub, burned or worse. Others were dead, some covered with white sheets while others were still exposed, baring their wounds with frozen eyes that stared at nothing. Still, others, not harmed as badly sat in corners or under desks, sobbing and wailing.
He was somewhere in between. If he had any bearance he could help medical with the others, tend to the wounded- if he could. But he couldn't, he'd never felt so lost, so numb. Eyal turned his head down in the direction he knew the body of the restrained prisoner, still in handcuff, was lying not a foot away from him. Dead.
There was an irony in that but also a statement of destiny he couldn't quite understand yet. The dead inmate had been right where Kara had been standing. If he understood correctly, she was dead either way. But now she was so far away- she may as well be on the moon. He could not mourn her in the way he wished he could. See her once more, hold her close to him one last time. She was gone and he'd never see her again.
The wailing and keening sounds reflected how his soul felt. The sounds of despair seemed to blow through the hole in his heart and echo through him.
His face burned and he felt like he could be on fire. The smell of his own burnt skin and hair filled his nostrils and made him nauseous but he had it easy in comparison. Or did he? Perhaps he was too numb to know for sure.
General Ruth swooped in like an enigma, suddenly standing before Eyal- startling him but he hadn't the energy to jump or move away. He knew the General to be there but he didn't see him. Not because he was too wrapped up in self pity but because there was nothing to see.
"Lieutenant Colonel, can you hear me?" Ruth's voice came softer than he was accustomed to.
Eyal nodded his response, just because he couldn't see didn't mean Ruth couldn't and right now he didn't feel like speaking.
"Good, can you tell me what that thing was? What came out of The Room? How can we kill it?" Ruth rattled off the questions like he was a desperate reporter, they were questions that deserved answers- needed answers but Eyal had none.
He shook his head and turned his head away from his superior, his way -without words - of saying, the conversation was over. He had nothing to say. No answers. No desire to do anything at the moment.
Ruth moved but did not step away. Eyal figured he either shifted or demonstrated a gesture. "I'm sorry, son," Ruth said gently and placed a hand on Eyal's shoulder.
Not that he wanted to but before Eyal could return such a gesture or manage to say anything, Ruth departed, his boots clomping on the floor. He could still hear him as he shouted over the wailing;"Belikov, get over here! I want you to find that gasball... and get me Wu! Go! And you-" he addressed another person, "I want contact with FESP, I want to know what happened to the other blocks, get them online, now!"
"We've got an incoming transport," one of the NTTR Operators announced, shouting over the chaos in the hub.
"Open fire on my mark," Ruth ordered followed by a chorus of weapons cocking and being jostled into position.
The door hissed open and before Ruth ordered for the men and women to 'open fire', gunshots rang through the air all around them. People began to scream as a wraith shrieked and tore its way through the hub. Eyal didn't move, unsure of where to go but also welcoming an end.
"Cease fire, cease fire," The order came followed by several boots running out of the hub, including Ruth. "Don't lose it, don't let it outside," Ruth shouted as he joined the army men that chased after the retreating, unharmed wraith out of the hub.
The room was filled with anguish once more, no longer drowned out by sounds of war and battle cries- which only echoed through the halls as they pursued.
"Hey, we got one in The Room! Turn off transport," a woman shouted. Eyal could hear the clicks of her heels echo within the room, few at first as she ran but then they became rapid as she shuffled to a stop by whatever poor soul was still inside the NTTR.
"I need oxygen over here now, she's still alive!"
Eyal heard someone spring into action and run into the Tesla but he found himself walking towards the room as well. He tripped over the legs of a body and stepped on a nurse's hand but he couldn't bring himself to stop. He stopped just inside The Room, listening to the two EMT's discuss the new victim.
"She's breathing, get the mask on her," the woman ordered.
The sound of pumped air and forced breathing filled the space.
"God, she's got second degree on the majority of her neck and base of her skull," the male observed.
"Second to third on her arms," the woman pointed out.
"Shit," the man mumbled as if he'd just seen it for the first time.
"Ma'am, ma'am, can you hear me? My name is Rose. Ma'am, can you open your eyes?"
"No response,"
"Yeah, thank you, I can see that," Rose bit out. "Ma'am, if you can hear me I just need you to open- sir, can you step back please?"
Eyal hadn't realized it but he had come up right behind them, he shook his head still holding the gauze to the side of his face. "Is she blond," he rasped.
There was a pause when finally Rose responded; "yes."
"Dog tags," Eyal muttered, his voice still thready.
He could heard the sound of a chains running together, making a slight jingle sound. "Colonel Kara O'Neil," the male EMT stated.
Eyal dropped to his knees and reached his left hand to touch her.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to-"
"Kara," he started and realizing he didn't sound like himself he added; "it's me, it's Eyal..."
"Still no response," the man asserted.
"Steve," Rose started but then stopped.
"Kara, wake up... we made it," Eyal continued.
A hand met his in the air and his heart lurched with joy, thinking it was Kara reaching for him but the hand guided his down to meet a limp arm- Rose helped him find her. "Eyal, keep talking to her," she instructed, "Steve, go get some penicillin."
Steve scampered away, and his footfalls disappeared into the cries and groans just outside NTTR.
"Kara, please, wake up."
"Does she have any family at home," Rose offered.
"Scout needs you- -- I need you," Eyal begged, brushing his fingers up her arm until he found her shoulder. A small groan emanated from a woman and Eyal jolted, "please tell me that was Kara," he pleaded, addressing Rose.
"Eyal..." Kara rasped.
Eyal exhaled long and slow, feeling the stress drain out of him. He blinked slowly and suddenly felt a wave of euphoria that made him want to drift off- the calm came in soft, lulling waves. He lowered himself, with the help of Rose, to sit beside Kara and slowly stroke the top of her head. "Yeah, it's me... I'm here. We're safe."
***
One Month Later - 1757 hours...
Kara sat beside Eyal, sitting in an open courtyard. Off duty nurses and other patients, walked along the pathways or sat on benches in the yards. The warmth of the sun bathing over them as the tree leaves rustled in the gentle breeze- it felt good on her exposed, healing burns. The fresh air a cool relief to the binding gauze that usually covered her like a white, gaudy version of the phantom of the opera. She reached over with a chapped hand to grab Eyal's. He turned to look at her, his cloudy eyes unseeing but looking directly at her, they narrowed as he flashed a wide grin. When he turned his hand under hers, she intertwined their fingers gently- enough to hold hands but not enough to cause too much discomfort.
She met his gaze a moment longer before sighing softly through her nose and closing her eyes while turning her face back towards the sun.
"Colonels," a deep voice greeted.
Kara stood, "General." She saluted just as Eyal stood and did the same.
The General returned the gesture, pulled out a file and handed it to Kara, "at ease. I wanted to give you a status report on the Wraiths. Or rather, a lack thereof; they're in the wind... literally."
"Sir?"
"We've lost sight of them, there are incident reports being filed every day but we can't seem to get there on time. And, because we don't know what we're dealing with here, we don't have a means of capturing or killing them," Ruth stated.
"You mean, this thing is just going to run rampant? Kill anything and everything," Kara looked to Eyal as she spoke. He was rigid, his jaw clenching and unclenching repeatedly.
Ruth took a deep breath and diverted his gaze to look at the sunset behind Kara and Eyal, "According to Wu, yes. These Wraiths are what cause the end of the world- the reason we have FESP."
"You mean-"
"Time travel, using the NTTR... brought upon the future we have seventeen hundred years from now. We did this to ourselves," The General concluded. "We've evacuated FESP, new prisons are being made as we speak - in our time - and the The Room is being destroyed."
"Isn't it a bit late for that," Kara's lip curled and she crossed her arms.
"It's just a precaution- to keep more from coming through."
Eyal joined in, his voice thready, "we're not going to give up, though, right? We can change things- stop FESP from happening? The earth doesn't have to die, we can still save it."
"Wu thinks that these Wraiths were created because of the creation of NTTR. Using it more will only create more- or so is Wu's understanding," Ruth explained.
"So, this is the end," Eyal asked and Kara looked up at him, like it was the last time she would. She took his hand in hers and found comfort in his gentle grip. The panic tightening around her throat made it difficult to breathe as she waited for Ruth's response;
"No, it's just the beginning of the end."