Battle at Zero Point (11 page)

But leaving Heaven would be more difficult than getting in.

There were several technical problems to overcome, beginning with the so-called Vanex Door itself.

It was an impressive structure, nearly a quarter of a mile wide and more than 750 feet high. Even more remarkable was that the elderly Imperial custodian had built it himself. Of course, he had the help of his electron torch, the do-it-all hand tool that could convert any kind of atom into any other kind of atom, and therefore allowed its owner to create just about anything out of practically nothing, so to speak.

Vanex and Xara had arrived in Heaven several days before the UPF fleet. To them though, their head start seemed the equivalent of several months, long enough for the engineer to conceive his genius invention and then actually construct it.

The structure was located near the south side of High Hill, about a quarter mile from the last bend in Happy Valley's river and a part of the UPF's little enclave where few of the local souls ever bothered to venture. It was a basic framework of thin, shiny girders, which essentially served as a 2,500-foot rectangular brace for the four Twenty 'n Six units. When connected, they created the crucial transdimensional field that made up the Vanex Door. The disassembled Echo 999.9, augmented by a ring of signal amplifiers, was positioned over the screen like a king's multijeweled crown. The Door was a magnificent achievement; gigantic and slightly asymmetrical, it was almost a work of art. It also looked as out of place as the twelve huge warships it helped bring here.

But it was its location that posed a significant problem. As each of the escaping UPF ships came through the Door, their power plants ground to a halt almost the instant they gained the airspace over Paradise. There were nearly a couple cataclysmic collisions in the first few hair-raising seconds as the ships had appeared so fast, their pilots barely had enough time to move their stalled vessels out of the way before the ship behind them popped through. This was why the UPF fleet was hovering above the heavenly landscape in such a haphazard fashion and not in any kind of a rigid formation.

The problem was rooted in the odd fact that once here, the twelve ships lost all power, except what was needed to keep them in their hover and to keep a few lamps illuminated. Many took this as further proof that someone or something was pulling the strings here, and while that entity didn't mind the ships invading its space, it was adamant about them not going anywhere once they arrived. Further proof of this: no electron torches worked
after
the ships crossed over here, though they had worked for Vanex before. Quadtxols didn't work here, either. Subtle things. But the message seemed clear: strong forces will become obstacles if you try to leave or even move around.

The problem then was that the ships were out of position to make the return trip back through the Door. The UPF engineers figured out mat the tiny modicum of power that was keeping the ships in the air could be used to push them forward back out the portal, but not much farther than that. There would not be nearly enough juice to maneuver the ships around so they would be pointing back at the Door.

The only solution: the portal would have to be moved to accommodate them.

The 40,000 members of the UPF fleet would provide the muscle for this project. They would have to deconstruct the Door's framework by hand and reassemble it, at a location near one of the stolen cargo 'crasher ships,
Resonance 133
.

As it would be this vessel to attempt the first reverse cross-over, the Vanex Door would have to be rebuilt just a few feet off its nose.

There was yet another problem, bigger than the repositioning of the Vanex Door. This one had to do with Hunter himself. When the
Resonance 133
crew finally launched, there was no way he could go with them. Why? Because he'd not come here the same way they had.

They'd all come through the portal created by combining the Echo 999.9 and the Twenty 'n Six field.

Hunter, on the other hand, had come here via an Echo capsule, as had Xara and Vanex. The more direct approach, certainly, but it raised a huge question: What would happen to him if he rode back to the other side in the UPF ship? If he had entered Heaven by one means and then left in a completely different way, would there be any cosmic repercussions?

They didn't know. The Echo 999.9 was such a mysterious device, it was a miracle—literally—that Vanex had been able to manipulate it as much as he had. There was even speculation among the UPF contingent that the device wasn't a holo-girl capsule at all, not a typical one, anyway. That it was something else, just dressed up in a clever disguise.

In any case, there was no shortage of theories of what would happen to Hunter if he went back as they did. Because he would be returning to a different place from where he started, and would be going through the extra step of passing through the twenty-sixth dimension, Erx thought he'd be reduced to a quivering mass of quarks and snarks long before he ever popped out on the other side. Zarex wondered if he might be caught forever inside the twenty-sixth dimension, unable to make the extra step to break through. Vanex, who was the authority on the matter, warned that while Hunter might make it to the other side in one piece, all of his atoms would be turned inside out.

None of these scenarios appealed to him, so Hunter had made up his mind early on: he'd come here via the mysterious holo-capsule, given to him by Joxx just hours before he was to be executed. He would have to go back the same way.

Actually, this was where the real problem lay. As far as they knew, there were only two Echo 999.9s in existence. One the Imperial spy had given to Xara and Vanex to get them here in the first place. That was the model Vanex had taken apart to make the escape window. The second one the same spy gave to Joxx to allow Hunter to escape. Usually, with lesser models, the romp on the beach lasted what seemed to be a month. Yet when the customer returned, it was as if no more than a few seconds of real time had gone by. It seemed like magic, but this was actually a customer-oriented feature of cheaper models, a reverse-time element allowing them to disappear for what seemed to be a month, but not be gone long enough for their spouse (or their boss) to be suspicious.

The Echo 999.9 was significantly different, only adding to the mystique of the strange device. As soon as Hunter arrived here, Vanex had taken apart his capsule, too, and had effectively frozen its built-in time clock. And then after noodling with it, he found a way to actually advance it.

When Hunter left the other side, he'd been just a few hours away from getting shot. He certainly didn't want to return in the same instant, still locked in a cell, waiting for the executioner's song. So Vanex pushed up his return time to parallel that of the fleet ships; they would all go back together and arrive in the same time frame. Or at least that's how Vanex hoped it would work.

However, there was nothing he could do about
where
Hunter would return. The pilot had left from the locked jail cell at the bottom of Joxx's starship, and that's where he'd reappear— one month later.

No one could know what had happened in that month. Bonz had told him that at last report, Joxx had dropped out of sight, had been refusing orders, and was seen sporting a silver dagger in his belt—the weapon of choice for those wishing to kill the Emperor. Hunter knew that anything could happen once he returned, including the possibility that he'd find himself still behind bars.

So he had to be prepared for any uncertainty.

That's why when Bonz went looking for Hunter a few hours after the somber meetings in the
America
, he found the pilot atop High Hill, picking apples.

The valley below was alive with frenetic motion by now. The Vanex Door was about halfway reconstructed in its new place. It was quite an operation for the UPF troopers to try to align the huge framework with the gigantic cargo 'crasher. The rigging looked like a stiff breeze would blow it over in a second; luckily, there were no stiff breezes here in Heaven. The
Resonance 133
was almost ready to go, too. Crude ladders had been dropped from it, and technicians could be seen climbing up and down from them on a very regular basis.

Bonz meandered up to Hunter. His family was now living down on the valley floor.

"Not too long now," Bonz said to the pilot, looking down on all the activity.

"How can you tell?" Hunter asked him. Bonz grinned; he got the joke. There
was
no time here, so theoretically at least, nothing could take a long or short time.

Hunter resumed picking apples. He was looking for ones that were small enough to fit into the pockets of his flight suit, as self-contained survival kits, you might say. Bonz took down an apple himself and examined it. Clearly he had something on his mind.

"I just wanted to apologize to you," he finally said to Hunter, turning the apple over in his hands. "I'm really sorry—"

"Sorry? What do you mean?"

Bonz shrugged. "Well, I'm responsible for this mess," he said, spreading his hands out to indicate the whole operation of getting the
Resonance 133
lined up with the Vanex Door.

"What mess?" Hunter replied. "You're a hero. You got us back in gear again. If it wasn't for you, we would have stayed here forever."

"Like that would have been a bad thing?" Bonz asked, half-heartedly biting into the apple. "Being happy not just for the rest of your life, but for the rest of eternity: it's everyone's ultimate dream."

Hunter looked out on the valley below. It was even more magnificent than the first time he saw it.

"Well, it's yours to enjoy now," he told Bonz. "You're with your wife and kids again—as you should be. See how only good things work out here?"

"There's no doubt about that," Bonz replied. "But I have to wonder about something: Will I carry through eternity the knowledge you've imparted to me about the origin of the empires? There is no doubt in my mind that what was done to the original people of Earth is the greatest wrong of human history or certainly in the history of the Galaxy. They used to talk about the crime of the century in the ancient days? Well, this is the biggest crime of all humanity! It's mind-boggling. Billions of people, thrown off their planet after they fought to free it from one enemy, only to be betrayed by another? And these were the descendants who brought man into space in the first place, the descendants of the Ancient Engineers. Such an atrocity. And I'm now one of the comparatively few souls who know about it. Yet there's nothing I can do about it."

Hunter walked to another tree and began examining the apples on it. "Like I said," he told Bonz, "you did your part. You tipped us off on a great opportunity to go back. That's a big first step for us."

Bonz just shook his head. "I know. But look at it from my perspective. I spent more than a century serving a regime that is up to its neck in this treachery. Knowing what I know, I wonder just how peaceful my soul can really be."

Hunter stopped picking apples and looked at the SF3 agent.

"What are you suggesting?" he asked him. "Certainly not that you go back with us."

"It's crossed my mind," Bonz admitted.

Hunter stuffed another apple into his pocket. "Don't be crazy," he told the spy. "Like I said: You're the hero. It took you winding up here to light the fuse again, and that could have only come about by the horrible way you died. They used to give medals out for things like that. No matter what transpires now, it couldn't have happened unless you did what you did."

"Well, sure, that helps you," Bonz said. "It doesn't help me."

Hunter said to him: "Look, man, you lost a beautiful wife, two beautiful kids. Now they're not lost anymore. They are here. And so are you. And you're guaranteed an eternity with them."

"But that's just it," Bonz insisted. "They will always be here. I could go with the
R133
crew and maybe do some real good. Then, when I come back, it will be like I never left."

Hunter just shook his head. 'Talk to Pater Tomm," he suggested. "He'll knock that thought right out of your head, either with a prayer or the blackjack he keeps in his back pocket. Bottom line is this: you are a soul who has passed over; the rest of us are not. When we go back, we hope we will be in the same shape and form as when we left. But what would happen if you went back? God, they think I'll turn myself inside out if I ride aboard the first ship. I can't imagine what they might think would happen to you."

Bonz paused for a moment and thought about this. Then he said suddenly: "You should marry her, you know…"

Hunter stopped what he was doing. "Marry? Marry who?"

"Xara, of course."

Hunter tried to stay cool; he stuffed another small apple into his pocket. "Why would you say that?"

Bonz shrugged. "Hey—I'm a spook. It's my job—or it used to be, anyway—to be able to read people in a half a second."

"SF3 is turning out love connectors these days?"

"I don't have to be a wizard to know you're crazy about her, and she's crazy about you," Bonz said.

"Whether I've been here ten years or ten minutes, it's rather obvious."

"So?"

"So, when all of this is over, back on the other side or wherever the hell the real world is, I suggest you marry her."

Hunter thought a moment. "But if I did that, that might make
me
Emperor someday."

Bonz suddenly shook Hunter's hand.

"Well, Major," he said, "I never thought I'd say this, but if there was one person I would choose to be top man in the Empire—in the entire Galaxy—that guy is you."

Hunter just laughed again, picked one last apple, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Good luck, Gym," he said. "And enjoy your eternal reward."

It took what seemed like a very long while for the UPF troopers to complete the relocation of the Vanex Door.

Taking it apart, piece by piece, and carrying the sections to the other end of the small valley went smoothly enough. But when it came time to put the last half of the portal back together, strange things began to happen.

Soon after the main frame had been put up, a twilight came, one that lasted longer than anyone could remember. No moons appeared in the sky this time; nor were there any great washes of stars over ahead, at least not over Happy Valley.

The lack of starlight hampered the final phase of the repositioning. There was no artificial illumination in Happy Valley; there was never a need for any. When it became apparent that the dusk was going to last longer than usual, the UPF engineers tried to switch on the search and landing lights attached to the bottom of each ship, including
Resonance 133
. But none of these lamps would work. The power inside the ships was already very low; trying the lights only further drained the limited supply. Then someone suggested they try making a fire and then lighting torches. But no one could produce as much as a spark.

There was no fire in Paradise, because there was never any need for it.

So the last part of the rebuilding project was done in the low light of the strange twilight, which made it all that much more difficult. But somehow the troopers prevailed. It was only as they were tightening up the last truss that the twilight finally ended. The sun rose; the dusk went away.

The Vanex Door, powered by the tiny cell included in the Echo 999.9, came to life a short while later.

There was never any doubt who would be going aboard the
Resonance 133
for this first attempt to break back through to the other side.

As the most seasoned pilots, Zarex and Calandrx would handle the flying. Tomm, Gordon, and Klaaz would lord over the primary controls. Erx and Berx would be back in the engine room, watching over the ship's dual-power system.

Why two power systems? It was the only solution to yet another complication. The
Resonance 133 
was an Empire ship. It was powered by a prop core. But the juice it needed to draw from the Big Generator was nonexistent here; Supertime did not extend to Paradise. So taking a page from Bonz's experience on his ill-fated ship, the
TxroVox
, the
Resonance 133
now had both an ion-ballast engine—actually a spare taken from one of the original UPF ships—as well as its own prop core. It was hoped if enough power could be diverted to the ion-ballast engine, it would give the ship the boost needed to penetrate the Vanex Door and to get through the twenty-sixth dimension.

Once on the other side, the prop core would be kicked in.

If the ship made it that far.

The bare-bones crew of the
Resonance 133
had prepared for their flight up on High Hill. A bridge connecting the peak and the access door to the ship had been constructed with materials left over from moving the Vanex Door. This way the crew could walk right across to the main hatchway to the waiting vessel.

The crew would have to wear their spacesuits, for they had no idea what was going to happen once they entered the Vanex Door. A short trip through the twenty-sixth dimension certainly, lasting just a microsecond in real time but seeming like an eternity for those going through it. This was how it had been on the trip that brought them here. But whether the
Resonance
could take the strain of all this transdimensional flip-flopping was a big unknown. There was a good chance the ship might break up upon reaching Zero Point on the other side. Spacesuits would give the crew about thirty seconds to say their last good-byes—and then, theoretically at least, head back to Heaven by more traditional means.

Another twilight came and went. The plan called for the
Resonance 133
to leave during a daylight period, so the final preparations hurriedly began. Helping to attend to some of the last details, Hunter was up on High Hill with the crew. That's when Tomm approached him and pulled him aside.

The two men knew each other very well. Hunter had met Tomm when the space monk was serving as a tagalong chaplain for the Freedom Brigade, the small band of American mercenaries who eventually led Hunter to find Planet America. Tomm had stuck by him in the worst days of the war to free the Home Planets and during the UPF invasion of the Two Arm. Next to Erx and Berx, the priest was probably Hunter's closest friend.

But Tomm was not a man without secrets. And one was known to very few people in the Galaxy; in fact, it was one of the deepest secrets in the history of all humankind.

Once they were a good distance away from the others, Tomm said to him, "We all realize that getting back to the other side will be an enormous undertaking and might not even happen at all. I also realize that as you will be going back a different way, we might not have a chance to speak again, ever."

He took something out of his pocket but kept it hidden tightly in his fist.

"I think I know where we can find an ally for our cause," Tomm went on, choosing his words carefully. "A very powerful ally. Someone who might not need much convincing to join… our fight. But I am reluctant to talk about him here… for obvious reasons."

Hunter nodded. He fully understood.

"Finding him, though, is a mission that only you can see through," the priest went on. He finally passed the object in his hand to Hunter. It was a viz-screen capsule, a sort of compact image projection device used by soldiers in forward battle areas to receive orders from their superiors without jeopardizing string communications.

"I made this a very long time ago," Tomm told Hunter. "Right after we first met, in fact. I had hoped that I would never have to give it to you. I hoped things would never get so bad. But now, under the circumstances, I believe it is the right thing to do. The message it contains is in two parts. Open it when you get back. It will give you all the specifics you will need. We will all have a role to play when we reach the other side. I think this is the avenue you should pursue. And I think that is all we should say about it here."

At that moment, the
Resonance
technicians passed the word that it was time to go. Tomm shook Hunter's hand and turned to join the others walking across the bridge. But Hunter stopped him. He looked at the viz-screen capsule. "But Father, even if I do what it says in here, what are the chances of me actually succeeding?"

Tomm just shook his head.

'Truthfully, Brother Hawk," he said, "for
any
of this to work, we will need more than just one miracle."

The big moment finally came.

The ship techs pronounced the
Resonance 133
ready to go. The gigantic wedge-shaped cargo ship, dark gray against the bright emerald grass below and the shimmering blue sky above, looked very out of place, even more so now that the bubble top cockpit area was lit with a dim but eerie yellow light.

The crew walked across the bridge as the UPF troopers, back in formation on the valley floor below, stood at attention. The techs had hung a flag over the entrance to the
Resonance 133
. It was the Stars and Stripes. Watching from the top of the hill, Xara at his side, Hunter was not surprised to find himself choked up as the crew passed beneath the unfurled flag.

Once in, the crew turned on only the bare essentials. Their departure was only a short while away.

Now came a crucial question involving time—or, more accurately,
keeping track
of time in this place that had none. Clocks didn't work here, no surprise in an environment that seemed designed to make one forget all about the concept of time. How then would they know when the week was up, and the rest of the fleet should cross over?

There was only one way to do it. Volunteers from the UPF army would be made "designated counters." As soon as the
Resonance 133
disappeared, these troopers would start counting, in rhythm.

Sixty seconds to mark every minute, 3,600 seconds to mark every hour, 86,400 seconds to mark each day—for seven days.

Only then would the rest of the fleet follow.

The
Resonance's
departure also required a countdown.

It started at thirty. On a technician's cue, the entire UPF contingent assembled below began shouting out the descending numbers.

But strange things started happening again. The sky suddenly turned black, as clouds covered the sun. A darkness more acute than any twilight descended on Happy Valley. This was a frightening turn of events for the UPF contingent, not to mention the other residents of the area. Never had it grown so dark before in Happy Valley. Still, the countdown continued.

It reached fifteen seconds, and a sudden clap of thunder rolled through the valley. It was powerful enough to shake the Vanex Door, as well as everything and everybody nearby. Standing atop High Hill, Xara grabbed Hunter so tightly, her nails went right through his uniform sleeve. The countdown continued.

More thunder rumbled through the valley. The sky overhead became even darker, if that was possible. The countdown got down to ten seconds. Another clap of thunder, this one so powerful, High Hill itself actually began shaking.

"
Someone does not want this to happen
!" Xara yelled to Hunter, though he could barely hear her over the booming thunder.

The countdown reached five seconds… another tremendous clap of thunder.

Four… three… two… one…
zero
!

Now came two tremendous explosions. One was from the most powerful clap of thunder yet, the other from the
Resonance 133
as it instantly accelerated to top ion-ballast speed and disappeared through the Vanex Door. It was gone in a blink, leaving only a greenish mist in its wake.

The thunder continued, and the sky grew absolutely pitch black after the ship had departed. Those up on High Hill could hear the wails of the permanent souls throughout the valley. Xara was clutching Hunter so tightly now, her fingernails were digging into his skin. Several terrifying moments passed.

But then, gradually, the thunder abated, and the clouds drifted away. The sunlight returned, and wailing throughout the valley ceased. But it was obvious that the act of pushing the ship back through the Vanex Door had upset the very pristine order of things. They had angered the Creator Himself with their act of boldness, and it had been frightening to experience the reaction from on high.

But normalcy soon returned. Those watching over the controls for a subatomic Sweeper that had been attached to the
Resonance
reported that all indications were that the ship had at least made it into the twenty-sixth dimension.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the UPF contingent relaxed a little. Hunter and Xara sat down on the edge of High Hill and just held on to each other. Vanex walked down to the river and drank his fill of the sweet, intoxicating nectar. The formations dispersed, and many of the UPF troopers went for a swim.

It was only later that they discovered the soul of Gym Bonz was not among them.

Apples.

Hunter had picked thirteen of them, and now they were stuffed into the pockets of his combat suit, making him look a little too round in the rump.

He was down on the beach, at the exact spot where he'd faded in so long ago. He had his helmet on, and his boots were stitched up tight. He had a container of river nectar and a blaster rifle borrowed from one of the UPF troopers. These were the things he might need if things went wrong once he got back to the other side.

He knew there was a good chance he would wind up back inside the jail cell at the bottom of the
ShadoVox
on his return, and that the cell door would still be locked. There was also a chance no one aboard the ship would know he returned, so the apples would sustain him for a while, he hoped. If he was unable to blast the lock off the cell door with the borrowed ray gun, that is.

He'd had one last conversation with Vanex before leaving High Hill. It was mostly to thank the old guy for all that he'd done under the most unusual circumstances. The Imperial Janitor was still a bit of an enigma. Had he come around to their point of view, agreeing that the Empire had to be toppled? Or had he been helpful simply because he was very loyal to Xara? If Hunter had to bet on it, he would have guessed the old guy had done it for Xara alone.

Hunter took one long, last look at his surroundings. The sweet water, the hillside of bright flowers, the bejeweled sands. He knew the chances of him ever coming back here—at least by these means—were nil. The Echo 999.9 was a onetime device. The capsule Hunter had used to get here would be depleted as soon as he returned. The same was true for the first Echo, which had been disassembled to build the Vanex Door. Once the last UPF ship passed through it—if indeed the passing through was successful—it, too, would be depleted. So the ships could never return, either.

No, if he was ever to see Paradise again, Hunter knew he would have to get here the old-fashioned way.

That's what was going to make the next few moments on the beach so difficult. Because he knew there was a very good chance he would never see Xara again, either. She couldn't come with him, of course. And she couldn't have gone back on the
Resonance 133
, as the same thing that they feared would happen to him—that nasty atoms-turned-inside-out thing—would happen to her (and Vanex, too).

They were stranded here. In Paradise.

There was no way Hunter could leave with out saying good-bye to Xara—although he'd considered this. It would have avoided the painful moment they both knew had to come sooner or later. So he told her to give him a while to prepare, and then meet him down by the shore.

She arrived, cheeks still wet with tears, still looking beautiful but at the same time very sad. Her emotions had been running high since the departure of the
Resonance 133
.