The Man From Taured (41 page)

He pushed the images away. Around him the darkness reached for him and Noble reached inside of himself, finding that part of himself that belonged to the Light and he channeled it through his fingers. Around him the Void erupted in white light and it retreated.

"We're almost there!" Orval yelled inside Noble's head.

Noble rushed forward, willing himself onward, running with legs that did not touch any ground and he felt himself rocket forward. He could feel his body transform, becoming nothing but energy. He felt his body elongate, stretching the way he had once heard was likely would happen if you crossed an event horizon and into a black hole. The world around him became nothing but dark and light, the world nothing but strings forming all of reality, pulled by a puppeteer.

Around him the Void screamed inside his mind. It wanted to tear him apart, tear his soul right out of his body and absorb it into itself. But the Light inside of Noble was preventing it. The Void substance in Noble’s blood could repel the substance around him, as well. In its own way the Void had created the engine of its own demise while trying to create something to conquer dimensions.

The hole drew closer in seconds and then, a moment later, he was through.

Everything stopped.

He immediately snapped back into his body and he found himself floating in a dark universe. All around him were planets, and huge and hideous creatures that towered over him.

There were thousands upon thousands of planets and creatures. All of them were monstrous. Claws and teeth and tentacles and creatures made of energy frozen in some kind of stasis. It was a universe to chaos and madness, the same one that Noble had seen when he touched the Void. All of it frozen, but not quite dead. The Void had encased it and absorbed much of their energy and that had corrupted and driven the Void into first sentience and then insanity. The absorption had made them all fall asleep, waiting for that spark to bring them back to life and allow them to push through the Void and into the other realms. He could feel them, weakly, like tiny hands and the fists of infants, attempting to probe his brain.

It was the first time in untold millennium that another truly living thing had entered this realm. Now they were slightly awake, reaching out to him, wanting to know if he was their salvation, a way to get out of here.

Noble saw all around him and the universe was like the emptiness of space, but not a vacuum. It was an ether, a universe of some kind of substance that allowed these creatures to travel without spaceships or vehicles from one planet to the next, to wreak their havoc, wars, incalculable destruction and death.

I AM YOUR MASTER, WORSHIP ME.

I AM YOUR MASTER, WORSHIP ME.

Noble could hear them inside his mind. Again and again, one voice overlapping the next. Each of these horrible beasts wanted subservience, wanted worshippers, wanting blind faith and fealty. It was what fed them, what would bring them back to life.

"No," Noble said.

The voices in his head stopped.

"This madness stays here," Noble said.

Then he went back through the hole.

Noble reached up and his hand came through the hole to the other side. Something grabbed his ankle. He reached up, trying to pull himself through, to shut off the portal and seal this universe of madness for all time. Something had him and ragged claws dug into his flesh.

Noble reached down and let the Light and Void substance inside of him flow from his fingers and blast at whatever was there. There was a horrendous scream and the claw grabbed his other ankle.

Something else grabbed his hand and the beam of energy was cut off. Noble cried out in anger, fear and pain as yet another thing that he could not see, and dare not look at,
dug into the skin and he felt something break inside his arm.

"Help!" Noble yelled in his mind and through his mouth.

One of his hands reached up through the tiny hole back in the Void dimension. When he cried for help something over there moved and grabbed hold of him. Noble was yanked upward. More hands grabbed his arm and then his shoulder.

The Void substance tore at his right hand and he felt blinding white pain for an instant and then he was pulled up - hard. He was through the hole and there was that feeling of being turned inside out and a loud popping in his ears and mind.

The Void world around him was chaos. It was like being lost on a wave in the middle of a hurricane. It was screaming and the sound was like having something sharp tearing into his brain. The Void's screams mixed with the angry roars of the creatures from the world he had just left and who were now awake.

Noble looked up to see Orval holding his arm. Behind him were others, others from IDEA and people who must have worked for Gemini and the hundreds of people Whitten had sent into the Void over the years. They had all grabbed hold and helped him through, most of them little more than hints of people, like ghosts in the blackness.

"We need to get out of here," Noble said.

"Not all of us will make it back," Orval said. "Most of these people are long gone."

"We'll take as many as we can."

Noble closed his eyes, pushing away the intense pain throbbing in his right wrist and arm. He felt his body transform again, and then he extended his energy field to surround as many of the beings around him in that energy.

Then he pushed off.

They rocketed the other way, a glowing comet of energy and souls ripped from the Void itself. The Void around them was thrashing, trying to smash them down and tear them apart. The Void's mind was disrupted, the connection to the thoughts that had been feeding it for centuries now gone, it was almost mindless. Like it was having a stroke
and was thrashing around in terror and pain, unable to smash the comet of pure Light tearing through what remained.

How many souls were traveling with him? Noble could not tell, but he could feel them and whatever remained of their Light mixed with his own and together they smashed through the Void. It had now lost its mind, in the most literal sense, no longer capable of holding a cohesive thought in whatever passed for its brain.

There it was. There was the bright light that led back through the mirror and into the real world. Noble reached out his left arm, stretching for it, even though his arm, at least in this world, was no longer anything resembling an arm, but a beam of pure energy and light.

"Go, Noble!" Orval screamed inside his mind.

There were other words of encouragement, not all of them in English. Forward. Forward. Willing himself to move faster, to expend more energy to move faster and get through the portal.

Then his arm was through.

He could feel the air on the other side. Once his hand crossed over that threshold he could feel it become actual flesh and bone again. Then his elbow was out.

Then he stopped.

There was something holding them back. Noble could sense that a large tentacle of the Void was holding on to someone or something back there and pulling them back.

"Help me!" Noble cried.

"Fight it!" Orval yelled to those trailing behind.

A hand grabbed Noble's and he clasped his fingers around it and gripped it tight.

"Pull!" Noble called.

Whatever was on the other end responded and heaved. He closed his eyes and concentrated and let loose a single blast of pure Light. Around him the Void loosened its grip on whatever or whomever it held and then he was through.

Noble, Orval and ten others erupted from the mirror as if the mirror had just suddenly decided to give birth. They all fell to the floor and the mirror burst into shrapnel behind them. The frame burst apart, sending shards of wood across the lab, several sharp spikes buried themselves into the wall, the table and Noble heard Dash give a sharp yell as one found a home somewhere in him, too.

He lay on the ground with his head on the floor. He was breathing hard and could hear nothing but others breathing and moaning around him. When he opened his eyes he saw that the floor was no longer disappearing and reappearing. The world was quiet. Wind blew through the broken windows of the building and Noble raised his hand.

Then the pain hit him.

Something speared through his right hand. Noble slowly sat up and then someone threw their arms around him and Olivia held him tight, her head buried against his neck and her lips kissing whatever exposed skin she could find. He reached his left hand up and pushed it into her hair and held her close. He could see Orval across the room slowly sit up. He also looked around at the others that had come through
.
There were a
few that he didn't recognize, but several of them were members of IDEA that had come along on this mission and then vanished in the journey to the tower.

"Liv," Noble whispered. "There's something wrong with my hand."

Olivia pulled back and Noble looked into her tear-streaked face. She was confused for a moment.

"Something bit me when I was in the Void dimension," Noble said. “I don’t even know what. I had my eyes closed, not wanting to look.”

He hefted his right hand up and gasped. The arm ended at the wrist and there was no longer a right hand to speak of. Although the end of his wrist looked a bit ragged, it was also sealed shut and not jetting blood all over the room. How that was possible Noble didn't even try to guess when he considered where it had happened.

"Oh, Noble," Olivia whispered and then she kissed him again.

"What happened in there?"

Noble looked up and saw Shaw standing over him. The man was covered in blood and if it was his own or someone else's he could not be sure. There were also small splinters of wood stuck into the long coat he wore.

"Doc, I think we have a lot of things to talk about," Noble said. "But right now I plan on kissing my wife a lot and then maybe getting a drink. After that, I'm all yours."

Shaw gave him a weak smile and then a nod. Noble smiled back and then he planted his lips on Olivia's. The world slipped away in a good way this time and he got lost in the kiss.

Noble looked to those who had come through with him. He smiled when he saw a woman raise her head and recognized it was Eveline Paulson. She looked covered in a gooey membrane, like a newborn. She looked a little lost, but she looked alive.

They were all newborns, really, he thought, all of them that had just come through the mirror.

Around them the world was dark, but it was the darkness they all knew. The darkness of night, of space, of this dimension. It was the darkness meant for lovers and those who dared dream and to have dreams without nightmares. It was the darkness that comes each night to renew and refresh so that the next day can start new and clean like a piece of white paper. It was the good darkness.

It had been two weeks since Noble went through the mirror. He had spent most of that time in a hospital. It was a hospital that Shaw was involved with and apparently part of the whole IDEA network, but it seemed like a very good one. He was unconscious for a bit while they operated on his arm and treated him for other wounds. The journey through the Void had taken a great toll on him, apparently, and he was more gravely wounded than he knew.

Olivia stayed by his side the entire time. Dash and Shaw both tried to get her to go home and get some rest, but they soon found out that no one could tell Olivia what she should be doing and they eventually got a cot for her to sleep his room.

Shaw and Dash, as well as Orval and a few of the others, visited him. Olivia was on his left, holding his good hand while he talked to them. He told them everything. He told them everything about Augustus Whitten and how the man had been manipulated to create Noble in the first place. He told them what he knew about the Void itself and what its seeming intention was. Who created the Void, he didn't know, but the fact it was created as a kind of prison to hold back that world of chaos was pretty evident. He told them about seeing that other world and the monsters within. He told them of the Void’s madness and how it became mad.

Noble felt as though he spoke for hours. No one interrupted with questions and all of them sat on the edge of their seat, listening raptly. When he reached the end his throat hurt and he wanted a drink more than he ever had in his life. He looked up and immediately caught Olivia's eye and she winked at him.

"So, that's it," Noble said.

"Wow," Shaw replied. "That is quite a story. Have you tried using any of your abilities?"

"I've been pretty busy healing, doc," Noble said. "I haven't felt a Rift, if that's what you mean. As for my ability to manipulate light and void, I haven't found that ability since I came back through. Maybe it's gone dormant now that the Void itself is neutralized, or maybe it was just something I could do while in that other dimension. I guess I'll find out eventually. Have there been any other sightings of black-eyed children or reports of Rifts?"

Dash spoke: "No, nothing. Even Knorr has been quiet. In fact, one of our men permanently stationed there says people are talking about getting the greatest night's sleep they have ever had. We can still detect weak spots, but nothing has come through since the events at Gemini."

"What did we tell the public about Gemini?" Noble asked.

"We told the world that there was an accident and that about fifty employees were killed," Shaw said. "We also said that the accident contaminated the land. So far there haven't been many sightseers or anything, but it's only a matter of time. Dashiell is calling in some favors within the government to try and clean things up. Gemini is a multi-national corporation and has offices and people all around the world. This will be a serious financial hit, but I think it will survive. It's one of the companies too big to fail."

Noble sighed. He looked around at the men that were in a circle around his bed. Most of them were human-looking, and those that were not were using their devices to cast holograms. He didn't care what they looked like. He felt bonded to these men. What did that mean for his future? What was his future?

"So, I guess IDEA keeps going, then?" Noble asked. “The machines keep running just in case the Void wakes up?’

"Oh yes," Orval said. "We have no idea if the Void will stay asleep and there are always people trying to find ways to reach other dimensions and breach the walls. I mean, we're going to have to do it at some point so that myself and these other men can get back home. When that happens, we might just awaken the Void all over again and it might be more insane than ever. Regardless, we still need to monitor things and make sure no one breaks down the walls."

"There will always be a spot for you, Noble," Shaw said.

"Let me think about it," Noble said. "So, what happened to Whitten?"

Shaw smirked. "Let's just say Ezekiel got his revenge. The old dog hasn't been this jovial in centuries."

"I can't even imagine that," Noble said quietly.

"You'll have to come visit Kolthrax and Ezekiel at the very least, then," Dashiell said.

"I will have to do that. Kolthrax is all right?"

"He's a bit sick, but he is also ancient. Breaking through into this dimension like that took a lot out of him. I bet he outlives us all," Orval said with his customary smart-ass tone.

Noble looked over at Olivia and she smiled at him and squeezed his hand. He gave a weak smile back to her. He had a lot of decisions to make and he had to make them soon. How could he go back to his old life after everything he had seen? He also needed to find out what more he could do.

"Guys, I think Olivia and I need some time together alone," Noble said. "And I need to get a little sleep."

Orval, Shaw, Dash and the rest stuck around for a few more minutes and then left. Noble was alone with his wife, the way he always imagined his life would be. He held her hand and she entwined her fingers between his own and he laid his head back against the pillow.

He closed his eyes and soon he was sound asleep and dreaming. This time there was no darkness, only sun and light.

***

"So, what are you thinking?"

Olivia and Noble were alone. Outside the world was dark, but it was still the good kind of darkness. They had shared a particularly delicious dinner and were now staring into each other's eyes. In the background the television was on and the top story was still the accident at Gemini, but there was no new information about what had happened.

"I'm just wondering how I go back to my regular life now that I've done this," Noble said. "Dash has told me that, if I choose, I can just go back to my job with Homeland and hunting down people who enter the country illegally. I used to love doing that stuff, but now that I know what I know, it's harder to imagine doing just that."

"This life with IDEA seems so much more dangerous," Olivia said.

"It is, I guess," Noble replied after taking a moment to think about it. "But what they all said is correct. The Void will try to come back. It's sort of lost its ability to think straight, but it has all eternity to find a way to come back. Those creatures at the center of it all are going to keep probing with their minds, perhaps even reaching into this dimension through radio waves and other things and cause people to try probing into the Void and that might wake it right back up. If it does wake up, it's going to want to come right back for me."

Olivia sat there in the shadows for a time. Noble watched her face as she turned to stare at the television screen. Her eyes shone brighter than they should have and Noble realized she was weeping. She was crying for the loss of the life that she had always wanted with Noble. Nothing could be the same for her, either, if he chose to head off with IDEA and protect the multi-verse. She had married one person and was now realizing that he was someone, or something, else entirely. It wasn't fair, but it was what it was.

"I’ll come with," she said, at last.

"What?"

"They can't keep me from coming with you," she said. "I saw things, too. I know what I know and I can't un-know it. I am not letting you gallivant around in the worlds in between and perhaps to other dimensions without me coming with you. They can train me, they can fret about me, but I am not going to sit at home and work on manuals while you're gone."

Noble wanted to protest. He knew that the idea was not going to sit well with Shaw or Dash. Orval might enjoy the idea, however. There were a thousand reasons why he should tell her that it was crazy, but he knew better than to try and argue with Olivia when she had made up her mind.

"I'll tell Shaw and Dash," Noble said.

Olivia squeezed his hand and then she leaned over and kissed him. Noble moved over a bit and she crawled into the bed with him. Together they fell asleep like that and slept soundly.

Tomorrow would be a new day and there were countless adventures to come.