The moment she was gone, I yanked oot the I.V. and searched her quarters for something tae hide the egg inside of. I found a bathroom towel and a backpack filled wit’ paperback books. I emptied the lot, then tossed the towel in the backpack and found my way back tae the Valkyrie pod and sled.
Fortunately, the egg was where I had left it. Wrapping it snugly in the towel, I shoved it in the backpack and stowed it under my ski jacket and ECW gear that was piled atop a folding chair. Then it was back tae bed where I waited for Ashlynn tae return.
Good news and bad. The good: I’m back in the dome, and the backpack is in my tent. I’ve spoke tae Angus in our own special Highland code. He’s over the moon and is makin’ arrangements tae fly intae Davis Base aboard a charter paid for by whit he referred tae as “private investors.”
The bad news: Zach’s gone missing.
18
“Curiouser and curiouser.”
It was Sir Isaac Newton, the man who formulated the theory of universal gravitation, who first discovered that sunlight passing through a prism revealed the colors of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The human eye perceives only visible light, which lies in a very small region of the spectrum, each color possessing a different wavelength. From shortest to longest the rainbow runs red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The human eye cannot see wavelengths outside this spectrum. Ultraviolet radiation has a longer wavelength than violet light, and infrared radiation has a shorter wavelength than red light. White light is a mixture of every color of the visible spectrum. Black is the absence of light.
Sunlight, our most important source of energy, consists of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Violet and blue wavelengths scatter across our atmosphere more efficiently, but the sky looks blue because the sun emits more energy as blue light than as violet and our eyes are more sensitive to its wavelength. Grass and leaves appear green to us because green is the only color not absorbed by the leaves. The sun’s scattered wavelengths shorten at sunrise and sunset, producing orange and red hues.
My heart pounded with adrenaline as I moved through the ice tunnel, my eyes darting from the pulsating orange light ahead to the Geiger counter in my gloved right hand.
Just a quick look. One quick look and I’ll have enough information to theorize cause and effect. Then I’m up the rope and climbing out of the chasm, and we’re back in the sub and en route to the north basin. Up the ice sheet and I’m done. Done with Vostok, done with Antarctica and its insane cold. Then it’s home to Brandy and William.
Wary of the time, I started to jog, counting each ice-crunching stride to gauge the distance back to the rope.
Twenty-one… twenty-two… twenty-three…
It was a surreal feeling, the color as dazzling as a tropical sunset, the cavern’s solitude violated only by my metal spikes digging into the ice.
Eighty-six… eighty-seven… eighty-eight…
By the time I arrived at the end of the tunnel, the ice was glowing red.
Wheezing cold air from my esophagus, I bent over and paused to rest, my eyes tearing, the goggles pinned against my neck. The tunnel ended ten paces ahead. The light originated from a meter-high ten-pointed figure, the upper three sparks white, the middle six blinking crimson, the bottom one violet.
The pulsating marker was embedded in metal, part of a massive object that spanned the entire opening of the tunnel and beyond, the dark mass entirely encased in ice except for the glowing panel.
This was no asteroid. This was an object not of our world.
How long had it been here? Was it still functioning? Was it the source of the magnetic interference?
Remembering the Geiger counter, I scanned the icon, which registered no radiation.
My adrenaline pumping, I approached the ten-pointed figure, which seemed strangely familiar to me. I had seen it before.
But where?
Moving closer, I noticed a light mist rolling off the unpolished surface. Removing my right glove, I held my palm close to the six red points of light, registering a radiating warmth on my flesh.
I hesitated, then reached to touch the three white points of light—
— and was inhaled into darkness.
I opened my eyes to warmth and shadows, half-expecting to be confronted by any one of a dozen extraterrestrial sci-fi scenarios, from being surrounded by high-tech control consoles and three-dimensional holographic computer displays to finding myself imprisoned in a barless cage while other captive humans were strapped to exam tables awaiting lobotomies or anal probes… whatever was on the menu.
Based on the I.Q.s of the stereotypes who always seemed to be the ones abducted, the differences between the two procedures weren’t that far off.
I heard a chuckle in the darkness, and then a single red candle flickered to life, revealing a wall of books.
And Joe Tkalec!
My middle school science teacher and mentor watched me from his favorite easy chair in his home library and smiled. “I always enjoyed your sarcastic wit. Are you comfortable in this setting?”
I was seated on the padded rocker where I had spent numerous hours reading after school. “How did you— Wait. That icon, it probed my mind and my memories, didn’t it? Hope that’s all you probed.”
The entity appearing as my mentor smiled. “Anal probes… as if exploring the human rectum could reveal the meaning of life. You do realize all of those ridiculous stories were the result of a disinformation campaign executed by your military intelligence operatives to scare the public about extraterrestrial activities.”
“Yeah. I mean, sure. Why would an advanced species travel lightyears to probe a redneck’s asshole?”
“You’re wondering if this is real or a dream. For now, let’s call it a lucid dream.”
“Sounds like you’re playing a mind game. Is that what this is?”
“Not at all. My role is to provide you with the information you desire. We felt that communicating with you in a familiar setting would be far less distracting than revealing your true surroundings.”
“So, if you’re not really Joe Tkalec, what should I call you? How about Alien Joe? Where am I, Alien Joe? Is this your spaceship?”
“It is more of a portal. Think of it as a spaceship if it makes you feel more at ease.”
“A portal bridges the gap between two distinct places. Assuming I’m physically still in Antarctica, then where are you?”
“I’m here with you, only not in a physical sense. We’re communicating using the universal consciousness.”
“Yeah, yeah. But this ship was built to travel. Where did it come from? Where’s your home world?”
“Does it matter?”
He had a point. What difference did it make what star system his planet belonged to? The fact is he was here, at least mentally.
Alien Joe seemed to be reading my thoughts. “Human travel moves from point A to point B on a linear realm. Think beyond this.”
My head was swimming with a million thoughts.
Am I awake? What the hell is a lucid dream? Is there a purpose to this? He said it was a portal, only we’re both here in Antarctica…
“You’re referring to trans-dimensional travel. Theoretically, it’s the only way to travel beyond the speed of light.”