Vostok

EPILOGUE

“Huh!”

I opened my eyes to my heart pounding rapidly in my chest. The chamber was dark, the only light coming from floor-to-ceiling windows offering a breathtaking view of Loch Ness and the snow-covered peaks of the Monadhliath Mountains rising above the far eastern bank.

Am I really back?

Excited as a kid on Christmas morning, I flipped open my laptop to verify the date, only to be confronted by an article in the Science Journal… today’s Science Journal!

I closed the story.

I was back. I was really back, back at Loch Ness! My family was safe and intact, True was alive, and David Taylor was just a middle school kid hitting puberty. Vostok hadn’t happened yet, but Ming and Ben would be arriving any minute to make their pitch.

Screw them!

Avi Socha had allowed me to retain the knowledge of my past multiverses, and in this reality I’d be ready.

Creating an encrypted file on my laptop, I typed furiously, describing every detail I could about the zero-point energy generator and the Yellowstone Caldera.

That gave me pause.

A cataclysmic eruption had transpired on ancient Mars, ending an autocratic rule while pushing a civilization to venture into space. Yet, only by vanquishing their egos were the descendants of Avi Socha allowed access into the higher dimensions and taught how to traverse the cosmos and mingle with other races.

For thousands of years, advanced species of extraterrestrials had kept an eye on us. That relationship changed once we had discovered how to split the atom. Like an adolescent with a new gun, we had become a threat to ourselves and others.

Much had changed since Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Roswell.

Forty percent of the wealth on our planet was now controlled by one percent of the population. Two billion people lived in poverty; another two billion were starving. Meanwhile, we were polluting our oceans and atmosphere, our forced addiction to fossil fuels causing the earth to warm, the ice to melt.

Could zero-point energy save us?

Would the shadow government allow it?

If not, was the Yellowstone Caldera the catalyst that would advance our species… or end it?

I made myself a quick reminder to meet with Jonas Taylor and convince him to incorporate airbags into his Manta sub blueprints. I thought about providing him with details about his main attraction’s pending escape and death, but preventing the monster’s demise didn’t seem like a good thing.

Finally, I made a quick list of people not to trust: Ming, Ben, Colonel Vacendak, Susan McWhite.

Susan…

Was she really a Nordic, or was she just a member of the JASON Society who had learned how to thought-communicate? Either way, she was the Colonel’s pet and needed to be avoided.

I saved the file just as Brandy abruptly entered the restaurant — alone.

“Zachary, you could have teld me ye were expecting guests. A sexy Asian woman and her entourage are waiting outside the restaurant. I’m leaving with William tae visit my—”

Brandy was startled as I swept her up in my arms, planting kiss after kiss. “You’re the only sexy woman I want. I’m sorry for everything that’s happened. You and William come first, but you’re absolutely right; I need to do more to help the Highlanders. I have an idea for an invention, something that can spawn a new industry right here in the Great Glen.”

“Whit kind of invention?”

“I can’t say, but—”

The restaurant door opened and Ming entered. “Excuse me, Dr. Wallace? I’m sorry to interrupt you and your wife, but my associates and I have traveled a long way to meet with you. My name is Dr. Ming Liao and—”

“I’m not interested.”

Brandy grinned as Ming’s cheeks flushed red. “I haven’t even told you why we’re here.”

“I don’t care. Now you and your companions have two minutes to get out of my hotel before I have my brother-in-law feed you to the croc — er, to Nessie.”

“I thought you killed Nessie?” Ben Hintzmann said as he entered the restaurant.

“I did, but it had babies. In fact, I spotted one of them in Urquhart Bay just before you arrived. Big one, too. The kind that eats deer.”

Before I could say another word, Brandy’s lips were pressed against mine.

Ming was far from through. “Whatever this new invention is, you’ll need start-up money. Sorry, I couldn’t help overhearing.”

Brandy pulled back. “Perhaps ye should listen.”

“Nah. I know a guy; he’ll be rich real soon.”

Ming Liao began again, “Dr. Wallace—”

Brandy turned to Ming with fire in her eyes. “Ye heard my man. Fuck off!”

The restaurant door opened again, and Dr. Stewart entered, followed by Susan McWhite. The memory of Colonel Vacendak putting a bullet in her brain flashed across my mind’s eye, causing the blood to drain from my face.

Different multiverse, different probabilities. Play it cool, Wallace.

The twenty-seven-year-old grad student was dressed conservatively, but nothing could conceal that figure. Her eyes seemed to look straight through me.

Dr. Stewart stepped forward, offering me his hand. “Chris Stewart. I’m a friend of your father.”

“That’s your problem, friend. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my beautiful wife and I were just on our way to visit her ailing father—”

“After I screw yer brains out.”

“Correct.” I squeezed my wife’s hand.

Flustered, Ming looked to her three colleagues, then left.

Ben was about to say something, but Dr. Stewart was already herding him out, leaving only Susan standing by the door.

“I’m a big fan of your work, Dr. Wallace. What’s your new invention?”

“It’s a Nessie dildo so women like you can go—”

“Zach!” Brandy clamped my mouth shut with her hand. Then, with a Cheshire Cat smile, she sauntered over to Susan. “I want tae apologize for my husband’s rude behavior. He’s a bit awnry today. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re aboot tae commit a few health code violations.”

Guiding her out of the restaurant, she bolted the door while I dialed a number on my cell phone.

“Whit are ye doing, Zachary?”

“Calling True. I want to make sure he doesn’t rent these people a room.”

Pushing me down onto the table, my wife pulled off my pants and hitched up her skirt. “Call ’im after we’re through. It feels like years since we’ve been together.”

Rain punished the closed green umbrellas outside of Fiddler’s pub. Seated at the bar, Susan watched Ming and Dr. Stewart attempt to pitch Angus Wallace on their venture.

For whatever reason, the old Scot was having none of it.

She drained her third whisky, pondering what it must be like to have biological parents, or any parent that cared. Created in Groom Lake’s genetics lab from a human egg and donor sperm from a dead E.T., Susan McWhite had led a sheltered life with other hybrids. She had not left her subterranean quarters by herself until she was eighteen, after she had completed her required assimilation fieldwork and extensive Kama Sutra training — something the Colonel “tested” her on frequently — everything designed to prepare her for her first assignment. Only then had she begun her course work at UNLV.

She ordered another malt liquor, still shaken over the image she had lifted from Zachary Wallace’s memory.

Her cell phone vibrated. It was the Colonel.

She answered, “I’m listening.”

“Has he accessed the portal in another incarnation?”

“No.”

“You’re certain?”

She glanced up as two bouncers rushed over to Angus’s table. “I’m certain.”

“Then we’ll need to get him to Vostok.”

“That won’t be easy. He refused to meet with Dr. Liao, and his father just punched Dr. Stewart in the mouth.”

“He has a wife and kid. It couldn’t be easier.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“If you take that route, I’ll expose you.”

“Are you challenging my authority?”

“Consider it more of a threat.”

The line went dead.

She crushed the phone beneath the heel of her boot, then looked up as True MacDonald returned from the men’s room.

The big Highlander sat down next to her. “So, lass, have ye thought aboot my offer?”

“I accept, on one condition: I want to swim in the loch.”

“Like the wacky Polar Bear ladies? Sure. They meet every Sunday afternoon after church.”

“No. I want to go now.”

“Now? It’s dark outside, and the water’s damn near freezing.”

“A two-minute swim to cool my blood, big fella, then I’ll rock your world.”